Lot 15
First Edition. A dedicated copy "With the Writer's Compliments." On the final page it is initialled by the author and signed off - "This concluding note was written on 14th June, 1893"
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Exhibited:
- Books, First Editions Literature:
- Books, Maps & Manuscripts Medium:
- 324 Circa:
- Collectibles Notes:
- In 1893 the first Worlds Fair was held in Chicago to mark the 400th Anniversary of Christopher Columbuss discovery of the New World. Also known as the Columbian Exposition it was a showcase for American exceptionalism but, to round out the world the organisers invited forty-six foreign governments to also display their wares in purpose built national pavilions. Australia was not yet a country but was a continent comprised of five mainland British colonies and the island Colony of Tasmania. However, the New South Wales Government was invited to attend in its own right with displays of its agriculture and industry as well as cultural exhibits. One of the more intriguing displays was of the personal collection of coins and currency of Australasia assembled by Coleman P. Hyman which was exhibited in the New South Wales Court. Hyman's collection of currency covered the hotchpotch of coins and banknotes that had circulated in Australia in its short history. To accompany his exhibit Hyman authored an authoritative Account of the Coins, Coinages and Currency of Australasia which was published in soft cover by Authority of the New South Wales Commissioners for the Worlds Columbian Exposition. He also produced a seventeen-page catalogue detailing for foreign visitors the importance of the 320 items on display covering the early Proclamation coinage through to Holey Dollars and Dumps, Promissory notes and Tradesmans tokens that traded as currency in the Australian colonies and New Zealand. Hymans book was not only an academic study, but it also drew on the anecdotal titbits recounted to him by some of the Colonys oldest living inhabitants which helped fill in the voids left by the official records. He claims to have verified as much as possible these first-hand insights and the finished work is must-have reference for any serious collector of Australian Colonial currency. It is interesting to note for example that one of the two Dumps chosen for the exhibition is identifiable on the description as the very rare and contentious C4 type of which only a few examples survive. Also, on display in Chicago was a museum electrotype of a South Australian Gold Ingot of the type identical to the example we have in our current sale (see Lot 155). Few of the original gold ingots have survived and even the museum electrotypes are now considered very rare. This month Smalls Auctions offers a dedicated First Edition of 'An Account of the Coins, Coinages and Currency of Australasia' by Coleman P. Hyman. On the final page it is initialled by the author and signed off - "This concluding note was written on 14th June 1893." A treasure for your numismatic library.
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