John F. Jones correspondence and notes, 1879-1965

Summary

Creator:
Jones, John F. (John Frederick), 1864 or 5-1961
Abstract:
Correspondence with fellow coin collectors, coin dealers, friends, family members, and numismatic groups, and notes on coin sales.
Extent:
1.3 cubic feet (2 boxes)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

John F. Jones correspondence and notes, 1879-1965, Archives, American Numismatic Society.

Background

Scope and content:

Contains mostly letters received by Jones, sometimes with handwritten drafts of outgoing letters, relating to coin collecting and personal matters. Includes correspondence with the ANA publication The Numismatist, some pertaining to an article on early ANA members written by Jack W. Ogilvie (published in vol. 61, no. 8, August 1948, p. 505); correspondence with American Numismatic Society curator Sydney P. Noe regarding issues such as the selling of coins and Jones’s concern that T. James Clarke’s collection of U.S. coins would leave the country (1944); and correspondence on various matters pertaining to the Chautauqua Coin, Stamp, and Curio Club. Jones was an active buyer and seller of coins and maintained intimate correspondence with individuals that shared his interest, such as Ole P. Eklund of Spokane, Washington, S.S. Heal of Toronto, and Chautauqua club member John C. Engstrom. Included is a copy of a letter sent to Engstom’s wife regarding the sale of his collection and Jones’s advice to keep it intact (1920). Numerous coin dealers are also represented, including B. Max Mehl and Wayte Raymond. There are letters and receipts from Henry Chapman having to do with Jones’s purchase from the John Story Jenks collection and a disagreement arising from Jones’s questioning of the accuracy of Chapman’s catalogs (1922); letters from Hans Schulman regarding a dispute over payment for coins; and a letter from Farran Zerbe pronouncing himself out of the market for coins (1941). Collector Max M. Schwartz of New York is another correspondent. There are personal letters from Jones’s children and grandchildren, including one from his son Allen regarding the cleaning of coins. Other topics include local Jamestown issues such as Jones’s speaking out against an individual in a court case involving the Lake Shore Seed Company (1945), local library taxes (1957), and the relocation of the local gas company (undated). Also present is an inventory of the Charles S. Bishop coin collection that was bought by Jones together with a letter from G.L. Gifford to Bishop regarding a collection of U.S. copper cents (1883). There is a small bundle of lists of coins sold, possibly by Jones, for the years 1899 to 1929. There is also a copy of the book Las Monedas Coloniales Hispano-Americanas (1919) by J.T. Medina, and sample formats from Jones’s grandson Ralph’s proposed book Central American and Caribbean Coin Facts and Figures (1965).

Biographical / historical:

City engineer John F. Jones (1864 or 5-1961) of Jamestown, New York, was a founding member of the Chautauqua County Coin, Stamp, and Curio Club in 1930 and is listed as member number six of the American Numismatic Association (ANA), which was officially organized in 1891 and reorganized in 1899. He was also a member of the Chautauqua Historical Society. Born in Sweden, he came to the United States when he was one year old. In 1941 he sold over 5,000 coins from his collections, which he had been accumulating for nearly fifty years, to the American Numismatic Society. Jones collected coins from all over the world and built his holdings through his dealings with other collectors, such as Henry H. Howorth, C. Wyllys Betts, J.W. Bastow, and Julius Meili. In the 1930s and 1940s he wrote articles in the ANA magazine The Numismatist on topics pertaining to United States collecting, such as the 1804 dollar, postage stamps, fractional currency, and the 1856 flying eagle cent.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection open to all researchers.

Terms of access:

Copyright restrictions may apply. Permission to publish or reproduce must be secured from the American Numismatic Society.

Preferred citation:

John F. Jones correspondence and notes, 1879-1965, Archives, American Numismatic Society.

Location of this collection:
75 Varick Street, 11th floor
New York, NY 10013, United States
Contact:
archives@numismatics.org