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ENCASED COIN STATE GRAND LODGE RICHMOND, VA
Regarding Bruce Perdue's mystery encased cent, Tom Lovelace writes: Independent Order of Good Samaritans and Daughters of Samaria. Credit the internet. I just looked it up.
Gerry Tebben writes: Bruce's encased was issued by the Independent Order of Good Samaritans and Daughters of Samaria, a temperance organization. I found this description on the Philadelphia Area Archives Research Portal.
Harry Waterson found this as well. -Editor
The Independent Order of Good Samaritans and Daughters of Samaria was established in New York City in 1847 as a temperance group and a beneficial society. Although founded by white men and women, within a few years African Americans began joining the order, for the most part segregated into separate lodges. Whites began withdrawing from the order around the time of the Civil War, and before long it was an exclusively African American organization. It was probably one of the largest African American fraternal groups. The motto of the Order of Good Samaritans and Daughters of Samaria was, "Love, Purity, and Truth." Its objects included promoting temperance reform, securing charity for the unfortunate, and burying deceased members of the order. Membership was open to women between the ages of 15 and 50, and men between 18 and 50. Abstinence from "intoxicating drinks" was required; members found violating this requirement on one occasion would be suspended, and upon a second violation be expelled. Members could also be expelled for betraying secrets of the order. A Philadelphia branch, Golden Star Lodge, No. 4, of the Independent Order of Good Samaritans and Daughters of Samaria, was organized November 17, 1880 under the jurisdiction of the Right Worthy District Grand Lodge, No. 2, of Pennsylvania and Delaware. That year, the national order counted around 20,000 members in up to 375 lodges located across the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. To read the complete article, see: Records of Golden Star Lodge No. 4 of Independent Order of Good Samaritans and Daughters of Samaria (Philadelphia, Pa.) (http://dla.library.upenn.edu/cocoon/dla/pacscl/ead.html?
Rich Bottles Jr writes: Please let Bruce Perdue know that his maverick encased cent from last week's E-Sylum is likely from "State Grand Lodge No. 6, Independent Order of Good Samaritans and Daughters of Samaria of Virginia." Reference link is: Annual report of the Commissioner of Insurance of Virginia .
Julia Casey writes:
I also found an image of "Good Samaritan Hall" at that address. Located in the archives of the Library of Congress. Image 38 of Souvenir views: Negro enterprises & residences, Richmond, Va.
Thanks also to John Byers and others who wrote in. Everyone contributed a piece of the final puzzle. It's interesting to see that this turned out to be a piece of African-American numismatica. It would be great if someone would tackle writing a catalog of this material. -Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
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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