BENJAMIN FRANKLIN NEWCOMER (1827-1901)

In numismatics, Baltimore is known for the #1 and #2 and #3 best ever collectors and collections: Louis Eliasburg, Sr. ,John Work Garrett, and Waldo Newcomer.

Baltimore was also home to two of the earliest safe deposit companies in the US. Their 158 year history:

• 1864 Safe Deposit Company
• 1876 Safe Deposit & Trust Company
• 1884 Mercantile Trust & Deposit Co.
• 1953 Merger of 2 above companies into Mercantile-Safe Deposit and Trust Co
• 2006 PNC takeover

 

This Safe Deposit Company of Baltimore stock Certificate was issued 1880 (pre birth, issued after) cancelled in 1945, to Emma Maynard, who owned stock for her lifetime (6/3/1881- 3/25/1945). $1,000. was big money post Civil War.

The certificate is signed in 1880 by Waldo's father, Benjamin Franklin Newcomer, financier railroad owner, banker extraordinaire.

B.F. Newcomer was incorporator and bank President for 33 years. He served 18 1/2 years as President (11 years without compensation). He was known as being extremely conservative, and paid strict attention to duty, fidelity and trust.

Also in 1876 (same year as bank established) he was on the board of Trustees with John Work Garrett upon the founding of world -renowned Johns Hopkins University, and later Hospital,

How sad it is that so many banks world-wide, are so disparate from Newcomer and his bank of yesteryear. In 2020, of $15 BILLION in total United States bank fines, Half of this total was issued to Goldman Sachs (Sovereign Wealth Fund), Wells Fargo (fake accounts), & J.P. Morgan Chase (market manipulation); these are your friendly bankers, numismatists. I am not aware that any of these three banks employ non-paid bank presidents.

Say it ain't so, Joe.

So hip-hip hurrah to Benjamin Franklin Newcomer for setting the high bar for banking and business ethics 150+ years ago. How about soliciting these three banks to commission a .999 gold medal honoring him? If they deep-six, US Mint commemorative?

Link: Lengthy biography article written by son Waldo after his father's death:
A Biographical Sketch of Benjamin Franklin Newcomer (https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Biographical_Sketch_of_
Benjamin_Frankl/3nZUAAAAYAAJ?hl=en)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
HISTORY OF THE SAFE DEPOSIT BOX (https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n49a31.html)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web