AUTHORS ON COINS AND MEDALS

For the August 3, 2025, issue of The E-Sylum, Marie Gibbs posed the question, "I was wondering if you have ever come across any information pertaining to collecting currency, tokens or coins that have actual images of authors, books or libraries on them?"

The field is vast. There are hundreds of examples on American items and thousands worldwide. There is enough material for a series of articles discussing general areas. A complete listing exceeds my level of interest in the topic.

 

The first that comes to mind is a medal featuring author Kenneth Bressett. The obverse has a profile of Ken with the cover of a Red Book (The Guide Book of United States Coins). The reverse has, not a library, but a bookshelf featuring titles of books by Bressett.

This was a project of D. Wayne (Dick) Johnson who proposed this as one of a series for members of The Rittenhouse Society. The red and gold book cover was pad printed which was a new and unusual process. Mintage was limited to 50 pieces struck in bronze. I suspect this would be a difficult medal to acquire now.

American Numismatic Authors

In 2021, I compiled a photo guide to Portrait Medals of American Numismatists. This is available on the Newman Numismatic Portal. Several numismatic book authors are included.

• David T. Alexander, New York Numismatic Club presidential medal 2005-06.
• Burnett Anderson, portrait on the Burnett Anderson Award.
• Q. David Bowers, American Numismatic Society medal.
• Sylvester Sage Crosby, New England Numismatic Association medal.
• George Fuld, Token and Medal Society presidential medal, 1960-1962.
• David L. Ganz, Token and Medal Society presidential medal, 2004-2006.
• Augustus Goodyear Heaton, New York Numismatic Club presidential medal, 1912.
• Charles Vaughn Kappen, California State Numismatic Society presidential medal. 1967-1969.
• John M. Kleeberg, New York Numismatic Club presidential medal, 1996-97.
• Robert D. Leonard, Jr., Token and Medal Society presidential medal 2006-2008.
• Joseph Florimand Loubat, two French Mint medals.
• Scott H. Miller, New York Numismatic Club presidential medal, 2000-2001.
• Clifford Mishler, Token and Medal Society presidential medal, 1976-1978.
• Howard Rounds Newcomb, California Coin Club medal, 1929.
• Eric P. Newman, Rittenhouse Society medal, 2001.
• David Schenkman, Token and Medal Society presidential medal, 1986-1988.
• J. T. Stanton, election campaign medal, 1995.
• Daniel Webster Valentine, New York Numismatic Club presidential medal, 1918 & 1920.
• Peter Van Elfen, New York Numismatic Club presidential medal, 2017-2018.
• Richard Yeoman. Medal shared with Ken Bressett. Currently available on eBay for $498.
• Randolph Zander, Russian Numismatic Society, 1998.

Mint Medals

The medals listed above were all produced by private mints. The United States Mint also struck a medal for the author of numismatic references.

• James Ross Snowden, A Description of Ancient and Modern Coins (1860). A Description of the Medals of Washington, of National and Miscellaneous Medals, and of Other Objects of Interest in the Museum of the Mint (1861).

Authors on Coins

Here is a suggestion for a trivia question at a coin club meeting. Ask those attending to list male and female authors who appear on coins. It is likely that very few will name all the women on the First Spouse $10 Gold Coin Program. Remember that if a First Spouse appears on a gold coin, she also appears on a medal.

• Maya Angelou wrote I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969). She appears on an American Women quarter.
• Susan B. Anthony wrote The Influence, Rights and Appeal of Women (1842). She appears on the circulating dollar coin 1979-1981, 1999.
• Barbara Bush wrote Barbara Bush, A Memoir (1994). She appears on a First Spouse $10 gold coin and medal.
• George Washington Carver wrote How to Raise Pigs with Little Money (1864). He appears on the 1951-54 Carver-Washington commemorative half dollar and on the 2024 Missouri American Innovation dollar.
• Grace Coolidge was the author of Grace Coolidge: An Autobiography. She appears on a First Spouse $10 gold coin and medal.
• Frederick Douglass wrote Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845). He appears on the 2017 Frederick Douglass National Historic Site Quarter,
• Betty Ford wrote The Times of My Life (1978). She appears on a First Spouse $10 gold coin and medal.
• Benjamin Franklin wrote Poor Richard's Almanac. He appears on the circulating half dollar.
• Julia Grant wrote The Personal Memoires of Julia Dent Grant (1975). She appears on a First Spouse $10 gold coin and medal.
• Ulysses S Grant was author of Personal Memoires of U. S. Grant (1885). He appears on the 1922 Grant Memorial commemorative half dollar coin and on the Grant presidential dollar.
• John F. Kennedy was author of Profiles in Courage (1961). He appears on the circulating half dollar.
• Robert F. Kennedy was author of The Enemy Within (1960); Thirteen Days (1969). He appears on the 1998 Robert F. Kennedy silver dollar.
• Thomas Jefferson is called the author of the Declaration of Independence. He appears on the circulating five cent coin and the 250 th anniversary of his birth commemorative silver dollar.
• Lady Bird Johnson wrote A White House Diary. She appears on a First Spouse $10 gold coin and medal.
• Meriwether Lewis is credited as the author of The Journals of Lewis and Clark. He appears on a gold commemorative coin for the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition.
• Nancy Reagan wrote My Turn (1989). She appears on a First Spouse $10 gold coin and medal.
• Eleanor Roosevelt, wrote Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt (1961). She appears on the First Spouse gold coin and medal. She also appears on one of the American Women Quarters for 2023.
• Helen Herron Taft wrote Recollection of Full Years (1914). She appears on the First Spouse gold coin and medal.
• Mark Twain wrote Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He appears on a 2016 $5 gold commemorative coin and a 2016 silver commemorative dollar.
• Booker T. Washington was author of Up from Slavery (1901). He appears on the 1946-1951 Booker T. Washington memorial half dollar and the 1951-1954 Carver-Washington commemorative half dollar.
• Edith Bolling Galt Wilson wrote My Memoir (1938). She appears on a First Spouse gold coin and medal.

Hall of Fame For Great Americans

The Hall of Fame For Great Americans was established at New York University in 1901. It was transferred to Bronx Community College in 1973. The Hall of Fame has an outdoor sculpture gallery. Each person in the hall was also represented on a medal. The following were included under the category of "Authors and Editors."

• Jane Addams
• George Bancroft
• William Cullen Bryant
• Samuel Langhorn Clemens
• James Fenimore Cooper
• Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Washington Irving
• Sidney Lanier
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• John Lothrop Motley
• Thomas Paine
• Francis Parkman
• Edgar Allan Poe
• Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Henry David Thoreau
• Walt Whitman
• John Greenfeaf Whittier

Some authors were represented under other categories.

• Susan B. Anthony, philanthropists and reformers.
• George Washington Carver, inventors.
• Benjamin Franklin. politicians and statesmen.
• Ulysses S. Grant, soldiers and sailors, rulers and statesmen.
• Thomas Jefferson, politicians and statesmen.
• Booker T. Washington, teachers.

I am including a photo of one of the Hall of Fame medals. My justification for including the medal is because I like it. I will not identify the topic but let readers speculate what it represents.

Listed above are three groups of coins and medals with something in common to the groups. I suspect there are hundreds of additional American authors on thousands of medals. When expanded to world authors in all languages the list would be huge.

Watch for future articles on related topics.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: AUGUST 3, 2025 : Authors, Books or Libraries on Coins, Etc. (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n31a12.html)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web