Q.David Bowers
John Work Garrett replied with his findings on July 3, 1925:
I have looked very carefully at my 1795 Washington Indian medal as you asked me to in your letter of June 12th, and I can see no signs at all of its having any copper in it. Even in the deepest cuts there is no change in color or other indication of anything other than silver as far as I can tell.
Despite the fact that during 1925 the American Numismatic Society showed a deficit in its general fund and solicited donations from Garrett and others, in 1926 (the following year) it had apparently found itself in a position to produce additional publications. A letter dated November 17, 1926, from Sydney P. Noe, secretary of the American Numismatic Society at that time, noted:
It was a disappointment that there was not an opportunity after the council meeting last week to speak to you about the publication of your [American] rarities.
You'll remember that early last year, when you were in our building, you thought it could be done, and you offered to bring your cards describing the pieces when you came up again. This, therefore, is merely in the nature of a reminder, although I should be grateful for a word from you as to whether, for any reason, you decided to give up the plan. I sincerely hope not. It would be a help if you would let me hear from you, because we plan a meeting of the Publication Committee soon.
Apparently nothing came of this project, for ensuing correspondence to John Work Garrett mainly was concerned with donations to help with operating expenses.
On February 7, 1904, Baltimore was ravaged by fire.
Fortunately, the main part of the Garrett Collection was on loan exhibition at Princeton University in New Jersey and escaped injury. However, some medals and other items were left behind and were extensively damaged. John Work Garrett corresponded with Edward T. Newell of the American Numismatic Society concerning this matter on February 19, 1929:
I am sending you by express today the medals of which I spoke to you the other day.
They were damaged by the Baltimore fire. If they are of no use to the Society dump them in the river. They were on the 7th floor of the Continental Building in what were then temporary offices of Robert Garrett & Sops. The building was completely gutted and everything was lost except the contents of vaults, most of which were saved.
On receiving the letter of February 19, 1929, Howland Wood replied:
Mr. Newell handed your letter to me, and the medals from the Baltimore fire have come to hand. A few of these we can salvage and make use of. Thank you for sending these on. Later that year Garrett was appointed American ambassador to Italy. As a result he felt he must resign from the American Numismatic Society. On September 17, 1929, Garrett wrote from Paris with this request:
Owing to my appointment to Rome [as American ambassador to Italy] and the necessarily long absence from America therein involved, I must, to my regret, ask you to bring before the board of the Society my resignation as one of its members. Of course this will not mean any lessening in my interest in the great work of the Society.
Sydney P. Noe, secretary of the American Numismatic Society, responded to his request in a letter (dated November 11, 1929) sent to John Work Garrett at the United States Embassy in Rome.
Permit me to inform you that at the meeting of the Council of The American Numismatic Society, held yesterday, Mr. Newell presented your resignation as a member of that body.
On motion, that resignation was accepted with regret, but was accompanied by the hearty wishes of the Council for success in your new field.
It is my pleasure to add that a subsequent motion, carried unanimously, made you an Honorary Councilor of The American Numismatic; Society for life.
Garrett continued his interest in the activities of the Society, as this letter, of December 19, 1931, to Edward T. Newell, reflects.
I have had some correspondence with the Baltimore Committee for the Celebration of the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of Washington. The Committee is trying to collect photographs of all the portraits of Washington, and it occurred to me that the American Numismatic Society might like to get out during the two hundredth anniversary a small volume illustrating all the known coins and medals with Washington's portrait on them, or particularly relating to Washington. If there is any chance of your wanting to do this and you would like to have photographs of some of the pieces in my collection, which are very rare or unique, I will have the photographs made for you if you will let me know at once your wishes. I shall have to know at once for I am sailing to Italy on January 5, and will have the photograph taken before then, if at all. I have added a few colonial pieces from Mr. Newcomer's collection, although I am restricting my purchases very much at the present time. It makes my collection of colonial coins about as complete as possible to make it, excepting for die varieties of Connecticut, Vermont, and New York cents. Of these I have examples of all the types ... My collection of New Jersey cents I believe is complete with the following exceptions: 1786 10-H, 11-G, 15-U; 1787 35-W, 79-ee, and 81.
During the early 20th century it was common practice for collectors to put cast or struck copies of coins in their collection to fill gaps or to illustrate types that would not otherwise be available. Indeed, in London the British Museum specifically sold casts of coins to collectors for this purpose, and in New York the American Numismatic Society did as well. In the aforementioned letter there is a paragraph concerning pieces not represented in the Garrett collection with a request that:
I do not know where most of the pieces are, but I should like very much to have casts of them for my collection, and I wonder if you could put me in the way of getting them. The proposal for the Washington publication came to nought, as a letter from Sydney P. Noe, dated December 22, 1931, reveals:
... Will you be so good as to let me know the number of Washington pieces in your collection with special emphasis on the unique ones? Our publication funds for the small form would be available but some of the Washington material such as the Indian Peace medals is too small [this apparently is an error and should be "too large"] for the small form. Furthermore, it is almost absolutely out of the question to have anything ready to issue by next February 22. Mr. Newell is absent for a few days, and it will be impossible to obtain a definite decision pending his return, but if you will let me have the information requested above I can lay it before him when he comes.