George H. Lovett -- Area woman's interest in stories behind tokens rooted in family history
Arizona Coin Collector
http://www.republicanherald.com/articles/2008/11/16/news/local_news/pr_republican.20081116.c.pg1.pr16medals_s1.2087477_loc.txt
Republican Herald -- Pottsville, PA
Area woman's interest in stories
behind tokens rooted in family history
BY JULIE NICOLOV
STAFF WRITER
jul...@newsitem.com
Published: Sunday, November 16, 2008 4:16 AM EST
SUNBURY - Ask Katherine Jaeger what she thinks of the
Pulitzer Prize, and she'll talk more about the medal
itself than the people who earned it.
"Each (medal) is packed with stories and connections
to people and events of the past," said Jaeger,
Gowen City.
Jaeger, a fiscal officer in Northumberland County's
Planning Department, has published two books and
several feature articles on the collection and
study of medals and tokens, also called numismatics.
Her fascination with history told through medals
and tokens was born from her passion for history
in general. In 2002, she was looking through a
box left to her by her mother, and found some old
family papers that inspired an interest in medals
and the stories they tell.
"Inside it was an 1885 newspaper clipping about
George H. Lovett, my grandmother's grandfather.
It appeared in the New York Sun and was titled
'The Art of Sinking Dies: A Talk with One of
New York's Oldest Medalists,' " she said.?
Jaeger began researching die sinkers - crafters
who create medals - and gathering her
great-great-grandfather's work.
"He was the 19th century's most prolific private
die sinker. Not the most talented, probably, but
the most well known," she said.
According to usmint.gov, Lovett created 75 dies
for the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, including
medals for the 1874 Central New York Poultry
Association, the 1886 New York State Agricultural
Society and the 1887 Worcester Electric
Exhibition. He also designed and engraved both
sides of the Unveiling of Washington's Statue
Medal in 1886.
"They are history you can hold in your hand,"
she said.
The value of a medal, such as the Pulitzer,
extends beyond the gold it's made from, she
believes.
"It's a chunk of history, filled with American
stories," she said. "It recalls Joseph Pulitzer,
a poor Hungarian Jew who rose to the top of an
American newspaper empire, and died with enough
wealth to establish an organization to encourage
achievement in journalism and letters."
Local ties
The history of coins is also connected to the
history of the Keystone State. The first site
of U.S. Mint was established in Philadelphia in
1792. Many coins Jaeger has studied are tied to
the local area, including a medal from the first
Columbia County Agricultural, Horticultural and
Mechanical Association, also known as the
Bloomsburg Fair; medals awarded to British
officers who fought at the Battle of Germantown
during the American Revolution; and a medal
created in honor of Capt. William Lewis Herndon,
the Navy officer for which the Northumberland
County borough is named.
"(Pennsylvania) was birthplace of many
fascinating and important historical medals,"
Jaeger said.
Tracking history through medals and tokens is
an obscure subject, Jaeger said, which she enjoys.
"(It) appealed to me as 'the path not
taken,' " she said.
She also enjoys the kindness and encouragement
she's encountered in the numismatic literary
community.
She found other writers who were eager to help
her get her foot in the door, as well as
publishers willing to fund her efforts.
"When they like what you've written, you know
it.?They send fan mail. They seek you?out at
coin shows and take you to lunch. They write
letters to the editor in praise of your work.
They nominate you for awards and sell your
books at their show tables. Who could walk
away from that?" Jaeger said.
Jaeger has worked with some big names in the
numismatic arena. She met Q. David Bowers,
publisher of Numismatic Sun, after offering
several articles on the Lovetts in 2003.
Bowers didn't need any articles, but had
another idea for Jaeger.
"As numismatic director for Whitman
Publishing, he suggested I come up with a
book idea. I did, they accepted, and we
began working together.? Halfway through my
guidebook, he asked if I'd like to co-author
the '100 Greatest American Medals and Tokens',
so of course I accepted. He is a generous,
dear man and we are now good friends,"
Jaeger said.
Bowers has introduced her to several other
collectors and publishers in the numismatic
world.
"Bowers has a fascinating e-mail circle. He
copies most of his friends on most of his
e-mails, so we all have all become
correspondents over the years. That's how I
came to know all those museum curators, too.
We gather at conventions, when we can," she
said.
Jaeger said she has found a home with
collectors.
"Collectors are my kind of people. I just
seem to fit in with them," Jaeger said.
Greatest medals
Although she owns approximately 100 medals,
Jaeger is not a collector. Most of them were
given to her by dealers or collectors as
tokens of appreciation for her work. The
price tags associated with most medals and
tokens are quite high.
"They are far too expensive," Jaeger said.
She, however, would like to own the Liberas
Americana, a medal that appeared on the front
of "100 Greatest American Medals and Tokens,"
and was voted number one.
The medal tells a great American history story.
Benjamin Franklin requested the official
engraver of Louis XVI create the Liberas
Americana after the United States declared its
independence in 1776.
"It was the first official medal?to be?struck
at the behest of?the United States, and it
also happens to be?exquisitely?beautiful,"
Jaeger said.?
It's also exquisitely expensive.
"An original in copper in?nice?condition would
cost me the price of a new car: $15,000 to
$30,000. In silver, one would set me back
$60,000 to $100,000," she said.??
Prices for medals and tokens range from $50
to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The most
expensive American medal ever sold was the
Zachary Taylor Congressional Medal for the
Mexican War. It sold in September 2006 for
more $400,000. The medal created a sensation
among coin dealers because nobody even knew
it existed.
Collectors can purchase copies of specific
medals, but Jaeger prefers to hold out for
the real McCoy.
"The mystique is with the originals," she
said.
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