JAMES BIDDLE CLEMENS (1836-1878)

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V29 2026 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 29, Number 21, 2026, Article 12

E-Sylum Feature Writer and American Numismatic Biographies author Pete Smith submitted this article on James Biddle Clemens and his coin collection. Thanks! -Editor

My story this week was suggested by Julia Casey. I appreciate her suggestion and welcome suggestions from others.

1878 James Clemons auction catalog cover

The St. Louis Globe-Democrat issue of January 9, 1876, had the story of what they called, "The Finest Collection in the West," describing the coin collection of James Clemens, Jr.

"Mr. Clemens's collection is remarkable for its completeness… To begin with our own country, he has full sets of all the half-cents, cents, five-cent pieces, dimes, quarters, half-dollars and dollars of the American coinage. He has also in gold, quarter-dollar, one dollar, two-and-a half dollar, five dollar, ten and twenty dollar pieces of every mintage.

"Going abroad, he has paid nearly as much attention to foreign coins as those of this country. He has full sets of coins of every value, in copper, silver and gold, of England, France. Spain. Portugal. Denmark, Germany, Austria, Turkey, the South American States, and even India, Siam and China. There is no country of the world that uses coins whose tokens of value are not represented in Mr. Clemens collection."

"For some of the pieces, especially the old copper cents and half cents, he paid extravigant prices, in one case, $40 for a cent of 1796."

In the extended article, it also mentioned St. Louis banknotes, "all the issues of the Confederate states," "thousands of notes of wild-cat banks all over the country," Greek, Roman and other ancient coins and Papal medals.

Taken as a contemporary newspapers account, it is clear that this was an important collection. I will remark that the collection did not include a single certified Morgan dollar.

It did not take long before a problem developed with the story. In the January 11 issue, this correction appeared.

"In an article Sunday on "Coins and Curiosities." by an unintentional mistake the fine collection described was stated to belong to James Clemens, Jr. The name of the collector is James B. Clemens. The curiosities of his assortment were by no means fully described by the article alluded to and some day the list may be completed."

The article did not mention that James Clemens, Jr. was the father of James B. Clemens. The father was born on October 25, 1791, and died on January 12, 1878, at age 86. His lifetime spanned the first 85 years of United States coinage. He could have formed much of the collection out of circulation.

The son was born on January 18, 1836, and died on February 27, 1878, at age 42 and about six weeks after his father. His widow then put the collection up for sale.

There is a listing of his collection in the form of an Edward Cogan auction conducted on October 20-25, 1878.

"Catalogue of the Valuable Collection of Gold, Silver and Copper Coins and Medals Comprising a Very Large Assortment of Gold and Silver United States Coins, amongst which will be found an unusually Fine Half Cent of 1796, a beautiful Original Medal of the Declaration of Independence; and a very fine Erie Canal Medal in Copper; also a large assortment of Gold Coins of various nations, and a great many very fine American Silver Medals, &c., &c., The Property of the late James B. Clemens, Esq., of St. Louis, Mo., to be sold at auction by Messers, Bangs & Co."

Lot 55 was a 1794 Dollar. "Head a little rubbed, Liberty and 1794, very excellent. Stars on the left rather weak, and on the right very fair. The planchet damaged. Some stamp has been stamped under the chin of the figure of liberty, but not so as to interfere with the legend. On the whole I consider this a very fair impression of this rare dollar."

Lot 1811 was described, "1796 One of the best impressions of this exceedingly rare Half Cent I have seen for some years. The word Liberty and the date are quite perfect. The head is a little rubbed, but it will not disgrace any cabinet." This was called a cent in the newspaper article.

The sale did not include complete sets of gold coins. There were no double eagles. There were but two $10 eagles, 1795 and 1801. The last Half Eagle was an 1845-D with no 1854-S. In 1878, gold coins were still used in commerce and pieces with high face value had no added collector value.

Lots 1671 to 1680 were groups of 100 copper coins, thus a thousand coins with no descriptions.

The sale had a number of pieces called patterns. Lot 2037 was a 1792 Martha Washington Half Disme. Lot 2044 was an 1836 Gobrecht dollar. In addition to legitimate patterns were such things as lot 2038, a U. S. A, Bar Cent, 2041 & 2042 were 1836 Steam Press medals, Lots 2046-2048 were Feuchtwanger pieces.

He had proof sets from the 1870's. probably acquired from an eastern dealer. They brought little more than face value. It may not be much different today. A collector selling proof sets from the 1970's, may not recover their issue price in return.

His collection of world coins was extensive but their presentation in the catalog is somewhat random. There are no sets by country in any order. Many pieces were well circulated. It occurs to me that coins could have been accumulated through connections at the local banks to buy up their foreign exchange stocks and non-current coins.

The catalog is interesting as it represents the hobby at the time. Catalog descriptions were very brief. Many lots had groups of coins. Condition was often described as "a fair impression." whatever that meant. Prices were low. Just as the consignor could accumulate coins from circulation, potential buyers could as well.

So much emphasis today is placed on quality and the investment potential for high grade coins. I doubt if Clemens considered his collections as an investment. He was content to assemble his collection mostly from coins found in circulation and he had remarkable success.