AN EARLY WOMAN NUMISMATIST

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V27 2024 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 27, Number 22, June 2, 2024, Article 12

Past issues of the E-Sylum have discussed women numismatists and perhaps who may have been among the earliest. While I was looking into the topic, I came across a story that was repeated in more than thirty newspapers in 1899.

WALL PLASTERED WITH COINS
Singular Conceit of a New Jersey Woman Numismatist

Miss Dentz of Dentzville, N. J.. a suburb of Trenton, has probably the largest collection of coins in New Jersey. Some of them are many hundred years old, and they represent the currencies of nearly every country in the world. Some idea of the size of the collection may be gathered from the fact that the ceiling of miss Dentz' boudoir is completely covered with United States money, while the four walls are hidden behind coins of Asiatic, European, African and South American countries. There is considerable history attached to this collection, especially the English coins, which were found near Princeton is a queer-shaped hat by one of Miss Dentz' relatives while in search of minerals. The hat is similar in shape to those worn by the Hessian soldiers during the revolution, and is still in Miss Dentz' possession. There are many valuable coins in her collection and were she to convert them all into present American currency they would yield quite a snug sum.

Fortunately, some alternate versions of the story gave her name as Miss Daisy Dentz. I ran into immediate problems attempting to verify the story. First, there is no Daisy Dentz listed in the 1900 Census, and second, and perhaps more important, there was no Trenton suburb named Dentzville. So, at the end of round one, it would appear that the story was a complete fabrication.

Let us not be so quick to judge. Turns out there is a Trenton suburb named Deutzville. It was named for Adam Cornelius Deutz (1821-1878) who came from Prussia and had a factory there that made gold jewelry.

There was an actual Daisy E. Deutz, daughter of Henry (1862-1928) and Lily M. Robinson Deutz (1863-1922) and she lived in Deutzville, New Jersey. Spelling of her name and date of birth records are inconsistent. Her Find a Grave record gives her year of birth as 1883 and date of death as October 2, 1918. She is buried in the same cemetery as her parents and Adam Deutz, although the family connection is uncertain.

The 1900 Census gives her date of birth as October 1882. If that is correct, she was 17 years old when the article about her coin collection was published. She was mentioned occasionally in the social pages but her collection was not mentioned again.

The family lived at 185 Deutz Avenue. This is now part of Hamilton Township. The Street has been renumbered. It survived an attempt in 1963 to change the name.

I believe the basic story about her room decorated with money. I doubt if her collection was the largest in New Jersey. It is an amusing story, but not significant.