The Numismatic Bibliomania Society

PREV ARTICLE       NEXT ARTICLE       FULL ISSUE       PREV FULL ISSUE      

V21 2018 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 21, Number 29, July 22, 2018, Article 9

QUERY: SAN FRANCISCO COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE MEDAL

Newman Numismatic Portal Project Coordinator Len Augsburger has a question for E-Sylum readers. -Editor

Possible Committee of Vigilance medal 1 Possible Committee of Vigilance medal 2

A Newman Portal user this week forwarded photos of what appears to be a hand-engraved, numbered 1851 medal from the San Francisco Committee of Vigilance. Composition analysis indicates the piece is sterling silver. A check of the Newman Portal for “Committee of Vigilance” yields a few clues. Vigilante associations were common in the 19th century, and were formed in San Francisco in 1851 and again in 1856.

The 1856 committee is well-documented, and the Huntington Library in San Marino, CA holds 2,500 applications for the group. This committee struck a member’s medal, and the Ford XX catalog (lots 3283-3285) includes a 13-page article on the topic. These committees were no mere ceremony. The June 1933 &mbsp;Numismatist summarized the activities of the earlier 1851 committee – 4 hanged, 1 whipped, 14 deported, 1 ordered to leave the state, 1 handed over to the authorities, and 41 discharged.

The three examples of the 1856 medals in the Ford sale sold at the $25k-$30k level. Is this hand-engraved 1851 piece an early, crude, prototype for the later struck medals? We checked with a California expert on 19th century American medals, who believes the piece to be an outright fantasy. Do E-Sylum readers have any further opinions?

Link to Ford XX sale (Stack’s, 10/2007) on Newman Portal:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctionlots?AucCoId=3&AuctionId=515272&page=211

Charles Davis ad01


Wayne Homren, Editor

Google
 
NBS (coinbooks.org) Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum

PREV ARTICLE       NEXT ARTICLE       FULL ISSUE       PREV FULL ISSUE      

V21 2018 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

Copyright © 1998 - 2024 The Numismatic Bibliomania Society (NBS)
All Rights Reserved.

NBS Home Page
Contact the NBS webmaster
coin