Lammont duPont (sometimes spelled Lammot) was born near Wilmington, Delaware on October 12, 1880 and died on July 24, 1952. He graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1901 and joined the family firm in 1902. He was married several times and had a total of 10 children. He was president of E.I. duPont de Nemours & Co. from 1926 to 1940 and chairman of the board from 1940 to 1948.

Robert Coulton Davis was born in Philadelphia circa 1813 and died on August 25, 1888. He was a pharmacist who was employed by Charles Ellis and was later in business for himself. His collections included signers of the Declaration of Independence, in addition to his coin collection. Davis wrote a serial on Pattern coins published in the Coin Collector’s Journal. He held membership in the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia as well as the American Philosophical Society.

Virgil Brand lived from January 16, 1862 until June 20, 1926. His entire life was spent in the vicinity of Chicago, Illinois. He was employed in the brewery business of his father, the Michael Brand & Company Brewery. He worked into the office of President of the United States Brewing Company and opened his own Brand Brewing Company in 1899. Ten years earlier, he began his coin collecting activities. If numbers of coins is the criteria, Brand formed one of the most extensive collections in this country, numbering approximately 350,000 pieces. After his death, settlement of the Brand Estate took considerable time. In fact, one commentary suggests that an attorney passed the bar, went to work on the Brand Estate, and retired before it was completely settled.

Frederick C.C. Boyd was born in New York City on April 10, 1886 and died on September 7, 1958. He is visible to the numismatic world today through the sales of the John J. Ford Collection, the latter having acquired many numismatic items from Boyd. His employment was as an advertising manager of the American Tobacco Company in New York, later managing the Union News Company. During the 1930s, Boyd served as a board member of the National Recovery Administration, and later as a board member of the Office of Price Administration during the second World War. His numismatic interests were far reaching, from colonials to odd and curious, as well as political ribbons. In 1945 and 1946, Abe Kosoff and his Numismatic Gallery sold portions of the Boyd Collection under the non de plume “World’s Greatest Collection.”

Interactive CD-ROM features zoomable digital color images, entire book text

The Coin Collector’s Survival Manual®, Fifth Edition, authored by Scott A. Travers and published by Random House, is now available as an interactive CD-ROM software program. The multi-media computer version, optimized for Microsoft Windows XP, features “every single word and photograph from this essential book,” according to Tom Bilotta, president of Carlisle Development, the computer software publisher. Random House Information Group granted a license to Carlisle to produce software based on the book.

“But the most extraordinary aspect, aside from bringing this landmark work to personal computer users, is the use of over 260 digital color and black & white images,” Bilotta added. The software program will allow the user to zoom in on images for close inspection of grade-sensitive areas—and to carefully examine the surfaces of coins that are counterfeit, doctored or altered.

“This is the software version of the most important book I have ever written” declared Scott A. Travers, New York City author, dealer and consumer advocate. The new Survival Manual reveals trade secrets on how to make money and avoid mistakes in the $3-billion-a-year rare coin marketplace. (more…)

John Daggett served as the Superintendent of the San Francisco Mint from July 31, 1893 until July 31, 1897. Daggett had a long and eventful life. He was born on May 9, 1833 and lived until August 30, 1919, when he died at the age of 86 years. John and his brother, David, headed to California in 1852, although David decided to return home soon after, when he became ill. He died on the voyage home.

John remained in California, and served as the postmaster of the small town of Sawyer’s Bar. Soon after, in January 1859 he became involved in politics and attended a state legislature meeting. He spent the Civil War years in Nevada, returning to his northern California home in 1865. For the next seven years, John and his business partners operated a successful mine, selling it in 1872. John bought the mine back in 1895.

He was married to Alice Foree in 1870, and they had three surviving children (three others died in childhood): Ben Foree Daggett, Hallie Morse Daggett, and Leslie Wells Daggett. John Daggett continued in politics and spent 11 sessions in the state legislature before being elected Lieutenant Governor of California, serving this role from 1882 to 1888, a period when he lived in Los Angeles. During this time, he founded the town of Daggett, California, northeast of Los Angeles. Among his other activities, he was chosen as a representative of California to the World’s Columbian Exposition.

Bode-Museum
legend Bode-Museum Ende der Bildunterschrift For the design of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum (renamed Bode Museum in 1956), the emperor Wilhelm II commissioned the head government building officer Ernst von Ihne, one of the best-known exponents of “Wilhelminian Baroque”. In order to achieve the appearance of a building rising from water the architect arranged the three-winged building around several interior courtyards so that the exterior facades immediately bordered the banks of the river Spree. A dominating dome and two opulent staircases lend the building a stately air which is underlined further by the decorative elements such as the monumental pilasters, demi-columns and window surrounds. The former general director of the museums Wilhelm von Bode himself made suggestions concerning the lighting of the rooms and their proportioning. The art works were shown within the context of original ceilings, fire places, door jambs, tapestries and furniture. Bodes presentation concept, aimed at a general effect of authenticity, was influential throughout the world. The museum was opened in 1904. During the Second World War much of the building, especially the dome, suffered great damages. Beginning in the 1950s, step by step the museum was reconstructed and put back into use. In the 1990s, general restoration began with the first parts of reconstruction work; in August 2000 construction works for the basic restoration followed. The Numismatic Collection has been open to visitors at the Bode Museum since 22 October 2004, opened on the occasion of its 100th anniversary. In October 2006, the Bode Museum will re-open in its entirety, displaying the Sculpture Collection, the Numismatic Colletion and works from the Gemäldegalerie – Old Master Paintings.

The Münzkabinett (Numismatic Collection)
is one of the largest collections of its kind with around 500,000 objects. The collection owes its international renown to its rich diversity as well as the comprehensiveness of its coin series which range from the beginnings of coinage in the seventh century BC in Asia Minor to the coins and medals of the twenty-first century. On the occasion of the centenary of the Bode Museum, the Numismatic Collection was ceremoniously re-opened on 22 October 2004, after six years of restoration. Until the Bode Museum re-opens in its entirety in 2006, only the study room of the Numismatic Collection will be accessible to the public. In the meantime, the collection is presented in a permanent display of 2,000 first-class exhibits of ancient coins at the Pergamon Museum. Selected coins are also exhibited at the Altes Museum and the Museum of Pre- and Early History. The most significant holdings within the Numismatic Collection include: 102,000 Greek coins and about 50,000 from ancient Rome; 160,00 European coins from the Middle Ages to modern times and 35,000 Oriental-Islamic coins. There are also 25,000 examples of medals, which began to develop as an art form around 1400 AD. Apart from the coins and medals, the collection also contains paper currency, historical seals dating from the Middle Ages, and examples of different forms of money used by primitive peoples. In addition there are more than 15,000 minting tools, including over 10,000 dies with which coins were struck in Berlin from the 17th century onwards, as well as a large collection of casts. The Numismatic Collection acquired its leading status primarily through the comprehensiveness of the series in its possession, as well as through a significant number of extremely rare items. The motifs on the coins are highly varied and themes tend to reappear throughout the centuries. Images include religious themes from ancient mythology and Christian beliefs, coats of arms, animals, plants, buildings and famous personalities.

Numismatic Collection History

The beginnings of the Münzkabinett (Numismatic Collection) date back to the art collection of the Electors of Brandenburg. In 1649 there were already about 5,000 items, mainly ancient coins. In 1830 the Numismatic Collection moved for the first time into its own rooms at the Altes Museum where it could be viewed by the public. In 1868 the collection was awarded independent status as a museum. By the end of the German Empire in 1918 the number of coins had increased significantly as a result of numerous purchases and the acquisition of large private collections. In 1904 the collection moved to its new home at the Kaiser Friedrich Museum (renamed Bode Museum in 1956) where rooms on the lower floor facing Kupfergraben were specially redesigned to suit the needs of the Numismatic Collection. The collection managed to survive the Second World War in the air-raid shelter belonging to the Pergamon Museum. From there it was taken to the Soviet Union and returned in 1957. As the Numismatic Collection was situated in the east of the city it belonged to the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (National Museums in Berlin) of the German Democratic Republic. With German reunification the collection became part of the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Foundation of Prussian Cultural Heritage). In the 1990s, the initial of reconstruction of the Bode Museum began; in August 2000 basic restoration work followed. The Numismatic Collection re-opened on 22 October 2004 as the first of the Bode Museum’s collections. Until the Bode Museum re-opens in its entirety in 2006, only the study room of the Numismatic Collection will be accessible to the public. In the meantime, the collection is presented in a permanent display of 2,000 first-class exhibits of ancient coins at the Pergamon Museum. Selected coins are also exhibited at the Altes Museum and the Museum of Pre- and Early History.

Address:

Bode Museum
Berlin Mitte, Bodestrasse 1-3
D-10178 Berlin Germany