ON ENGRAVER JOHN GREGORY HANCOCK

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V27 2024 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 27, Number 14, April 7, 2024, Article 8

Pete Smith submitted these notes on the engraver of the 1792 Washington Roman Head Cent. An electrotype was discussed in last week's issue. -Editor

Sometimes I think I could spend half my time attempting to correct errors published by others. Although our book, 1792: Birth of a Nation's Coinage, debunked many of the myths associated with the coinage, authors continue to repeat those myths.

The recent April Fools edition of The E-Sylum includes comments so foolish that I am required to respond. Under the heading of WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: MARCH 31, 2024, there is a photograph of a 1792 Washington Roman Head Cent. It is described as, certainly the high-water mark for the 1792 pattern issues.

I have a minor quibble with this statement. It was not one of the 1792 pattern issues. They were not made at the U. S. Mint. They did not meet the statutory requirements for U. S. coinage. They were not speculative issues produced with the hope of getting a foreign contract to produce American coins.

I have a major quibble with a later statement, Hancock was just 17 when these were made, and he clearly intended them for what they were. A long article on Hancock was The Hancocks, Die Engravers published in The Conder Collectors Journal issue for Summer 2003. This is a quote from that article:

His dates of birth and death were unknown to most writers so the convention was to use fl. (flourished) to indicate dates of his career. Eimer gives his dates as fl. 1783-1805. Forrer gives his dates as circa 1775-1815. Brown gives his dates as fl. 1775-1821. Peck gives the dates as 1775-1815 without the fl. convention. Breen copied the 1775-1815 dates from Peck.

Breen expanded this by stating that Hancock was 16 years old when he cut dies for the 1791 dated patterns. (Making him 8 when he produced the 1783 Priestley medal). Also 1791 is the year his son was born. Breen was an excellent researcher but his conclusions may be subject to criticism. In this case, Breen's statements about Hancock's age must be ignored.

The Birmingham Gazette of November 11, 1805, announced the death of John Gregory Hancock on November 2, 1805, at age 55, setting his date of birth around 1750. Then there is the statement, he clearly intended them for what they were. Now, 232 years later, we still do not know what they were.

Bonham's sold Eric Newman's Roman Head cent in their auction of June 11, 2018, as lot 28. The description said, the die work is by young 17-year-old John Gregory Hancock, a precocious young lad who was producing advanced die work before he reached double digits in age.

One should not believe everything one reads in auction lot descriptions. Sometimes that information may include foolish mistakes.

THE BOOK BAZARRE

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