Ya Meet Some Amazing People In This Hobby

OMG that's nice!

That looks like a real piece of history. But since I know NOTHING about that area of collecting - can you give me an idea as to what a medal like that is worth? I run into alot of medals and they never seem to bring very high prices.

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Originally posted by swamperbob

That looks like a real piece of history. But since I know NOTHING about that area of collecting - can you give me an idea as to what a medal like that is worth? I run into alot of medals and they never seem to bring very high prices.

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From the man himself ; a lengthy but interesting article he shared with me,and I, with all of you .



Hi Doug, I wrote this article for the Numismatist last year.

The following article is a portrait of the collecting process and how it leads us from one place to another, broadening our interests & increasing our knowledge about the American Past. Hope you enjoy the read.

Victor Annaloro NYC


Side Streets & Other Distractions

In the pursuit of numismatic knowledge, how one gets from point A to point B is not always a straight line. Sometimes it is a zigzag path full of potholes and dead-end streets, and at other times there are side streets that lead to new avenues of interest. These new avenues can become major distractions, consuming large amounts of time and energy, but at the same time broadening our interests and increasing the depth of our knowledge.

Anyone who seriously collects coins is at heart a lover of history. He or she is a person who loves to touch a coin, to feel it, caress it; savor it like a fine wine. To them it is as though this small metal object is in reality a time machine, a direct connection with the past, and by simply holding it they can almost know Alexander The Great, Julius Caesar, or Hannibal. They can almost be at the American Revolution, the Civil War, or they can almost attend the Great American Fairs of the last two centuries. In fact, the power of a coin is so great; it can make its owner chase history with the passion of one who could actually catch it. I am one of these fools and this is a story about one of those journeys.

Nothing like starting at the beginning, or in this case Point A. On 11/15/1997, Auctions by Bowers & Merena conducted "The PA. Cabinet Sale", and in it was lot #2006, an 1825 Castle Garden Season Pass (H.N.Benjamin 347) of which only seven specimens are known to exist (see Rulau #E-NY654A). Being a native of New York City this item caught my complete attention and resulted in a successful bid ($990) that allowed me the pleasure of adding it to my collection. Had I known where this piece would take me, or the amount of time and money it would cost me, I may not have made the bid.

After receiving my purchase I did some research on the history of the Castle Garden, and by looking at some early period maps (1827) noted that the Castle was originally three hundred feet off the tip of Manhattan Island near the Battery, and was connected to the land by a wooden footbridge. Looking at later maps I was amazed to see that this structure slowly became a physical part of Manhattan Island. Today the Castle is at least sixty feet inland!

Well, this opened a can of worms and I naturally had lots of questions! What happened? Landfill, that's what happened. The city had expanded and enlarged itself to make the land at the foot of the island more useful. In fact between the years 1825 & 1868 the Battery was increased in size from ten or so acres to a total of twenty-four, and the seawall was lengthened from 1620ft to 2120ft. Further reading on the history of the Castle Garden indicated that this structure had served the City of New York in many capacities and was an important part of its early history.

The Castle Garden begins its history five years prior to the War of 1812. The U.S. Government fearing an invasion by the British erected five fortifications to protect New York harbor. One of them, was built on a small mole located a short distance from the tip of Manhattan Island and was connected to the island by a 300ft long wooden causeway. First called the West Battery, it was later renamed Castle Clinton in honor of the first Republican Governor of New York. After the War its military value decreased and it fell into disuse. By 1823 the Castle Clinton was ceded over to the City of New York.

The City of N.Y. promptly leased it over to two gentlemen, Jonathon Rathbone & Francis Fitch, for a period of five years @ $1400 per year. These businessmen had the structure covered over with a roof and converted it into an immense audience hall capable of holding six to ten thousand people. They renamed the building "Castle Garden". The following quote is from "King's Handbook of N.Y.C", by Moses King, 1893 PG 576.

"The building floor was laid out elaborately as an in-door garden. Many pieces of statuary, the work of famous sculptors, were placed in it. A stage was erected at the north side, concerts were given at intervals, and refreshments were sold in the audience. Six thousand people easily found room for amusement and recreation, and on various occasions as many as 10,000 people were in the garden at one time."

In Aug. of 1824 the Marquis D' Lafayette, during a visit to America, was taken to the Castle Garden where a large crowd of over 10,000 people greeted him. This loved and honored guest, 66yrs of age at the time, was treated by America as if he were a King. To illustrate how important the Castle Garden was to New York at the time, I quote from "The History of NYC" by William Stone, Virtue & Yorston Publishers, 12 Dey St. NYC 1872. Page 384.

"On arriving in the city, the marquis landed at Castle Garden on a carpeted stairs prepared for the occasion, and under an arch richly decorated with flags and wreaths of laurel. On stepping ashore, a major general's salute was fired from a battery of field artillery, a national salute from the revenue-cutter, and from the United States brig, Shark, at anchor off the Battery, and one from Fort Columbus.

Upon entering Castle Garden, the marquis was greeted with loud and prolonged cheers from the assembled thousands, and salutations from a large number of the early friends of his youth, thence he proceeded with the committee and the military and naval officers to review the troops drawn up in line under the command of Major-General Benedict. The muster was, on this occasion, unusually full and splendid, each corps vying with the other in paying a tribute of respect to the Soldier of the Revolution, - the friend and companion of Washington. After the review, the marquis entered a barouche drawn by four horses, and was driven up Broadway to the City Hall. The houses to the roofs were lined with spectators, and to the incessant huzzas of the multitude, graceful females signified their welcome by the silent, but not less grateful and affecting, testimony of the waving of handkerchiefs. Never, on any previous occasion had there been witnessed such a universal assemblage of the beauty, fashion, and splendor of the city."

In 1839 Col. Richard French (later the well known proprietor of French's Hotel) became the manager of the Castle Garden, and afterward it became more distinctly known as a playhouse. Many dramatic companies occupied it and for several years after 1847 it was the home of grand opera. The Havana Opera in 1847 sang such operas as"Ernani" & "Norma" here. At this point in my research I ran into my first side street.

The event that really made the Castle famous as a place of amusement occured on Sept.11, 1850. This was the date of the first concert appearance, in America, of Miss Jenny Lind "The Swedish Nightingale". When I learned that this event was under the management of none other then Mr. P.T. Barnum, and was considered at the time to be the event of a lifetime, I stopped reading about the Castle and pursued information on Barnum and the concerts. Acquiring a copy of an illustrated biography of "P.T. Barnum, America's Greatest Showman" by Kunhardt, Kunhardt & Kunhardt, published by Alfred A. Knoph 1995, I read it cover to cover. It was so interesting and informative that I was prompted to purchase a specimen of Barnum's autograph in an auction. ($60)

Barnum's biography contained a wealth of information on the Concerts. It seems that while on a European Tour in 1847, Barnum first learned of a Miss Jenny Lind who was a singing sensation and a court favorite among the European Heads of State. Elite male Europeans, including one Hans Christian Anderson who was so enamored with her that he wrote "The Ugly Duckling & The Emperor's Nightingale" in her honor, avidly pursued her.

Upon his return to America, Barnum became convinced that he could greatly improve his image (from that of Huckster to Promoter of the Arts) and make some money to boot, if he could only convince Miss Lind to appear in America. By 1850 he managed to contract her to perform 150 concerts in America for the staggering sum of $150,000 up front, plus a piece of the gate! This was an incredible amount of money at the time, and in order to raise it Barnum sold all his real estate holdings, including the contents of his American Museum, and even after this he still had to borrow over $20,000 from the banks plus another $5,000 from a close friend. With money in hand, Barnum scheduled Jenny Lind's first concert to take place on Sept.11, 1850 at the NY Castle Garden.


Under Barnum's masterful promotion these concert tickets came to be in such demand that they had to be auctioned so as to prevent buyers from rioting. At the first auction over 4000 people turned out, paying one shilling apiece just to witness the bidding on the very first ticket. The successful buyer was John Genin , a hatter who was a business neighbor of Barnum. He paid the unheard of sum of $225 for choice of the first seat! As a result of this purchase he became a national celebrity and his hatter business exploded as everyone in the country wanted to own and wear a genuine "Genin" hat!

Now as high as Genin's bid was, it paled in comparison to later prices paid by bidders in other American cities. People had quickly learned that to attach one's name to Jenny Lind could do wonders for their careers or business. Tickets that were auctioned in Boston, Providence and Philadelphia sold for over $625.

Jenny Lind's first concert at the Castle Garden was a complete success. It was attended by 7,000 people and made over $35,000. At the end of the show she received a standing ovation from an openly adoring crowd, and even P.T. Barnum was called onto the stage to take a bow. But the highlight of the evening was yet to come, as Barnum had saved the best for last. When he announced that Miss Lind was donating her entire evening's earnings ($10,000) to charity, the place went wild. This brilliant and tactful public relations move, engineered by P.T. Barnum, completely conquered the New York crowd and guaranteed the success of Jenny Lind's American tour. In all Miss Lind gave six concerts at the Castle Garden (1850/1) and another 89 nationally, after which both Barnum and Lind agreed to call it quits.

In case you are wondering how they made out financially, the concert tour was more successful than either of them had imagined. Barnum grossed over $712,000 in less than a year, and after paying Miss Lind her share ($175,000) walked away with a fortune. Miss Lind, besides becoming very wealthy, had become a household name in America and ended up being more popular here than in Europe! Barnum went on to become the greatest showman America ever produced. Me, I purchased a high relief medal that commemorated Jenny Lind's first concert ($375), two really rare tickets to one of her six Castle Garden Concerts - May 19th, 1851 ($450), and a newspaper (NY Daily Tribune - Sept., 7th 1850) that announced the first Jenny Lind Concert scheduled to take place at the Castle Garden on Sept.11, 1850! ($55) I guess you might say that Barnum and Jenny Lind were still selling tickets and making money, one hundred and fifty two years after the event!

The history of the Castle Garden as a theatre ended in May of 1855 when it was turned into a depot for the reception of immigrants. It served in this capacity until 1890 greeting all who came to our shores (mostly Irish & Germans). It has been estimated that during these years, as many as 10,000 persons a day passed through here, with a total of 7,690,606 immigrants being processed into the American mainstream.

At one point during this period a fire, that occurred on May 23, 1870, gutted the interior of the Castle but left the walls intact. The surviving structure was later rebuilt. Care of immigrants was taken over by the Fed. Government and the reception area was moved over to the Barge-office. Shortly after this the Castle Garden passed into the control of The NYC Dept. of Public Parks, and for a while was again used for popular concerts and as a meeting place for the NYS Naval Reserve.

In 1891 the immigration station was moved to Ellis Island, and Castle Garden was converted into the N.Y. Aquarium. It served New Yorkers in this capacity into the 1940s. I am sure many living New Yorkers visited the Aquarium, probably on a school outing when they were children, and never realized just how historic a location it actually was. The Castle Garden was declared a historic landmark in 1950.

After reading all that I could on the Castle, I visited the Battery and took some photos. God it was really beautiful, but sadly what is left of this proud and historic structure (lower sandstone wall & cannon portals) presently serves the city as a ticket booth, selling visits to other more familiar tourist attractions, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. And even with all the Historic Markers, I'm sure that the casual visitor misses the depth of history and the ghosts that surround this place. Ghosts? Well not the scary type, just the kind that hang around a historic location.

Side street number two reared its head shortly after my visit to the Castle Garden. Seeing what was left of the Castle Garden stimulated my desire to view it as it was in its heyday. This led me to purchase all kinds of books relating to NYC's past that may have illustrations of the Castle Garden. A book dealer I knew who specialized in books on NYC, introduced me to the "Manual's of the Corporation of the City of New York" (published annually from 1841 - 1870) by D.T Valentine, Clerk of the Common Council of the City of New York (Valentine Manual's to collectors). This introduction ended up with me putting together an almost complete set of these scarce and fairly expensive books. ($200-300 each if complete and in nice condition) They are valuable sources of information on city politics, city history, and population composition; they also contain some really great illustrations.

But this was just scratching the surface, because while hunting for the very elusive Valentine Manuals this same dealer asked what I was specifically looking for and after I told him, he showed me some stereo-views (3D pictures) of the Castle Garden as it appeared in 1863. At this point my brain left my body and I became obsessed with collecting stereo views of old NYC. This obsession took the better part of two years to satisfy. I ended up putting together a book that takes the viewer on a walking tour up Broadway, from South Ferry to Central Park, using old stereo-views and comparing them with photos of the same locations as they appear today. This was great fun, but the cost in both time and money was high. (Two years legwork & about $6000 for the stereo views & viewers.) Actually I have no regrets, as I learned a lot about New York City's past and picked up some new interests along the way! In case you are wondering about "Point B", no I haven't forgotten about it, I just haven't arrived there yet!