Last week I read a book; this week I read a periodical. The item was by Charles C. Smith in Proceedings of the Massachusetts HistoricalSociety, Volume XXXVII, Oct. 1903, pages 516-527. Here are some excerpts:

The published memoir includes an extensive description of six trips to Europe and of his manypublications on genealogy. I have always liked Appleton because of the charming portraitpublished with the memoir. It was also published in the American Journal of Numismatics atabout the same time.

The first sale from his collection was conducted by Charles Steigerwalt on May 21, 1907. Thiswas composed of Canadian and British coins and medals. The second sale was conducted bySteigerwalt on January 18, 1910. This included ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian coins. Lot232 was a collection of 259 coins from Alexandria. Lot 259 was a collection of 247 RomanFamily Denarii.

Thomas Elder sold coins and medals from Appleton in his 81st sale on July 8 & 9, 1913. The salebegan with a long run of world medals including strong groups of the medals of Luther and ofNapoleon. It is unfortunate that Appleton did not leave a journal of his travels and records of hispurchases. The collection shows what could be acquired by someone with free time, unlimitedfunds and a love of the cultural articles of history.

When Thomas Elder promoted his auction of the Appleton library, he stated The sale was conducted May 10, 1913,with 414 lots. Many lots of periodicals were sold in group lots.

The Massachusetts Historical Society did not have adequate resources to provide security for thecoins and to make them available for research. Some had gone missing by 1920. Eventually theyput the coins in a bank vault where they were not available to anyone. The coins were consignedto Stack's for a series of six auctions conducted over 1970 to 1976.

Samuel Appleton appears on a medal struck at the U. S. Mint for the Massachusetts HistoricalSociety. (Julian AM-43) Samuel Appleton was the uncle of William Sumner Appleton.