Editor's Preface

Collecting American Colonial Coins in Eighteenth-Century England
Jeff Rock

Regulator and Regulated: The Monetary Conditions of GoldsmithThomas Shields and the Successful Circulation of Foreign Gold Coinage
Jesse C. Kraft

Proposed Design of a Commemorative Medal of the Battle of Pensacola (1781) by the Royal Academy of San Carlos Mexico
Ángel O. Navarro Zayas

Aztec Influence in Early Spanish Colonial Four-Reales Coinage, 1538-1542
Philip C. Ellsworth

The Montreal Medal of Songose: A Case Study of Established Numismatic Lore
Julia H. Casey

[I]t is the beautiful young woman onthe cover who began acquiring what is arguably the most important intact coincollection ever assembled by a private individual. Her collection, as you will learn,is not only important for its holdings of British treasures, but also its Americancolonial pieces. Before today, few Americans had the pleasure of seeing Miss Banks' American coins, but here they are for our subscribers to enjoy along withJeff Rock's brilliant descriptions and analysis.

Jeff 's article has been in the works for a long time. The American NumismaticSociety, through JEAN's publisher, Andrew Reinhard, worked with the BritishMuseum for over a year in order to bring you the fantastic images of Miss Banks'collection in this issue. Jeff traveled to England at his own expense, and spent timeat both museums where he tracked down, selected, and examined all the coinspresented here. Many of the coins you will see in his article have never before beenphotographed or studied by American numismatists. I wish to thank the ANS,Andrew, and Jeff for their efforts and financial commitment in helping to bringthis important article to our subscribers.

Miss Sarah Sophia Banks, as you shall learn, was not a hoarder, but anastute, sophisticated collector-she collected with a purpose, she was not merelyacquiring stuff. And, like many of you, she clearly enjoyed spending her leisuretime with her collection, lovingly organizing and recording every specimen.Thus, her existing notes (some are missing) provide us with a rare opportunity tolearn how a late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century collection of Americancolonial coins was put together in Europe. Through Jeff 's research we learn whichAmerican coins were available, how much they cost, and who was selling, trading,or giving them away.

In many instances, the only reason mint state or near mint state specimensof some American coins have survived is because people like Miss Banks savedthem for us. Jeff does an excellent job in explaining how English collectors helpedpreserve American colonial coins. While Jeff discusses several other collectorsand writers, the star of the show is Miss Banks. Jeff 's article takes up the bulk ofthis edition of JEAN, but it is by no means the only thing readers have to lookforward to in this issue!

Dr. Jesse Kraft takes a look at Philadelphia goldsmith Thomas Shields' businessrecords to inform us on gold coin regulating. With much hubris, Ye Editor thoughthe knew pretty much all there was to know about pre-Revolutionary gold coinregulation-I am now somewhat humbled. There was far more to the gold coinregulating business than even I (with my vivid imagination) could have everdreamed of. I thought the business consisted mostly of plugging gold coins to raisetheir weight, and was totally unaware that the bulk of the work was doing justthe opposite. Who knew that regulators spent more time and made more moneyshaving gold coins than plugging them? Business ledgers like those of Mr. Shieldsare a treasure trove of information that are beginning to open our eyes to the richhistory of the coins we collect and study. I would be remiss if I did not add thatDr. Kraft is the new assistant curator of American numismatics at the ANS. I wishhim well in this job, and I am sure all our subscribers do as well. Although this ishis first article in JEAN, I do not think it will be his last.

I am currently working on a book to update C. Wyllys Betts' work onAmerican colonial medals. As I slowly slog my way through each medal, I have come to appreciate Spain's tradition of proclamation and commemorative medalsrelating to the Americas. Some of the medals listed by Betts were never produced.This issue of JEAN presents an article dealing with an unlisted Betts medal; onethat was never actually minted-the proposed medal commemorating the battleof Pensacola, in British West Florida. This proposed piece memorializes an eventnot taught in schools, viz. the successful Spanish attack on Pensacola duringthe American Revolution. This article was prepared by Dr. Ángel O. NavarroZayas from Ponce, Puerto Rico. I am informed by several sources that he is thenumismatic expert on that island. As a native speaker of Spanish, his perspectiveon Spain's American numismatic tradition is invaluable. This is the second issuein a row where he has shared something with us, and I hope he will continue thattrend.

We are also lucky to have another article on Spanish coinage in this issue.This article, written by a new contributor, Philip Ellsworth, was a real treat forme and the other editors. We all loved it. One of our points of emphases over thelast two years at JEAN has been to explore Spanish coinage in greater depth. Mr.Ellsworth's article is about as deep a dive as you can take; a thrilling adventure intopre-Columbian Aztec influence on Spanish coinage. As it turns out, one year theprepared dies for the Mexico City mint did not arrive from Spain, and the mintturned to local Aztec workers to help fashion the new dies. The resulting coinsfrom this clash of cultures are fascinating! I am sure you will enjoy reading andlearning about this unique moment in history as much as we have.

I save the article from my friend Julia Casey for last. Julia has been aphenomenal addition to JEAN's editorial team. As every author can attest, shehas made everything published in these pages better. Her research skills areunsurpassed. Coincidentally, Julia is from a small town in New York State calledBallston Spa that has a wonderful numismatic story attached to it; the discoveryof a Montreal Medal, Betts-431, issued to a Native American warrior from theMohican Tribe known only as Songose. This specific medal has been studied andwritten about by many fine numismatic scholars. Julia shows us that there is moreto the story, and in doing so makes the point that we should not just assume weknow everything there is to know about colonial coins and medals. Each coin andeach medal has a rich history that we have only just started to understand.

For more information on the American Numismatic Society, see:
http://numismatics.org/

For more information on the Journal of Early American Numismatics, see:
Journal of Early American Numismatics (was Colonial Newsletter)(http://numismatics.org/store/cnl/)