ALFRED S. ROBINSON'S HISTORICAL
SERIES
Alfred S. Robinson began his numismatic career in 1860 by commissioning
Joseph H. Merriam of Boston to produce copies of several famous early
American coins. Sometime that same year he expanded he scope of his
endeavors and hired George H. Lovett to produce dies for what he called
"Alfred S. Robinson Historical Medals. Six different designs were
produced between 1860 and 1863. Although they followed the same general
design for some unknown reason only numbers one and two in the series
were labeled as such.
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Historical Series No. 1 - Major General Anthony Wayne
Five struck in silver, fifty each in copper, brass, silvered
brass, and white metal
Silver, 35mm
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(image courtesy of Jonathan Brecher)
Copper, 35mm
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Brass, 35.8mm
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Silvered metal (92.2% tin, 2.84% calcium, 2.16% silver,
traces of antimony, lead, iodine, actinium) , 35mm
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Silvered white metal (94% tin, 4.85% silver, trace of iodine), 34.8mm
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Both of these could be called silvered tin with the difference in visual
appearance caused by the calcium and other trace elements in the
first one. In his monograph on Robinson DeWitt states they were
struck in silvered brass but does not mention silvered tin. They
are listed in the So-Called Dollar book as H-K 133A and just
referred to as silvered metal.
The one labeled silver white metal is from the DeWitt Collection
auctioned by Heritage. His hand written note on the holder called it
silver but it is obviously not.
White metal, 35mm
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Historic Series No. 2 - Robert Fulton
Five struck in silver, fifty each in copper, brass, silvered
brass, and white metal
Silver, 35mm
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Copper, 35mm
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Brass, 34.9mm
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Silvered brass, 35mm
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White metal, 35mm
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Lead die trials - thick planchett
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Lead die trials - thin planchett
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Historical Series (No. 3) - Andrew Jackson
Five struck in silver, one hundred in copper, fifty each in brass
and white metal
Silver, 35mm
IMAGE NEEDED
Copper, 35mm
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Brass, 35mm
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White metal (silvered?), 35mm
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Historical Series (No. 4) - Henry Clay
Five struck in silver, one hundred in copper, and ten each in
brass and white metal
Silver, 35mm
IMAGE NEEDED
Copper, 34.05mm
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Brass, 33.9mm
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White metal, 35mm
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German silver (68.3% copper, 19% zinc, 12.7% nickle) , 35mm
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| In the Stack's sale of the Ford Collection this
was called copper nickel. It was subsequently slabbed by NGC and called
nickel (unfortunately NGC was not aware of the fact that pure nickel is magnetic!). Subsequent XRF testing indicates it is what is commonly known as German silver |
Historical Series (No. 5) - Martin Van Buren
Unknown number struck in silver, fifty each in copper, brass,
and white metal
Silver, 33.9mm
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Copper, 35mm
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Brass, 35mm
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White Metal, 34mm
Silver plated tin (94.77% tin, 3.05% silver), 35mm
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Silver plated tin (94.77% tin, 3.05% silver), 35mm
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| DeWitt in his monograph on Robinson does not mention this composition. A silvered white metal from the Ford collection was described as being struck on a thin planchet, this example is on a much thicker planchet than the silver one above |
Goldine?, 35mm
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(image courtesy Heritage)
| This piece described as Goldine was in the September 4, 2014 Heritage Auction. I did not have the opportunity to examine it. |
Historical Series (No. 6) - George Washington
Unknown how many were struck in each metal
Silver, 35mm
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Copper, 33.9mm
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Brass, 33.9mm
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White metal, 35mm
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