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THE U.S. MINT'S "FIRST FAMILY" - THE ECKFELDTS
Numismatic researchers Len Augsburger and Joel Orosz this week reviewed an important group of materials relating to Adam Eckfeldt and his descendants. Eckfeldt was the first Chief Coiner of the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, and he and generations of his family have served the Mint in various capacities - they are what many consider the "First Family" of the Mint.
Below is their report along with images of some photos from the Eckfeldt family archive. It's a delight to learn that these materials have survived over a century and are being made available to authors. If Neil Shafer is the "Indiana Jones" of numismatic research, then this dynamic duo are Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter, discoverers of King Tut's tomb. Congratulations! We bibliophiles will await publication of further details. -Editor Joel Orosz and Len Augsburger had the privilege of spending two days this week with a descendant of Adam Eckfeldt who resides on the East Coast. The extended family is very aware of their numismatic legacy and has done an outstanding job of preserving Eckfeldt memorabilia throughout the years. We present here a number of images of family members taken from the collection. Adam of course was the patriarch, serving as chief coiner in the first United States Mint. Later, son Jacob R. and grandson Jacob B. worked in the Assay Department. Jacob B.'s letter of resignation was dated 1929 - representing a remarkable span of over 130 consecutive years of service to the U.S. Mint. William E. DuBois married a daughter of Adam Eckfeldt and both William and his son Patterson served in the Mint Assay Department. Additional photographs and ephemera from the Eckfeldt Collection will be presented in Orosz and Augsburger's forthcoming work, "Pictures of the First United States Mint: The Numismatic Legacy of Frank H. Stewart." Stewart carried on a lively correspondence with Jeanette Eckfeldt, the wife of Jacob B. Eckfeldt, and attended Eckfeldt's 50th year of service celebration in 1915. A silver cup donated on that occasion by Eckfeldt's coworkers remains in the family, as do many other interesting items.
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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