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The E-Sylum: Volume 25, Number 51, December 18, 2022, Article 5

A COIN GIFT CHRISTMAS CARD

Newman Numismatic Portal Project Coordinator Len Augsburger submitted the following holiday item from the NNP image collections. -Editor

  Coin gift Christmas card front Coin gift Christmas card inside with gold coin

A Gold Noel

The holiday season is a reminder of an old tradition of presenting gold coins as a commemoration of Christmas and other significant occasions. Illustrated here, from the Eclectic Numismatic Treasure collection, is an early 20th century greeting card featuring a cut-out for such a coin. The U.S. Mint correspondence similarly reflects this sentiment, with a disproportionate number of requests for one-dollar pieces coming late in the year.

Typical is a December 10, 1889 request from the Central National Bank in New York to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, asking for 50 one-dollar gold pieces for distribution among the officers of the bank. Apparently, the rank and file employees failed to meet the cut, even though a one-dollar coin, at the time, would not have been a terribly extravagant holiday bonus. The tradition lives on today, with numerous annual reports of gold coins discovered in Salvation Army donation buckets.

Link to Eclectic Numismatic Treasure Christmas-themed items on Newman Portal:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/imagecollection/511173

Link to December 10, 1889 U.S. Mint correspondence from the Central National Bank:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/596140

THE BOOK BAZARRE

AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS: Are your books carried by Wizard Coin Supply? If not, contact us via www.WizardCoinSupply.com with details.



Wayne Homren, Editor

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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

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