The E-Sylum:  Volume 11, Number 6, February 10, 2008, Article 17

QUIZ ANSWER: NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY NUMISMATIC AUTHOR JOHN HICKCOX

Last week I asked "which numismatic author worked for the
New York State Library?"   To which George Kolbe adds
"... and was found guilty of nefarious activities later
in his career?"

Jim Duncan had a guess but the first and only correct answer
was provided by George Kolbe.  The answer I had in mind was
John H. Hickcox, author of 'An Historical Account of American
Coinage', published in 1858.  Only 200 copies of this work
were produced and apparently most were distributed to
historians and libraries rather than coin collecting circles.
Although extremely rare the book was the first comprehensive
work on American coinage and provided the foundation for
information that would appear in later classic works.  I
consider my original copy of Hickcox a centerpiece of my
numismatic library.

After working in the New York State Library in Albany, by
1870 Hickcox was living in Washington D.C. and working at
the Library of Congress.  Hickcox is known in library circles
as the creator of United States Government Publications: A
Monthly Catalogue, also known as Hickcox's Monthly Catalogue.

But in 1882 Hickcox's career came to an abrupt end.  He was
arrested for taking letters addressed to the Librarian of
Congress. According to Q. David Bowers in his book 'American
Numismatics Before the Civil War', his crime was 'opening
mail letters and pocketing the money'.

QUICK QUIZ: What OTHER numismatic title was authored by Hickcox?

For more information on John H. Hickcox, see:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Howard_Hickcox,_Sr.

repositories.cdlib.org

 NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY ARCHIVIST ARRESTED FOR DOCUMENT THEFT
 esylum_v11n05a16.html

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

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