Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1884-05-15
COIN COLLECTORS.
An suuR wira A NUnismArisr.
what coins are wor.h and why-The Heads
OF Fessenden AMI OF roman Emperors

ios, hhiu Cnarles Steigsrwalt, the
corn dealer, to an lNTEhLiaENcEn reporter
on East King street the other day, "aU.
3. silver dollar OF the date Of 1904 Ia worth
from $500 to 900 according to its con.
dtion. Tho last one sold In this country
was bought by young Garrett, grand. son
OF John w. Garrett tho B Il o. railroad
king. lie is q great ooin hunter aud has
ono of the two collections acknow lodged
to be the finest In this country. The
other is owned by gentleman In Boston.
! Their value soon runs up into the tens of
thousands Of dollars. There" pointing
| to a cabinet, that stood In his little office
at No. 1870, said tho local numismatist,
sis q collection that bought the other
day from u we'll known business man, of
this city, who pursued his fancy for rare
coins for some years. paid him s2, 100
| for his assortment. l bought another
collection lately from Harrisburg tavern
keeper. He had 81 100 worth, largely
consisting Of Chinese and Japanese coins"
Mr.. Steigerwat brought out tray of
these and gave them To the interview wor for
oxamination. Some OF them were as big
as 300 pound weight on Fairbanks
| platform soalo all had inscriptions on
them like tho packages of fire. crackers or
| On Lungs receipt for dirty shirts. The
Chinese coin has n square holo In the GEN.
ire Of 1t. Mr.. Steigerwalt imports /" cash."
| their cheapest coin, on strings, by the
| peck. IL is worth oss than q mill for each
piece, and sells as curiositics at from 80 to
70 cents per 100. There is q variety of
dates and inscriptions and occasionally
one comes across rare and valuable
piece. But 1t takes CLOSE observers or
scholars to distinguish these. There is
wealth of history, of course, In q variety
Of oriental coins for those who can figure
1t out. Somo of tho gold pieces were half
| az big as tho palm of u mans hand and
marked in black enamel. One OF the most
ancient coins in the world is thick cop
per piece of Roman coinage, in Mr.. SIS
possession, with q double faced head of
Janus in relief on ono side and PROV on
the other. A very curious part of his
present stock 10 a collection OF specimens
OF Swedish coin Of thn days when the
prohigaoy OF Charles XII had emptied his
realm of more precious specie, aud the
copper miners had their clumsy sheets of
metal stamped at the government mint,
until they look like an envelope post
marked Mt halt n dCZen different Offices
One OF these pieceG, a four Daler coin,
weighs 81 pounds, and is the largest piece
of copper money ever coined.
a KsEIr shaped UGiu.
| Among tho old Chinese coins arc some
of very unique shape, resembling birds,
animals and Other natural objects. a
very rare specimen which Mr. S.eigerwalt
has is in the shape of a closed razor.
} There are plenty of Japanese aud Chinese
coins in his collection from % to 81 inches
in diameter, with curious characters in
dragon shape, or representing flowers,
birds, boats, dogs priests, donkeys, &c. In
the geography OF c image Mr.. ). has spec
linens from all over the world-Antigua,
, Barbados, Cyprus, Guernsey, Durango,
Jalisco, Seryia, Roumania, Russia-he
ranges literally " from China to Peru :"
while in chronology his collection runs
. back with many tue specimens to 4s0 B.
} Z. and yet, that all greatness did not die
with AgamemuOu, is shown in the fact
that a drachm Of BDotia, older than
Christianity, with a Ggure of nude
singer on ono side and u deer
on the reversD is worth no more than q
fifteen cent g. n-plaster OF tho war times,
: with q red b@ck, and portraits of Grant
and Sherman-s3.50. MIR. Steigerwalt has
q number Of brilliant proof U. s. dollars,
of dates as late as 1889, that are worth
from $50 to $50 each (; perfect specimens
OF the 1897 half dollar, valued at as
even q slighly bruised half dime of 1902 is
held at go O 1893 cent at s35 q choco
late colored penny Of l700 is worth ESQ,
and red cent OF 1897 is valued at s25 :;
|
: s75 a 1896 Middleton token, British
settlements in Kentucky" is held at s2j,
and copper token, Now York in Amer
; ica," eco.
Tho Demand Fixes tho Value.
There Is great variety OF patterns,
medals, tokens, coins of opochs aud events,
and medslets of all ages aud countries ;
but it is notable that tho value Of coins
does not depend so much on their age, as
is popularity supposed, as on tho demand
for them to fill out collections. Tho silver
penny Of Canute Q0lT is worth s3 so ;
that of the Edwards | IL and Ill, so
and the Oromond half crown OF
Charles l., $3.50; while tho hemi
7 drachm Of Argos can be got for 81,
tho bronze Syracusan head of Jupiter
Hellenius for s100, and tho imperial
7 brouzos of Augustus, Nero Vespasian,
Titus, Domitian, TFajan, Hadran, Mar
Gus Aurelius and Philip the Arab, for
from 40 to 75 oauts each-half the price of
a 25 cent fractional currency note with rod
back and Fessonden's face. An 1928
+ American quarter sold some time ago for
$50 80, and ak pattern proofs of the do
. spised trade dollars, date 1S73 are valued
at s40 while the broad drachm of Persia,
. (Sapor III, 80S $500, with pictures of the
! fl re- worshippers can be had for % the
% ounce quadrans of b. G. $50, for %. so !;
! a bronze of Agrippa (B. G. l4) for so
, cents, and the Luther crown coin of 1861,
D with q reverse view OF Eslebcn, for 90 80.
Uoiu Market ana Literary Centre.
Mr.. 3. is rather dealer in coins than
collector. Ho began ii In small way but
has extended his operations until he Ia one
of less than score Of the great dealers in
the country, OF whom there are not more
, than two or three in any one of the largest
: cities. He receives coins from all parts of
, tho world, and ships them daily every
where, mostly TO collectors aud curiosity
hunters who seek high and low, far and
, wide, to Oil out their cabinets. His as.
sortment Of Continental paper money is
unequalled this he retains unbroken. He
publishes bi.monthly Coin Journal and is
now preparing the catalogue for his
twentieth auction sale In New York.
i Mr.. s. is also the author of an Illus.
, trated History of tho United States and
Colonial Coins" an interesting phase of
, out political progress. Tho changes 10 the
coinage, the inscriptions, denominations,
, sizs and alloy ara very curious to trace
, and without an Investigation of tho sub.
, jcot ono would not credit tho immense
variety of American ooins extant, and
the rarity and value OF some
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