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ON VICTOR DAVID BRENNER'S NAMEScott Miller submitted these notes to set the record straight on the name of sculptor and coin designer Victor David Brenner. -Editor Regarding your excerpt of the Greysheet article on the Birth of the Lincoln Cent, the story about Brenner changing his name from Viktoras Baranauskas is a fabrication foisted on the numismatic community in 1929 by Dr. A. M. Rackus. In an article published in The Numismatist in December 1929 entitled "Twentieth Anniversary of Lincoln Cent", Dr. Rackus made his unsubstantiated claim, stating the reason for the change was that it would be more convenient for Americans to spell his name, and because he did not want to be bothered by Russian spies. This is also the source for the undocumented claim that the secret police received a tip that Brenner was a counterfeiter, but having no evidence, asked him to duplicate the seal of a high ranking official in the army, and then arrested him for counterfeiting. Brenner then escaped and came to America to avoid being sent to Siberia or Kamtchatka. Brenner's banking record from Lithuania, where he had an account with the grand sum of one ruble, as well as his immigration and naturalization records all indicate use of either David Brenner, or Victor David Brenner. Below is a screenshot of the passenger list for arrival on the Gellert, on May 17, 1890. Despite the claim to Polish nationality, his naturalization record confirms this is Victor D. Brenner. The only other version of his name is his Hebrew name, Avigdor bar (son of) Gershon, which appears on his gravestone along with Victor D. Brenner. 
As for his having been arrested on a charge of counterfeiting, there is no specific evidence that has ever been cited. The closest bit we have comes from Katrina Trask, who, along with her husband Spencer, were the subjects of plaquettes by Brenner. In her posthumously published book Yaddo, Trask recalled a 1907 visit by Brenner to Yaddo, her estate.
After dinner, the evening Mr. Brenner arrived, he and I had a long talk. I found him most interesting. Purposely, I kept away from the object of his coming. We talked of life, of immortality, of art in general, of Russia and of many things; he described to me the awful days of Russian despotism, in the past—that past which seems now a thousand years ago, although it is only two short years; he told me how he ‘stole himself across the border,' as he expressed it, and came to this free land. It was a most exciting tale."
I would also like to thank my friend Patrick McMahon for sending me a link to this article from 2000 by Edward W. Baranauskas that debunked the name and other myths about Brenner.
Hopefully, this will set the record straight. Thank you! I was unaware of the 2000 article. -Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
Wayne Homren, Editor 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 To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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