The United States cents of the years 1798-1799
By: by George H. Clapp
Contributors: Hines, Henry Clay, 1856-1946; Kolbe, George Frederick (Crestline, CA)
Publisher: George H. Clapp
Published: 1931
Place of publication: Sewickley, Pennsylvania
Language: eng
Number of pages: 64
Subjects: Coinage; Cent
Description: --No. 19 of an entire edition of 135. This handsome volume and Newcomb's 1925 work before it set a new standard. Carefully written, painstakingly researched, and wonderfully illustrated, both eclipsed all previous efforts. The book was dedicated "To Howard R. Newcomb and Henry C. Hines, whose help and encouragement gave inspiration to the task". The copy at hand was Henry Hine's personal presentation copy and is accompanied by a treasure trove of correspondence and other materials that document his deep involvement in its development. Included are: a loose set of 1798-1799 photographic plates with Clapp's ink address stamp on the backs; a September 24, 1922 handwritten letter on Biltmore Hotel stationary from George H. Clapp to Henry Hines on "the '97-'98 puzzle" and "some of the '98's that we decided on Friday I had wrongly indentified," accompanied by two sheets of his "new scheme"; a two page carbon typescript entitled " A study of "Rev. H' of Doughtry, Cents of 1798", inscribed in ink at the end, "Sent to H.R. Newcomb, 12/7/22"; a four page carbon typescript of a January 27, 1923 letter to Howard R.Newcomb from George Clapp sent by Claff to Hines covering the same topic in great detail; a two page carbon typescript of a February 4, 1923 letter to Newcomb, again on the "Rev. H" conundrum, noting that "As Mr. Hines has been bothering ove the same problem I am sending copies of this and my previous letter to him for his opinion and if we three can agree we will let the rest 'go home'; a handwritten January 29, 1923 letter from Clapp to HInes,written on both sides of a sheet of Clapp stationery, noting that "I am ready to write a book on "What I don't know about 1798' and it will be a big one...."; a most interesting July 23, 1930 handwritten letter on both sides of printed Clapp stationery bemoaning delays in completing the book, noting that "the photography has been slow" asking if Hines will part with some cents sent to Clapp for photography (his "Obv. 115, Rev. new...is a disgrace"), and confessint that "I am getting Very Tired of my job"; Hines carbon copy of a Jauary 4, 1932 letter quoted in part in the above headline and acknowledging "the beautiful copy you so generously present to me"; an April 5, 1932 letter in Hines' barely decipherable scrawl on a 1798 variety, with Clapp's handwritten pencil response on the back, a handwritten note on the back of an envelope, notheing the "Cost of plates alone over $300,000" in the work at hand and observing that "H. C. H." is reviewing proposed work on 1795-96-97's and 1800's"; a handwrittend list of "1798 Cents"; photographs of both sides of "H.C. Hines' 1799 Cent, Photographed by Howland Wood, Nov. 1930," including Wood's signed cover letter, asking Hines to bring the coin back to the American Numismatic Society again, since "We are not satisfied with the result of the photographs that we made of your cent, due we think largely to the smoke in the room"; several newspaper clippings headlined "Pays $2,500 for Penny and Calls It a Bargain" or something similar (all pertaining to Hines' 1799 cent acquisition), including one in Fraktur titled"18,000 Schilling für einen Groschen" and accompanied by a typewritten translation (in a long article present here Hines notes: "I have attended sales all over this country and in Europe....many rare specimens have been found by collectors in examining family possessions in Europe"); detailed handwritten descriptions of three "1799 cents-Aug. 3, 1926" (Cornell, Raymond, Hines' specimens) on Newark Athletic Club stationery; rubbings on ten tissue slips of 1798 and 1799 cents with handwritten descriptions, one attached to an interesting 5/10/25 handwritten letter on three pages from Claff to Hines of 1799 cents and other early dates; enlarged photographs on both sides of a "Fake 1799"; carbon typescript description of a 1799 cent including a note that "Collectors must be on their guard against altered 1799"; several coin envelopes and a few other bits of ephermera. Also included here is a fascinating body of correspondence pertaining to Henry Hines' acquisition of a 1799 cent in Herny Chapman's March 14-15, 1917 auction sale and the earlier condemnation of another similar specimen. Present are original signed March 17 & 19, 1917 letters from Henry Chapman to Henry Hines, an original signed March 17, 1917 letter from Charles McGirk to Hines, a handwritten signed March 20, 1917 letter to Hines from Hillyer Ryder, a long March 23, 1917 letter handwritten in pencil from Daniel E. Houpt to Hines and typewritten transcription of th relevant portions of fifteen 1912-1917 letters from for to Dr. Chas E. McGirk and the following correspondents: Ben G. Green, Dr. French and Henry Chapman. On May 10, 1912, McGirk wrote to Green, questioning the authenticity of an auction lot from Green's May 4, 1912 sale, a "cracked dies" 1799 cent similar to a 1798 Mc Girk sent for comparison. In a May 13, 1912 letter cited here, McGirk notes that when Judson Brenner bought the coin he sent it to "Chas. Steigerwalt who pronounced it genuine...but upon comparison with your speciment..there can be not doubt it was 1798 altered to 99. Mr. Breneer was so sure of this that he destroyed the coin in my presence this A.M." Portions of ten interesting 1912-1913 letters between McGirk and George P. Frence on the topicthen follow. The transcribed correspondence concludes with March 8, 13, & 15 1917 letters between Henry Chapman and MCGirk. In the first, Chapman writes that "In regards to lot 291-1799 cent broken die, I am sending this lot to you so that you may see it. At the same time I am sending you another from the same dies before the break which shows the piece to be perfectly genuine." In the second letter, McGirk reluctantly agrees: "You may be right as to the diew variety of this cent...I was able to find the same die broken both sides exactly like 1799 lot 291 in the coins issued in 1798. The [1799] speciment you sent me and the French speciment seem to be exactly alike and I am afraid I will have to give in for the present..." The final missive acknowledges the returen of the 1799 cents by Chapman, noting that the sale speciment "sold for $50.00" and in pencil that "This was bought by H.C.Hines" Chapman's March 17, 1917 letter recaps the controversy and guarantees the authenticity of the coin, writing in part, "As I carefully examined the [1799 cent] in the Houpt collection when cataloguing it, I saw that the piece was perfectly genuine and had no hesitancy it telling Dr. McGirk that he was making a mistake and that I regretted greatly the destruction of the piece by Mr. Brenner, as he had caused a genuine coin of excessive rarity to be destroyed". In the March 17, 1917 letter to Hines, McGirk backtracks and provides a rather fanciful explanation, perhaps to cover his embarrassment" "The specimen that Chapman sold I saw and am free to confess that is is an exact duplicate of the Frenc speicment from which the cut in the [1911] Numismatist was made. It looks to me as though this 1799 over 98 was made from the dies of the 1798 variety crack die obv. and rev. and it may be that the striking of these coins ws made long after the year 1799 by some one who could change the 8 to a nine and sell a number of cents that were very rare at a good price, along about the time that the 1804 and 1823 restrikes were made". In his March 19, 1917 letter to Hines, Chapman questions McGirk's assertion that the 1799 and 1798 pieces in question are from the same dies. In his March 20, 1917 letter Hillyer Ryder writes "regarding 1798 cent 22D....It is merely a 1798, not a 1799 in any sense, McGirk means to say it is a variety that is sometimes altered (fraudulently-not in the die) because the shape or fullness of the date made it mroe easily changed to 1799 than other varieties. Perhaps you might get more light from Dr. French who probably has the variety. I am doing very little in coins now...Am worried over the foreign situation. I think the labor situation is by no means settled. Wilson gets his court decision thanks to his having packed the jury". In response to a letter from Hines, Daniel Houpt's March 23, 1917 letter notes that 'as to the 1799 ct and as to how I got it is quite a history". Houpt frequently advertised to buy three dollar gold pieces and as a result, "quite a few came to me that had old cents & other coin." Noting that a 1799 cent in his collection early on had been condemned as a fake, he writes that he was later offered a complete set of cents, 1793-1857, for $150." I did not want then as I had a nice set but I bought the 1831 + the 1799 from a "Mr Rosenbaugh" in Philadelphia. "Chapman told me that he had nver seen a cent like it." A unique and wonderful assemblage providing much insight into the activites and researches of large cent movers and shakers in the early twentieth century--Auction catalog notation.
Notes: 2 leaves of photographs tipped in.

Manuscript annotations found throughout book.

The copy at hand was Henry C. Hines' personal presentation copy.

Lot #43 in Kolbe Numismatic literature sale #111 (Jan. 9, 2010). purchase.

Original black and blue cloth with gilt lettering on front cover and spine.

catalog 2010-12-14 mml Funding for cataloging donated in honor of Brent and Mack Pogue.