WHO WAS W. L. SHAW?

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V27 2024 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 27, Number 26, June 30, 2024, Article 12

E-Sylum Feature Writer and American Numismatic Biographies author Pete Smith submitted this article on early American numismatists and terms describing them. Thanks! -Editor

In 1995 I received a copy of Numismatics in the News: Gleanings from Contemporary Newspapers. The compiler explored newspaper articles as a source for numismatic research.

Now I have a subscription to a service that provides access to many, but not all, of the country's newspapers. This is a very valuable tool for the type of research I do.

Occasionally there may be a question about the first time something was mentioned. This week I looked into the first times the word numismatists was found in this newspaper collection.

The first reference to numismatists was published in The (London) Morning Chronicle for February 25, 1834. This was an advertisement for Descriptive Catalogue of Rare and Unedited Roman Coins by J. Y. Akerman, F.S.A. The book and Ackerman were mentioned in eighteen additional articles in England in 1834.

The July 26, 1837. issue of The Philadelphia Inquirer used the word numismatists for the first time in an American paper. However, the article had been picked up from a British newspaper. American papers continued to run articles based on stories from England and Europe.

The (London) Times had an ad dated February 20. 1851, offering a publication called The Numismatist. There was a similar ad in The Morning Chronicle for February 27, 1851. Did that ever succeed?

On March 20, 1851, Professor D. E. Groux ran an ad in the New York Daily Herald. He offered 4000 coins and medals for sale through a temporary location in New York. The name of Groux should be familiar to bibliophiles.

An ad was placed in the New York Tribune of May 22, 1852, by W. L. Shaw, a name unfamiliar to me. I wonder if the average reader of the paper knew what a numismatist is. More to the point, would the average coin collector in 1852 know what a numismatist is?

I contributed a listing of American Numismatic Pioneers to the Summer 2004 issue of The Asylum. W. L. Shaw was not included on the list.

Q. David Bowers compiled American Numismatics Before the Civil War 1760-1860, published in 1998. Bowers mentions Groux across several pages but does not mention Shaw.

The Boston City Directory for 1852 has three listings for William Shaw but none of them has the middle initial ‘L'.

Shaw expressed an interest in acquiring a cent dated 1815. Since none were produced, it is logical that he did not have one. What reference could a numismatist check in 1852 to learn that none were made?

By 1850, Boston had a population of 136,381. Would the Post Office have been able to deliver mail without a first name or a street address? They couldn't look him up in the city directory.

The American hobby of numismatics changed in 1857. This was mentioned in newspapers of the time. An article in the Daily Evening Express for May 26, 1857, mentioned new cents being exchanged for old at the Philadelphia Mint.

This new coin, which promptly made its appearance in town yesterday in considerable quantities, was the general topic of conversation. … To accommodate the crowds of people who, it was thought, would present themselves, a temporary wooden structure, having two windows, was erected in the yard of the Mint. At one window was received the copper coins brought for redemption; at the other the silver. Of course, only a portion of them desiring the new coin could then obtain an opportunity of procuring it, owing to the pressure of the crowds; yet, in a day or two there is no doubt that the supply will be amply sufficient to meet all the demands, From this date, copper cents will pass out of existence with such rapidity that the entire stock will remain in the hands of numismatists and virtuosos.

The October 7, 1857, issue of (Philadelphia) Public Ledger offered, A collection of CENTS, from 1793 to 1857, inclusive. (1815 included).

In 1857 and 1858, additional ads ran in Public Ledger offering coins and U. S. pennies for sale. Replies were to be addressed to C. W. at the Ledger office. This may have been Charles Warner, a known dealer of the period.

I tried a search for similar terms like coin collector, coin collection and coin dealer. This proved to be quite frustrating. The site gave me matches to "corn", "comm" and even "coffin". There were too many false hits to justify continued searching.

It would appear, anyway, that the term 'numismatist' eventually caught on while the term 'virtuosos' has faded from usage.

Great topic. Has anyone else run into the name 'W. L. Shaw' ? Numismatic bibliophiles - are there books or catalogs in your library with Shaw's name? Collectors - any coins with a pedigree to Shaw? -Editor