As promised some time ago I have finished my review of this great book, hope you enjoy reading my review and that it sways you to purchase your own copy!
The Aristocrat: The Story of the 1793 Sheldon 15 by Jim Neiswinter
ISBN# 978-1-4675-5782-5
This book was released May 2, 2013 at the Early American Coppers convention in Columbus, OH. I recently (November 2013) purchased a book directly from Mr. Neiswinter. It is 118 pages and hardbound with a nice full color dust jacket, it contains many full color images throughout, and is a limited edition, private printing, with only 200 copies to be made. It is priced at $75.00 USD.
This is one of the most specialized books written in numismatics, covering a single coin and die variety, sure a few other books have been written covering single coins, such as the 1913
Liberty nickels, 1933 Double Eagle Gold pieces and 1804 Dollars, but this is a story of a not often mentioned coin, at least outside of early American Copper collectors.
The Sheldon 15 also known as the "Aristocrat" - a nickname given to the variety by Dr. Sheldon, is a quite rare variety, at the time of printing there were only 12 examples known, and is considered the second rarest "collectible" variety in the entire large cent series. In the time following the publication of his book, there has been only a single new example found (July 2013) and confirmed by several experts in the field of early large cents. This occurred eighty years after the last example was uncovered. A statement was made - that without this book the coin may not have been discovered, a testament to how through his research is on the S15 Aristocrat large cent.
Mr. Neiswinter acquired his own 1793 S15 from the Kagin's sale of the Phillip Van Cleave collection in 1986.
A forward by Bob Hoge of the ANS starts off the book.
Acknowledgements page, then followed by Mr. Neiswinter's introduction pages, and a plate he recreated of the Types and Varieties of the U.S. Cent 1793, along with the Sheldon, Breen catalog numbers and their respective rarity levels. Mr. Neiswinter also was kind enough to include a real photo plate, separate from the book he sent me. I also had him personally sign the book to me, something I like to have for my library acquisitions.
Chapter One - Mr. Neiswinter traces the study of large cent varieties from inception to their end in 1857. With commentary on the first published articles of large cents and the various varieties contained in the series, the history begins to unfold.
Chapter Two - discusses the S15 specifically and also the closely related S16 variety of 1793 large cents and has a "which came first the chicken or the egg?" debate with the reader.
Chapter Three - is a review of all the principal literature containing the 1793 S15 from large cent experts, more than a 150 years of articles and references are included in the chapter, from notable coin sages such as: Crosby, Frossard, Sheldon, Breen, Noyes and others.
Chapter Four - outlines each auction appearance of the 12, (then known), examples of S15 cents. It includes color images and recalls many prominent collectors and dealers from the past.
Chapter Five - Mr. Neiswinter presents a condition census of 1793 S15 coins from the finest to the worst, each coin is meticulously listed through each owner and transaction. After covering the census there is a nice diagnostic image done in full page showing all areas of note on the S15 variety, both the obverse and reverse receive this treatment. Now all one must do is use this information and seek out a lost example at a coin show, or dealer inventory.
Chapter Six - is a great story of one S15 EAC member Bob Holmes didn't end up owning, as it relates to Mr. Neiswinter's S15. Previously published in the Early American Copper club's journal "Penny-Wise" March, 2011.
There are four excellent appendixes;
Appendix A - includes many full color images of references to the 1793 S15 from auction catalogs and other periodicals.
Appendix B - contains complete inventory lists of several large cent collections of well known collectors that owned an example of the S15.
Appendix C - contains all the provenance documents of the S15 cent, allowing the reader to go back through history and see who owned which coin and when.
Appendix D - contains letters and notes from George H. Clapp with some interesting sideline stories from a bygone era of coin collecting and dealers.
A complete bibliography completes the book.
In parting this is a welcome addition to my numismatic library, and I very much enjoyed reading it. While an entire book on a single variety of coin could have been quite dry and full of dull reference items only, Mr. Neiswinter has done an excellent job in writing a compelling story and David Yoon (ANS) has done a fine job editing the book into a very pleasurable read for all coin collectors and coin enthusiasts alike.
Why write a book on a single coin? I'll let Mr Neiswinter tell it himself:
Quote:
From the book's introduction: "I was interested in this S15 not so much because of its rarity, or even that it was the discovery cent for the variety, but because it was pictured on the first photo-graphic plate of coins ever taken in the United States. This plate appeared in the April 1869 number of the American Journal of Numismatics (AJN). I had first read about it in the John Adams Monograph on Varieties of United States Large Cents 1793-1794. He wrote: "the Levick-Crosby opus can be considered one of the great milestones in the evolution of the hobby."
"In doing this book I have reviewed all the literature on the S15 starting in 1869. I believe I have found every auction appearance (29) of this variety, and thanks to Bill Noyes, I have pictures of the twelve known examples in the Condition Census chapter. I have made timelines and educated guesses to come up with certain suppositions as to how and when things occurred. You may or may not agree, but I hope you appreciate the effort."
Well I for one, certainly do appreciate Mr. Neiswinter's effort and applaud him on an excellent book that will add to my numismatic library greatly!
You can contact Jim Neiswinter at j_neiswinter@hotmail.com to order your own copy of the book, it is $75.00 per copy and $5.00 S&H, tell him I sent you!
Posted 01/07/2014 3:25 pm
