My article this week is an example of doing research when the subject shares a name withsomeone much more famous. Such is the case with coin columnist Daniel Webster.

The original Daniel Webster (1782-1852) was an attorney, congressman, U.S. Senator andSecretary of State. He was the subject of a rare medal (Julian PE-37). He also appears on a tokenissued by coin dealer Ezra Hill in 1860. There are hundreds of references to him in numismaticliterature that crowd out any reference to the columnist.

Adding to the confusion, Webster was the music critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer. He wrotemuch more about music than he did about coins. His coin columns were published under the penname of Henri Sault, his father-in-law.

Harvey Daniel Webster was born in Grand Junction, Colorado, on February 5, 1932, the son ofHarvey L. Webster (1893-1962), a postal clerk, and Harriet Northrop Webster (1904-1989).

Daniel graduated from Dartmouth College and received a master's degree in journalism fromBoston University.

Daniel was trained as a French Horn player. He worked at the New England Music camp inOakland, Maine. It was there that he met Helen Theresa Sault (1920-1989). They were marriedin 1953 and had two sons and a daughter. Following her death in 1989, he married Karen Grippin 1993.

He spent two years with the U. S. Army Band in Salzburg during the Korean War.

His first job was with the Newburyport (MA) Daily News followed by the Quincy PatriotLedger. He was the classical music critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer from 1962 to 1999. In1963 he travelled with the Philadelphia Orchestra to China in an early cultural exchangeprogram.

His "Coins" column appeared in the January 22, 1978, issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer underthe nom de plume of Henri Sault. The column ran through March 11, 2005, spanning about 27years and two months.

The column was syndicated through Knight-Ridder. In June of 1978, the column ran in threenewspapers. In 1985, the same column ran over about a month in a dozen papers around thecountry. When the column was discontinued in March, 2005, it was carried in five papers.

The Webster columns included stories typically seen in newspaper columns. He reported on newcoin issues, auction offerings and results. He mentioned new book issues and new videos. Hepromoted The Counterfeit Coin Bulletin first published in 2000. When the ANA convention cameto Philadelphia and to Pittsburgh, he promoted these through his column. He also promotedregional and local coin shows.

It wasn't just about coins. He frequently wrote about new medal issues and changes in papermoney. And it wasn't just about American cons. He mentioned new issues of world coins.

With his base in Philadelphia, he reported news from the U. S. Mint in Philadelphia. WhenAugustine A. Albino was promoted to Mint Superintendent in 1997, Henri Sault wrote an articleabout him. When there was an exhibition about Philadelphia sculptor and medalist GilroyRoberts opening at the American Numismatic Society, he was mentioned.

Webster generally wrote about current events. There were occasional columns on historicalcoins, but they were few. His readers could learn much of what they would get by subscribing toa coin paper, but without the ads.

Webster died at home in Wilmington, Delaware, on May 13, 2018.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
ROGER BOYE(https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n36a17.html)