(1778) Encyclopedia plate of coining equipment. Folio, 13 1/2" x 9". From The New complete dictionary of arts and sciences by Erasmus Middleton and others. Published in London, the Middleton Dictionary was one of many Enlightenment-era encyclopedias that were something like well-illustrated forerunners of the World Book. This plate, numbered XX, depicts some diagrams of prisms at the bottom while the top shows, from left to right, a detailed rendition of a screw press, a set of dies for a George III guinea, and a Castaing machine, complete with a planchet-filled basket beneath. The condition is good, the white paper in good order with no foxing or significant toning. The piece is gently mounted to cardboard back and matting, easily removeable for placement in a folio envelope or matted and framed. A fine and readily displayed contemporary reference documenting 18th century coining equipment...$475
Scarce and Early Washington Wax Portrait
(ca. 1800-25) George Washington wax portrait. Wax, framed (in cherry?) behind glass. Framed dimensions 7 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches, portrait 3 1/2 inches tall. Very Fine or better. A nicely preserved early portrait of Washington and a fine example of wax portraiture, popular in America and abroad from mid 18th century until the third decade of the 19th century. This portrait is in white wax, showing good detail in the profile, hair, and epauletted uniform. While wax portraits, especially ones like this that were "mass-produced" for popular consumption, are rarely crisp, but this is better detailed than often seen. The frame is in good order, with a mount and loop at top and showing nice old patina. The glass is intact and clear, and the back of the frame is uniform and free of issue. The most famous wax portrait of Washington is perhaps the one accomplished by Patience Wright, the mother of US Mint engraver Joseph Wright. This anonymous portrait of Washington would make a charming and decorative addition to any collection of early Americana...$1375
Civil War Stirrup with Copper-Nickel Indian Cent Rowel
(ca. 1862) rider's stirrup with Indian cent rowel. Bronze, 5 1/2 inches long. Very Fine / As Found. The rowel is a copper nickel (1860-64) Indian Head cent, and plenty of detail remains on both sides. The spurs are clearly hand cut, while the stirrup itself is finely made, nicely patinated, shows a small decoration atop the rowel. This piece was found in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia; presumably the coin rowel was an emergency replacement for the original rowel, lost sometime during the war (or "the late unpleasantness," as one tour guide I once worked with at Monticello used to call it). I've handled a stirrup with a coin rowel before, a piece that was found out West and used a Seated quarter. This piece, with a coin datable to the Civil War and a provenance that suggests the same, should be desirable to an even wider range of collectors...Hold
(ca. 1782-1807) Indian Trade silver cross by Robert Cruikshank, Montreal. Silver, 5 1/4" x 2 3/4". Very Fine. Holed for suspension, jump ring perhaps a later addition. Single bar, bilobate ended form, finely decorated on front and back with engraved and stamped floral decoration, bold script RC touchmark at center. Rich old gray toning throughout, save for area at central reverse where a label was once present. A typical, 100% (guaranteed, forever) authentic Indian Trade silver cross from the most famous maker working in Canada from the era before the American Revolution until a few years before the War of 1812. Cruikshank, a Scottish emigre who is thought to have briefly lived in Boston, was one of the primary suppliers of silver trade ornaments to the British military complex in the St. Lawrence Valley and the Great Lakes region. He likewise supplied John Jacob Astor, the Hudson's Bay Company, and traders in places like Pittsburgh and Detroit, where a large debt was recorded to Cruikshank and his partner, Charles Arnoldi, from the firm of Thomas Williams and Company in 1804. Specimens of his work have been found archaeologically all over the Great Lakes region, with many sites noted by Quimby (Indian Culture and European Trade Goods. The Heye Foundation / Museum of the American Indian holds an identical form to this piece, with similar but less flowery engraving, illustrated in The Covenant Chain, a 1980 National Museum of Man (Ottawa) exhibition as plate 87. Hamilton (Silver in the Fur Trade) illustrates another very similar Cruikshank cross, the same size but slightly different form at the base, on page 212. "Where Two Worlds Meet," a Minnesota Historical Society catalogue from 1982, illustrated another very similar Cruikshank cross found at Big Sandy Lake, Minnesota.
Genuine Indian Trade silver is incredibly rare, particularly so in the marketplace. I'd estimate 95% of items offered as Indian Trade silver is fake, including the entire inventory of a dealer I've seen set up at major conventions. Genuine items tend to be very thin and ephemeral -- Indians were interested in brightness and size of the ornament, but had no interest in the weight, thus most objects were made nearly paper-thin, to maximize the expensive silver that went into making it. While it is possible to authenticate unsigned forms, particularly ones with good provenance, pieces with a good, solid, easily identified mark of a major maker make the job much easier. I've been lucky enough to see a fair bit of genuine Indian Trade silver, both in museums and in the marketplace, including buying and selling most of the William Guthman collection in 2006. Most of what exists are small, typical forms, things like circular and heart-shaped brooches or even misshapen cut thin pieces of silver. Large crosses are the exception, not the norm. This fact is backed up by documented evidence of Cruikshank's production in 1801, which included more than 35,000 small brooches but just 60 "large crosses" like this one. According to the Sir William Johnson papers, a large cross (up to 5 1/2") could be traded for a small beaver or a medium sized buck, a standard value that lets us refer to items like this not just as a trade item, but frontier currency from the fur trading regions of the late 18th century. This piece shows good eye appeal and metal quality, including no evidence of ever being dug. It would be a centerpiece in an open-minded collection focusing on American numismatics of the late 18th century...$5950
(ca. 1820-40) Declaration of Independence snuff box. Black lacquer finished paper mache, 3 1/2" diameter, 3/4" tall. Extremely Fine. A beautiful quality specimen of this popular snuffbox. The complete printing of the Declaration of Independence (and signers!) is intact on both sides. Some light crazing and a few very minor chips at the extremities are present, but the preservation is outstanding overall. This inferior piece brought $920 in a Cowan's auction eight years ago, and there's one one eBay right now for around three grand. In terms of decorated paper mache snuff boxes of the second quarter of the nineteenth century, this is fairly common -- it must have been a hot seller (perhaps for the 1826 semicentennial?). It's nice to see one in such nice shape...$1350
Historic and Scarce 1830's Chief Black Hawk Snuffbox
(ca. 1835) Mac-cut-i-mish-e-ca-cu-cac or Black Hawk snuff box. Black lacquer finished paper mache, 3 1/2" diameter, 3/4" tall. Very Fine. A very nice quality image of Chief Black Chief, based on one of the post-1833 prints of James Otto Lewis' original painting, accomplished in the mid 1820s. Black Hawk became famous after his raids in modern-day Illinois and Wisconsin, popularly known as the Black Hawk War, in 1832. This image is somewhat stylized, but most who saw this snuff box likely never owned the print. As on most known specimens of this snuff box, most of the inscription has chipped off the bottom of the lid, though the black outlines of BLACK HAWK are still visible. This unusual early portrait snuff box would make a fine display item or auxiliary item to a collection of Indian Peace medals...$1150
Historic Minstrel Show Broadside
"Who Wants a Gold Lever Watch for a QUARTER?"
(ca. 1860). Sharpley's Minstrels broadside. 6 1/2 x 4 3/4" Printed on one side. Very Good. Manuscript inscription on blank verso of Jacob Light of North Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Ragged at the left edge, chunk missing near lower right corner, doodled all over with math notations, mostly in pencil, a few in pen. A number of different troupes toured as some variation of Sharpley's in the 1860s, and most covered territory that could have included southeastern Pennsylvania. This broadside apparently promotes the evenings big giveaway -- a big heavy gold watch that some lucky attendee would buy for just a quarter. If this thing said "two bits" on it, I'd be asking a thousand bucks. As it is, the prominence of QUARTER in the layout makes this pretty interesting numismatically, perhaps as outside-the-box association material with a collection of two reales or Seated quarters. Its interest simply as a minstrel broadside should make it worth...$375
Fascinating Ohio Treasury Warrant to Pay For 1840 Presidential Election
November 15, 1840 Paulding County, Ohio Treasurer's Warrant. Issued to Alfred Snoufe (?) for "bringing in Returns of Pres. Election." Considering that one of Paulding County's townships is named Harrison, I would guess that the election's winner, William Henry Harrison, may have won the country's returns. This piece retains its stub, suggesting it was a retained copy. Some evidence of mounting is visible on the back. The glory of documents is that something so seemingly obscure -- a financial instrument for a small sum from a western Ohio county treasurer -- speaks to a broader historical theme. Paulding County borders Indiana, where Harrison made his fame as an Indian fighter and governor. When Harrison was elected in 1840, he was a resident of western Ohio. Paulding County, thanks to nearby canals, was thriving at the time. Its population in 1835, according to Wikipedia, has not been surpassed since. This would be a nice association piece with a collection of William Henry Harrison election medalets...$175