J. A. BOLEN DIE REGISTER ON NEWMAN PORTAL

John Adams Bolen (1826-1906), diesinker of Springfield, MA, issued a number of medals in the 19th century variously related to numismatic, civic, commercial, and patriotic subjects. His work has been thoroughly and capably cataloged in Neil Musante’s The Medallic Works of John Adams Bolen (2002). Bolen’s oeuvre was exceptionally documented for the era, and the 1866 manuscript of his die register is now available on Newman Portal. Scanned from the American Numismatic Society (ANS) Rare Book Room, this document (mostly in Bolen’s hand) was donated by Tony Terranova to the ANS in 1995 and prior to that appeared in the Armand Champa library sale (part 2, Bowers & Merena 3/1995, lot 1074).

The Bolen manuscript was published in the American Journal of Numismatics (August 1866) and has been well-known since, but the images of Bolen’s own handwriting, as presented here, convey a historicity and sentiment not necessarily acquired from the heretofore published version. Apart from Musante’s comprehensive treatment of the subject, the Stack’s March 2011 Americana auction sale catalog, presenting the Q. David Bowers collection of Bolen medals, is an essential reference for the Bolen collector.

Images:

Link to Q. David Bowers collection of Bolen medals (Stack’s, January 2011):
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctionlots?AucCoId=3&AuctionId=517032&page=281

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