Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-09-19
The American Numismatists Meet
in This City.
NO SHOW FOR COUN4ERFEITERS
Half a Hundred Experts in Old
Money and Medals.
THE PROGRAM OF PAPERS

Of counterfeit money are called in modern
| vernacular, should give Washington wide
| berth this week, for 1t is a bad field for
their operations. Half hundred men are
in town who can almost tell a counterfeit
coin by thu smell A single touch suffices
| to give them three-fourths of the history of
the most obscure product that a mint ever
: turned out, and a squint out of one eye
tells them the rest. They come from all
| over the country, and are experts in the
matter of coins and metals They are call
ed numismatists, or students of coins, and
they are members of the American Numis-
matte Association. now holding its fifth an
| nual COW anton in this city.
There not many followers of this
quaint cult in America, but they make up
| in ardor and enthusiasm what they may
| lack in numbers, and there are perhaps
| three hundred members of the association
scattered all over the country. and it is
| said that nearly every one has different
| fad or speciality. This one is a student of
| ancient coins. Another likes to collect gold
| pieces exclusively, while arother still has
| a foHdness for silver Some are bimetal-
| lists and have no special preference, while
| yet others are delighted with brass and
copper and bronze bits of money. AntiQui-
| ty and rarity the two elements that
| most chiefly attract these men, They have
| their scales of prices for old coins, and can
| tell the novice at a glance the value of
some unusual bit of old money that he may
| come to own by accident. Some of these
old coins are astonishingly precious and
| bring high prices The age of a coin, how
ever, does not necessarily govern its mar
| ket value, there may be other condi-
| tons connected with the mntage of such q
coin, such as the total output, etc.
| Big Business in Coins.
AS in all other trades, prices are gov
erned by supply and demand, and wonder
GUS tales told by these numisnlatists
| about fabulous sums paid for bits of
| money by the collectors. Many of those
who are in attendance at the present meet
| ing are professionals, in that they COM
| bine their love of the fad of collecting
coins and metals with their business in
stincts. There are thousands of amateur
| collectors of coins and other objects of
metal throughout the country, who, with
| out possessing any great scientific knowl-
| edge of the subject are always eager to
| add to their collections, and in supplying
these a considerable business has grown
up that is quite profitable to those who en-
| gage in it.
The convention in progress now is being
held at the rooms Of Mr.. B. H. Collins,
! HOS G street northwest who has long been
known as one of the leading numismatists
of Washington. The president of the as
ISOLATION is Washington man. Mr.. A. G.
Heaton. the well-known artist Of this city.
The vice president is Mr.. Joseph Hooper
| VI L Vi &c IlOpe, OHt, anu tne secretary Is
| Mr.. George w. Rice of Detroit It is
| quite natural that there should be a treas
urer for a money-collecting association
as. Of course, such an office is a grave
| necessity, and 1t Is at present filled by
| DR.. A. L. Fisher Of Elkhart, Ind. Mr.. W.
| c. Stone of Springfield. Mass. is librarian
and curator Mr.. w. G. Luck of Adrian
Mich, occupies the office of superintendent
of exchange, and has charge of CORE
| spondence between members of the asso-
| citation relative to what the average Ameri-
coins, but deep in the lore of trading, would
| call Swapping 1t would appear that
| the position Of counterfeit detector would
be superfiuous in such an aggregation of
| mere matter Of form, and the present in
| cumbent is s. H. Chapman Of Philadel-
phia.
| A Secret Meeting.
| This morning there was meeting of the
| executive committee at 10 o'clock in Mr..
| Collins parlors Several of the committee
| were present, and they wrestled for two or
three hours with some intricate details, to
| the exclusion Of all business in which the
| general public might he interested. This
| was secret meeting, but it need not have
been SC, because none OF the matters dis
crssed are of any interest except to those
| Immediately concerned. One of the sub
| jects under debate was the eligibility of
certain numismatists to membership in the
| association.
This evening President Heaton will give
| reception to the delegates and their
| friends at his residence, 1913 18th street
| northwest. Tomorrow there will be a pub
lie meeting at 10 o'clock, and ut 2:5O the
| association will go to Mt. Vernon. At
| o'clock tomorrow evening there will be an
| exhibition of the local collections of coins,
medals, etc.. at Mr.. Collins parlors, and
some papers will perhaps be read. 1t is
likely that some of the papers on the pro-
gram will be read on the boat tomorrow
| afternoon on the way to NJ. Vernon. They
are of technical interest to numismatists,
| and OF little concern to those vino do not
| understand the Technology of the art. An
idea of the scope of the papers may be OBJ
tanned from the following lis. of subjects:
The Papers to Be Read.
Quarter or No Quarter?' A. G. Heaton,
Washington; 1.-The Paper Currency of Phil
adelphia," w. H. Taylor North Wales, Pa. /;
Swedish Plate Money" James A. Brudin,
New York; "a Study Of Art and History
From the Coins of Ancient Greece and
Rome" Rev. Jeremiah Zimmerman, SYRIA
cuse. N. Y; "Sybaris and Croton With
Review of Their Coinage" DR.. Geo. F.
Heath, Monroe, Mich; ERRORS and Incon-
Records" Geo. W. Rice, Detroit, Mich. !;
Vermont Coinage Andrew Oatwan
SALISBURY, VT; 1.-The Coins of Nederland
India" Major Adam Smith, Poona, India;
1.-The Twelve Ancient Coins of Japan" Jas
A.. Brudin, New York; "a Symposium on
the Methodic Placements in American Nu-
Eistography," Jos. Hooper. Port Hope
Ont; 1.-The Advantages of Specialization in
Numisinatics," H. r. Storer, A. NJ. NJ. D..
Newport, R. l.; "a Side Field for the NJ
nlismatist." DR.. Geo. F. Heath: "Numis-
mates and the Japan-China War;" w. c.
sakai, Osaka. Japan; Some Additional
Notes en- the United States Half-cent Re-
strikes" George w. Rice; Chinese CLASH
tication of Coins" Jas. A. Brudin, New
York.
Husband and Wife.
William Conner, stonecutter, employed
on the new Corcoran Art Gallery on 18th