Recently I completed a book which will be titled American Numismatics Before the Civil War. The weekly newspaper, Coin World, will be serializing selected excerpts from it.

The book started out as a biography of Augustus B. Sage, early dealer who, among other accomplishments, was the first person to write a continuing coin column in a newspaper (New-York Dispatch in 1857), the first American dealer to issue a series of continuing commemorative medals, was the prime founder of the American Numismatic Society (in the living room of his home at 121 Essex Street, New York City, in 1858, was the leading rare coin auction cataloguer in the year 1859, etc.

Along the way, the book expanded to include not only Sage, but vignettes and stories of dozens of other collectors, dealers, museums, and numismatic items. With much help and research from good friends and experts in the token and medal field, I have now completed this book (over 18 chapters, hundreds of illustrations, anticipated to be several hundred pages in length) and gave the manuscript to our Graphics Department for layout and publication. Look for details on our special pre-publication offer on American Numismatics Before the Civil War, 1760-1860 on our web-page, or call our Publications Department toll-free at 1-800-222-5993.

Happy Collecting!