CALVIN WESLEY FRANKLIN (1855-1911)

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V27 2024 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 27, Number 24, June 16, 2024, Article 9

K-F Sale 170 Lot 354 HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN, GREEK AND ROMAN COINS

Wayne asked me to find out what I could about Calvin Franklin and a book being sold by Kolbe & Fanning with the Homren library.

Calvin (age 6, born in Ohio) appeared in the 1860 Census with his father, John Franklin (1826-1908), his mother, Nancy Franklin (1833-1916), a brother, John (8), and his sister, Sarah Jane (2). His father was listed as a farmhand in the State of Ohio. The brother listed as John was probably James.

Calvin (age 16) appeared again in the 1870 census in Washington County, Ohio, with his parents, James (18), Mary (10) and John (5). The father was still a farmhand.

For the 1880 Census, John and Nancy are living in Ravenswood, West Virginia, with Mary (19), John William (14) and Lucy (6). I did not find Calvin in 1880. The 1890 Census has been generally lost.

The firm of Franklin & McCausland sold pianos, musical instruments, and sheet music at 18 Sixth Street in Pittsburg. There was a notice in the newspaper that the firm was dissolved on June 1, 1893.

In 1899, C. W. Franklin was selling real estate lots on Orchard Street in Bellevue. In 1900 he was selling lots on Forest Avenue. In 2024, Bellevue has an Orchard Avenue but not an Orchard Street.

For the 1900 Census, Calvin was at 24 North Diamond Street in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, living as a lodger and employed as an advertising agent. His birth was listed in Ohio in November, 1858, and age 41.

In June of 1900, C. W. Franklin began running small ads offering a gold-plated picture frame for sixty cents via P. O. Box 667 in Pittsburg. These ads ran in the Indiana (PA) Weekly Messenger but not in Pittsburgh papers.

On March 30, 1901, Calvin married Agnes Morrison Kerr (1870-1909) in Beaver, Pennsylvania. Calvin was listed as age 43, representing a birth year of 1858. Agnes was listed as age 30 and born in 1871.

In 1903, he was advertising fireproof safes for sale from 126 Fourth Avenue. By 1904, he was trying to close out his inventory. He continued to offer safes for sale into 1910.

By October 1904, C. W. Franklin had begun offering coins. He placed many ads in The Pittsburg Press. One offered,

THE largest collection of old coins ever shown in the city of Pittsburg. Both European and American; American large pennies, $3 per hundred; eagle pennies. $3 per hundred; gold quarters and halves and American half-cents. C. W. Franklin, 126 Fourth ave. Mail orders promptly attended to.

In another 1904 ad, he offered a 100 page catalog for 25 cents. In 1905, he offered an 1804 silver dollar for $5.00 and an 1856 eagle penny for $5.00. What would those coins be worth today?

The only known photograph of C. W. Franklin was published in the April 16, 1905, issue of Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, which featured four of their regular advertisers.

By 1906, he had moved up the street to 239 Fourth Avenue. Later in the year, he relocated to 2 Taylor Ave., in Bellevue.

An article on Franklin appeared in the Pittsburgh Post on January 6, 1907, Some Rare and Valuable Coins Have Been Collected in Pittsburgh. This reported,

One of these coins is a silver dollar with the date 1804. Outside the great age of the piece a remarkable feature of the dollar is the fact that only seven of them are in existence, each of which is worth $2000. With the exception of these seven, the entire issue was lost years ago on board ship.

Another article appeared in the same paper on March 10, 1907, titled, Some of the World's Oldest Coins Owned by Pittsburgh Collectors. Author Mrs. A. B. Sperry wrote,

What is probably the most remarkable collection of coins in western Pennsylvania is the property of a Bellevue man, C. W. Franklin, who, at his home, 2 Taylor Avenue, has a rare group of gold and silver pieces, gathered from the remote corners of the world, a collection that is worth several thousand dollars.

The article has what every collector wants or dreads when it gives his address, and mentions he has a valuable collection of coins. Later in the article, it says,

For 20 years, Mr. Franklin has been a collector of rare coins, with the result that his exhibit is perhaps as fine as any in the country, outside of museums. Many of his coins were found in the tombs of kings of Ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt, and are in a wonderful state of preservation, considering their great age.

The article describes the collection at length, and it would appear that it was, in fact, an impressive collection.

Later in 1907, C. W. Franklin ran ads promoting his complete rare coin book for $1. These ads ran in The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, The Kansas City Star, The Kansas City Times, The Pittsburgh Post, and The Pittsburgh Press.

For the 1910 census, with Agnes dead in 1909, Calvin was living with his sister-in-law and niece at 321 Taylor Avenue in Bellevue, Pennsylvania, at age 51. His profession is listed as commercial trader in novelties.

In 1908, he was selling upright pianos while still selling safes and cash registers. In August of 1909, he offered NEW Abraham Lincoln pennies for sale. 7c each. Was this the first offering of Lincoln Pennies?

In 1910, he was offering typewriters for sale from 321 Taylor Avenue in Bellevue.

In 1910, he was offering the smallest Bible ever published for 25 cents, same address.

In 1911, he was offering his house at 321 Taylor Avenue for sale. This was a month before his death.

There is a Findagrave listing for Calvin W. Franklin, born in 1855 and died in 1911. He is buried in Ravenswood, West Virginia. The Findagrave site also had a listing for John and Nancy Franklin in this cemetery but the memorials have been removed.

The FamilySearch site includes trees submitted by users which may not agree with original sources. The tree fan chart gives his name as Calvin Wesley Franklin, born November 22, 1855, and died April 29, 1911.

The previous article was nearly completed by the evening of Wednesday, June 12. Then I received a copy of Franklin's death certificate from Julia Casey. His date of birth is given as April 12, 1857, and his middle name was Westley. His occupation was given as old coin merchant. Otherwise, the certificate agrees with other sources.

Information for the certificate was provided by Mrs. Lucy Bibby of Charleston, West Virginia. That would have been his sister, Lucy Elsie Franklin Bibby (1877-1924). She may have been twenty years younger than her brother, so he may have been out of the house by the time she was born. There are also conflicting sources for her date of birth.

Over the years, the census has Franklin's birth year as 1855, 1855, 1858, and 1859. His marriage certificate gives his year of birth as 1858. I tend to believe the 1855 year of birth but must admit that I don't know.

Julia Casey also provided a death certificate for Agnes Morrison Kerr. Her date of birth was May 16, 1874. There is a birth record from Scotland for May 16, 1870. Her obituary gives her husband's name as Caldin Wesley Franklin.

After all this confusion, I want to state that Calvin Franklin was a minor player in numismatics and the dates have little importance.

Apparently, the book has two titles. It is seen with a blue cover and the title: Numismatic Blue Book: Ancient and Modern Coins. On the title page is A Handbook of American, Greek and Roman Coins.

The copy sold with the Wayne Homren Library has a hardbound maroon cover. This may be an aftermarket binding. The auction lot included one plate illustration. I matched that plate to G. F. Hill's 1899 book, Illustrations of History: A Handbook of Greek and Roman Coins. I don't have either book in my library.

Someone with access to both books could see if all the same plates were in both books.

I suspect there are reasons why few copies have survived. It was not broadly marketed, and few original copies were sold. It did not get into libraries. It was also not considered important enough to keep.

After working on this for a week, I have a related question. Is the author and the book worth the effort to tell the story?

I'll be curious to hear from readers, but in my opinion: absolutely! Pete (and earlier John Lupia - article linked below), assembled a lot of good information which has resolved some of the mystery about this book. Cataloguer Dave Fanning and I had both forgotten about the earlier E-Sylum article on Franklin and I am grateful to Pete for pointing it out and taking the research to the next level.

As a bibliophile and researcher, more information is always better than less. Now we've largely solved the biblio-mystery of the maroon-bound book that languished in my library for so many years, and shed light on the development of coin and price guides in the early 1900s with a literal forerunner of Yeoman's Blue Book. We also now have a contemporary sale offer of shiny new 1909 Lincoln Cents, an example of the hobby's common misinformed speculation on the origin of the 1804 dollars, and a description of Franklin's impressive collection. Will coins pedigreed to it be identified some day?

Thanks again to Pete and Julia for all their efforts. -Editor

To read the complete lot description, see:
Mysterious American Numismatic Rarity (https://bid.numislit.com/lots/view/1-91D1N7/mysterious-american-numismatic-rarity)