CHARLES ENDERS, JR.

Charles Enders, Jr. was a young coin dealer for a brief period of time in the 1880's. His legacy in numismatics extends to the present day.

He was born in New York City, the son of Charles Enders and Katherine Schulz. At the time of the 1870 Census, he is listed as six years old. The 1900 Census showed his birth in June, 1864, the closest thing found to his date of birth.

Enders worked at a department store, A.T. Stewart's dry Goods Emporium in New York City. He read extensively about numismatics and set up business at home as a coin dealer.

John Lupia had correspondence between Enders and the Chapman brothers in 1882 when Enders was about eighteen. Enders also acquired coins from Charles Steigerwalt.

Enders resided at 51 Sheriff Street with his parents and siblings around 1880 to 1886. At the time this was a tenement occupied mostly by immigrants. After he married, he moved to 324 East 69th Street for 1887-89 and then to 421 West 45 th Street in 1890.

In June 1885, Enders ran a full-page ad in The Agassiz Journal for Curiosity Collectors. He offered inexpensive items that might appeal to a curiosity collector as well as a beginning coin collector.

Near the bottom of the ad he offered a book, Collectors' Handbooks of Greek and Roman Coins, Stamps, Shells, Insects, Birds, Beetles and Fossils. All written by first-class specialists, and each volume is fully illustrated, and of which will be sent on receipt of 10 cts., together with my catalogues and price-lists.

Charles Enders issued a Price List and Catalogue of Rare Electrotype Coins and Medals. For Sale by Charles Enders, Jr. in about 1886 This was a single sheet folded into four pages. It listed about 140 items with a few bulk lots. Most were priced at $.20 to $.35 each.

Several past items in The E-Sylum refer to him as "Electrotypist Charles Enders, Jr." I have found no contemporary confirmation that he was the manufacturer but I doubt if he made them in his parents' tenement. If he could sell one for twenty cents, the material and labor costs must have been low.

The most expensive item on the list was a Declaration of Independence medal, size 56, for $1.00. This matches the description of electrotypes known to be produced by Samuel H. Black around 1860. Whoever produced the electrotypes also needed access to high grade rare coins to copy. I think this is a topic worthy of additional study.

Enders had an ad in Brooklyn Magazine in July 1886. That same month he ran a full-page ad in the American Journal of Numismatics. Near the bottom he offered a new book by Barclay V. Head, English Coins and Tokens, at the price of 60 cents, postpaid.

The ad includes a brief note: "Send Stamp for New Catalog." In the book compiled by Remy Bourne, Fixed Price Lists & Premium Paid For Lists of United States Coin dealers 1822-1900, there is no listing for Enders.

By 1886 he was investing in real estate. He owned property in the Tenderloin District between 31st and 33rd Streets. This was acquired by the Pennsylvania Railroad for construction of Penn Station.

Charles married Amelia Fiedler in 1887. They had three children, Leila. Charles and Howard.

He had to give up coin dealing because of poor eyesight. Enders saw good prospects in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, and moved there about 1895. He bought up vacant land, built houses and did a good business in real estate. He became the wealthiest man in the village.

There are gaps in the Enders story that I can't fill. I doubt if he made enough money selling twenty-cent electrotypes to invest in Manhattan real estate. It is likely that he had another job but that does not show up in his history.

Enders bought a weekly newspaper, the Ridgefield Park Bulletin in 1906. He served on the school board and was involved in community activities.

There is family lore that he had a seat on the stock exchange and lost big in 1929. That is undocumented.

Enders suffered a heart attack in the office of his newspaper on March 23, 1943.

Enders died of coronary thrombosis at Hackensack Hospital on February 22, 1945. He was cremated so there was no burial and no headstone with a birthdate. Obituaries in some newspapers stated that he died at home at age 82. At the time of his death, he was the oldest member of Livingston Lodge No. 657 F. and A. M. in New York City He was a past master of the lodge.

Obituaries often have nice things to say. His son, Howard Crosby Enders wrote, "One of his frequently quoted mottos was "Men are only as great as they are kind," This great man sincerely exemplified the true meaning of that quotation."

I would like to hear from E-Sylum readers who know more about electrotypes than I do. Can any be traced back to their maker?

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
THE 1787 BRASHER DOUBLOON ELECTROTYPE (https://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n43a13.html)
ELECTROTYPIST CHARLES ENDERS, JR (https://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n47a09.html)
QUERY: 1786 NEO-EBORACENESIS ELECTROTYPES (https://www.coinbooks.org/v22/esylum_v22n40a12.html)

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