SAMUEL BRECK (1771-1862)

Joel J. Orosz contributes the Numismatic Bookie column to Coin World. The June 16 issue mentions an early numismatic writer, Samuel Breck. I think he is worthy of an article.

Samuel Breck was born in Boston on July 17, 1771. His father was Samuel Breck Sr. (1747- 1809) and mother was Hannah Andrews (1747-1830). The father was a prosperous Boston merchant and one who made a profit during the Revolutionary War. He was a fiscal agent for the Royal Army and Navy of France and after the war, a director of the Bank of the United States. The family moved to Philadelphia in 1793.

The Revolutionary War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783. At about that time, at age eleven, Samuel was sent to school in France. He attended the Royal Military School at Loreze, France, 1783 to 1787.

With $10,000 provided by his father in 1790, he established a shipping business as a merchant in Philadelphia.

Breck served as a corporal during the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion. He was married to Jane Ross (1773-1858) on December 24, 1795, and had a daughter Lucy (1807-1828).

In 1797 Breck commissioned construction of a home he called Sweetbriar at 1 Sweetbriar Lane in West Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. Originally it occupied a spacious 33-acre plot, a gift from his father-in-law, John Ross. Breck wanted a place in the county away from the seasonal yellow fever epidemics in Philadelphia. The Fairmount Dam was constructed downriver in 1821. Breck was concerned about the health risks of stagnant water. His fears were confirmed with the Typhoid death of his daughter at age twenty-one. The building has been remodeled several times but remains standing in Fairmount Park.

Sweetbriar

He was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate and served 1817 to 1821. He introduced a bill to abolish slavery in Pennsylvania. This was unpopular, failed to pass and probably quashed his chances for reelection.

Breck became president of the Schuylkill Bank in 1822.

He served in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1923, to March 3, 1825. He returned to the Pennsylvania Senate serving 1832 to 1834.

Breck was a prolific writer and speaker on local history. He compiled Historical Sketch of Continental Paper Money, published by John C. Clark in Philadelphia as part of The Transactions of the Historical and Literary Committee of the American Philosophical Society. Volume III, part 1 (1843).

This was the first numismatic article to be republished as a booklet. It was reprinted in 1863 by A. C. Kline and again in 1869 in Mason's Coins and Stamp Collector's Magazine.

The original was based on two essays read before the APS. The Kline reprint runs 33 pages with a one-page appendix. Mason's reprint was spread over issues from May 1869 to at least September of 1870. The serialization ended abruptly and before completion, The Mason reprint is too fragmented to be of much use.

Breck also contributed to our numismatic knowledge through his biographies. He published a pamphlet Sketch of the Benevolent Services of the late Jacob G. Morris and another A Short Biography of Robert M. Patterson, M.D.

Breck's observations offer valuable insights into his era in America. Several titles of books and pamphlets by Breck are available as modern reprints on Amazon.

I have found no record that Breck collected coins or paper money. At that time, examples of Continental Currency would have been easy to obtain.

Breck kept diaries, lecture manuscripts. letters and travel logs. He wrote in the hope that these would be preserved and appreciated.

We love the offsprings of our speech and pen too well to let even the most trifling and ephemeral of them encounter utter forgetfulness. If any good natured, patient relative, should have the courage to run his eye over them, I hope he or she will think kindly of their author.

The Sanuel Breck papers are preserved at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Breck had memberships in The American Philosophical Society (APS), The Historical Society of Philadelphia, The Library Company of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Athenaeum.

He died at home on Arch Street in Philadelphia on August 31, 1862, and is buried in the family plot in Saint Peter's Episcopal Churchyard.

I am disturbed by the photo of Samuel Breck. He looks to me like someone else I have seen before with a different name. Does anyone else think he looks familiar?

Original and Kline Reprint of Breck's Historical Sketch of Continental Paper Money

Breck, Samuel. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CONTINENTAL PAPER MONEY. Philadelphia: John C. Clark, Printer, 60 Dock Street, 1843. Offprinted from Transactions of the Historical and Literary Committee of the American Philosophical Society, Volume III, Part I (Philadelphia: Published by Carey and Hart, 1843). First edition. 8vo, self-covered and stitched. 40 pages. Inscribed "Honble. George M. Dallas, Respectfully presented by the author" in period ink at the head of the title. Folded; minor spotting. Very good. The very rare first edition, one of perhaps half a dozen in private hands.

A prominent citizen of Philadelphia, Breck (1771–1862) was the author of many historical addresses and dissertations. This essay on the paper currency of the Revolution is considered by the Dictionary of American Biography to be his most notable work.

Reissued in 1863 by the important early American coin collector A.C. Kline, it is one of the earliest American numismatic works to be reprinted. In his preface of his reprint, Kline states: "This pamphlet has now become of such rarity that its purchase is an utter impossibility, while at the same time an almost universal desire to obtain everything connected with the History of Continental Money, has caused considerable inquiry to be made for it." Only the sixth copy to come to market in the modern era: Ford didn't even own a copy. Not in Attinelli. Clain-Stefanelli 13292. Davis 135 (erroneously calling for two plates). Sigler 297. Ex Wayne Homren Library.

To read the complete lot descriptions, see:
Inscribed First Edition of Breck on Continental Paper (https://bid.numislit.com/lots/view/1-7XX2W0/inscribed-first-edition-of-breck-on-continental-paper)
Kline Edition of Breck, ex Champa (https://bid.numislit.com/lots/view/1-7XX2W2/kline-edition-of-breck-ex-champa)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web