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Gilbert & Elder on 1796 Cents

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:170.00 USD Estimated At:250.00 USD
Gilbert & Elder on 1796 Cents
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Gilbert, E., and Thomas L. Elder. THE VARIETIES OF THE UNITED STATES CENTS OF 1796. New York, 1909. 4to, original brown cloth, gilt. (16) pages (last leaf blank); 2 fine photographic plates of cents. Three supplement sheets, describing varieties 22-40, laid in. Fine. A nice copy, with all supplementary sheets. Special Hardbound Edition. Autographed by John P. Kennedy at the head of the title. One of only 300 copies printed. In a letter sold in our June 1990 Adams sale, George Clapp wrote: "Rud Kohler wrote me that Gilbert once told him that he had loaned his manuscript of 1796 to Elder who wished to look it over, and the first thing he knew, Elder had published it without consulting him." Sheldon confirms this and notes that "Gilbert had the material for a first-rate monograph. It was either not ready or not intended for publication and was badly edited." Usually this work is found, as issued, in brown card covers, the example offered here being one of a small number of copies issued hardbound.