New Whitman Book Explores the 100 Greatest Canadian Coins and Tokens

Jun 6, 2022 | News

Collectors in Ottawa, Ontario, will be among the first to see Dr. Harvey Richer’s new book, 100 Greatest Canadian Coins and Tokens as it takes its place among nearly 75 years of related Whitman Publishing books and hobby supplies.

The publishing company, while headquartered in Racine, Wisconsin, began an extensive lineup of Canadian coin folders in 1950. Meanwhile, up in Toronto, James E. Charlton was self-publishing his Catalogue of Canadian Coins, Tokens & Fractional Currency. In 1959 R.S. Yeoman, father of Whitman’s popular Guide Book of United States Coins (the “Red Book”), approached Charlton to publish his book and distribute it in the United States. Yeoman tripled the page count and expanded the content, and sales reached 100,000 copies per year in the 1960s. In the same era Whitman also published the Standard Grading Guide to Canadian Decimal Coins, distributed a “Canadian Coin Hobby Starter Kit,” and offered hobbyists a checklist and record book to keep track of their collections.

In the 1970s Robert C. Willey and James A. Haxby pioneered the modern study of Canadian coins in a new Whitman book, Coins of Canada. Willey (1927—1993), of Saskatchewan, was well established as a numismatic researcher and writer. Haxby was known for his authoritative papers on die-making and his scholarship in Canada’s decimal coinage. Their book was groundbreaking. Whitman published it into the early 1980s.

In 2003 Q. David Bowers joined Whitman as the company’s numismatic director, and in 2004 I took the role of publisher. Clifford Mishler, former president of Krause Publications (and a Whitman author himself), introduced me to James Haxby in 2007. From this renewed partnership came a modern era of Whitman activity in Canadian coinage. We planned a brand-new, 464-page Guide Book of Canadian Coins and Tokens—a full-color illustrated history, price guide, and reference book that was published in 2012. Whitman also updated its Canadian coin folders, for large cents through modern dollars and Toonies.

In 2017 Boulder Publications released Harvey B. Richer’s excellent Gold Coins of Newfoundland, 1865—1888, subtitled How Newfoundland Came to Possess a Spectacular Mintage of Gold Coins. Part of what made Gold Coins of Newfoundland such a remarkable book was Dr. Richer’s talent as a writer and a teacher, as well as his approach to numismatics. He began his study with the formation of the solar system, moved into continental drift and a theory of geographical connection between Britain and Canada, and then a summary of 9,000 years of Newfoundland history! With this fascinating background Richer led up to the minting of Newfoundland’s gold coins.

“One aspect I was particularly interested in,” he later told me, “was the effect such a magnificent issue of coinage had on the Newfoundland population 150 years ago. Recall that this was a very poor society largely driven by fishing and seal hunting. What was the impact of the coinage on commerce, on how the Newfoundlanders viewed themselves?”

I met Dr. Richer in 2017 at the American Numismatic Association show in Denver, and we discussed the potential of a new volume in Whitman’s library of “100 Greatest” books. We immersed ourselves in the best way to present a subject as far-reaching as “the best of Canadian coins.” Dr. Richer’s development of the manuscript included consultation with the Canadian Numismatic Research Society. In 2021 we began its final editorial work.

Harvey Richer brought the same intellectual curiosity to 100 Greatest Canadian Coins and Tokens that he gave to Gold Coins of Newfoundland—asking questions, laying the groundwork, and always looking for the human element. His writing is embellished with personal asides (the connections that make numismatics an art as well as a science). And he’s not afraid to push boundaries in his exploration of what defines a “coin” or “token.” Among the 100 Greatest you’ll find playing cards, wampum belts, and encased postage. While clearly not coins, are these forms of token money? Such questions always enliven the conversations around Whitman’s “100 Greatest” books—not to mention how to define “greatness,” and what constitutes the greatest of the great

Accompanying his narrative are outstanding pictures of the coins and tokens themselves. Photographs shared by Heritage Auctions make up the majority of the coin images—not surprising, given Heritage’s status as the largest collectibles auctioneer and third-largest auction house in the world. Many of the Canadian rarities find their homes through the Dallas-based firm’s sales. PCGS and Stack’s Bowers Galleries also contributed photographs, as did numerous museums, archives, and libraries. The result is a gorgeous numismatic panorama, a virtual coin cabinet that can be opened and enjoyed any time.

As a professor of astronomy, Harvey Richer has used the Hubble Space Telescope and major terrestrial telescopes to gaze into the heavens. The numismatic community is fortunate to have his attention turned to the richly interesting field of Canadian coins and tokens. And at Whitman Publishing we’re proud to add him to our roster of Yeoman, Charlton, Willey, and Haxby in the exploration of Canadian numismatics.

Fabled sunken treasure ship’s bell donated to US Naval Academy

May 25, 2022 | News

Gift from California business executive Dwight Manley honors ship’s brave Captain, Commander William Lewis Herndon

The 268-pound ship’s bell from the legendary “Ship of Gold,” the SS Central America that sank in 1857, has been donated by Dwight Manley of Brea, California to the United States Naval Academy. (Photo courtesy of California Gold Marketing Group.)

Rare coin expert, real estate developer, philanthropist, and former sports agent Dwight Manley of Brea, California donated the Central America’s 268-pound bronze bell to the Academy where there has been an important tribute monument to Commander Herndon for the past 162 years. The historic bell was formally dedicated on May 23, just prior to the 2022 annual monument climb by the Academy’s freshmen (“plebes”).

A distinguished career naval officer, Herndon sacrificed his life in a brave effort to save the Central America. “He saved the lives of 152 passengers before he made the decision to go down with the ship,” according to the Naval Academy.

The Central America sank in the Atlantic Ocean 150 miles off the North Carolina coast during a hurricane on September 12, 1857. In 1860, a 21-foot-tall granite obelisk was dedicated in Herndon’s honor near the center of the Naval Academy campus.

Prior to his important assignment as Master of the United States Mail Steamship Central America in 1855, Herndon served with distinction during the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848 and led a successful South America expedition in 1851 that resulted in his acclaimed 1854 report, Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon.

“Commander Herndon is a revered and honored name in the U.S. Navy. His legacy has been part of the annual rite of passage at the Academy with his monument scaled by the current year’s plebes. It is my extreme privilege to be able to unite the bell with the monument so all in attendance each year can experience the sounds Commander Herndon heard as he went down with the ship after 40 hours of valiant effort to save every woman and child aboard,” said Manley who spoke at the bell’s May 23 dedication ceremony.

Last August, Manley met at Annapolis with Naval Academy Superintendent, Vice Admiral Sean S. Buck, to offer the gift of the recovered, historic bell, and the Department of the Navy accepted the offer.

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Meredith Berger approved the gift “to support and educate the Brigade of Midshipmen,” and in a letter to Manley she expressed the Department of the Navy’s “sincere appreciation.”

The bell was discovered 34 years ago, 131 years after the ship sank. It is larger than most ships’ bells of the era, measuring nearly two feet tall and a little over two feet wide at its lower flange edge.

Using a remote-controlled submarine in 1988, the 268-pound bell from the fabled “Ship of Gold,” the SS Central America that sank in 1857, was discovered 7,200 feet under the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. (Photo courtesy of California Gold Marketing Group.)

“The site of what we thought might be the SS Central America was discovered in 1988 about 7,200 feet below the ocean’s surface. Using a robot submarine, we located a bell and could see part of the embossed lettering on it, MORGAN IRON WORKS NEW YORK 1853. That provided additional evidence that the shipwreck site was indeed the Central America,” explained Bob Evans, the chief scientist and historian on the recovery missions who also attended the bell’s dedication ceremony at the U.S. Naval Academy. “The bell provided spectacular and undeniable confirmation we located the ship.”

The Central America was a 280-foot long, three-masted side-wheel steamship carrying what Life magazine later called “The Greatest Treasure Ever Found,” tons of California Gold Rush-era gold coins and assayers’ ingots. The loss of the valuable cargo was a major factor in the economically devastating financial panic of 1857 in the United States.