Fig. 1. Philatelic West, Vol. 75, No. 3 (May, 1919) Cover, Photo. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, J. W. Scott file.
Copyright © 2011-2017 John N. Lupia III
John Walter Scott (1845-1919), He is given the
appellation “Father of American Philately,” he was also a prominent coin dealer.
Scott was born in London,
England on November 2, 1845. He began to collect stamps in 1860. He immigrated to America in 1863. In America he
owned three companies selling stamps and coins; the second one was renamed Scott
Stamp & Coin Company Limited by the new owners in late December 1885. Consequently a discussion of the Scott Stamp & Coin Company Limited is not included in this biographical sketch since it is a separate entity apart from J. W. Scott. This is emphasized since it is a common error to conflate the two together. Hopefully this differentiation and distinction given here will contribute to clarifying the matter. This article will be republished in expanded form in a book on J. W. Scott and The Scott Stamp & Coin Company Limited, which has been in the planning stage for several years. There are, of course, numerous pieces of mail in The Lupia Numismatic Library, Special Collection, Chapman Family Correspondence Archive sent to S. H. & H. Chapman and separately to Henry Chapman, Jr., from both parties that will be used to help illustrate the book.
J. W. Scott Company, Limited
He moved to New York in 1863
and immediately opened the firm of J. W. Scott Company, Limited, selling coins
and stamps, the first of three coin and stamp businesses he would establish in
his career. In 1864 he closed his stamp, coin and curio business and moved to California attempting gold mining.
J. W. Scott Company,
Limited, his second company by the same name opened in New York City in 1866 which kept an address in London, Philadelphia, and New York City. His return to New York in 1866 brought him to reorganize a new firm of J. W. Scott Company, Limited at 34 Liberty Street, also called Scott & Company until December 1885.
34 Liberty Street, New York, (1866 to September or later in 1868).
814 Chestnut Street,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (June 1876). He probably had an office there for
the International Exhibition and had business envelopes printed with the Main
Exhibition Building printed on the back. In 1868, he married an English woman born of Irish parents, Minnie P., and they had five children : Walter S. (1869-1948), Daisy (1877-), Emily (1880-), Florence (1881-) Dorothy (1883-). His son Walter S. Scott formed one of the Scott philatelic companies and served as an auctioneer for Walter S. Scott & Company and for the Scott Stamp & Coin Company.
Fig. 2. The Fall 1869 Edition of the J. W. Scott & Co. Catalogue of American & Foreign Copper Coin. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, J. W. Scott file. Write john@numismaticmall.com75 & 77 Nassau Street,
New York, (not before October 1868-1877). He published the 3rd edition
of the Postage Stamp Album in 1872.
146 Fulton Street, New York, (1876-1880). The building was torn down and demolished in May 1941 reported by George B. Sloane in Sloane's Column, Stamps, May 31, 1941 issue. Wells Fargo correspondence to John Walter Scott & Company, postmarked Leutzinger Type 11-9, Oakland, California, April 14, 1877 on rare postal Stationery. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library. Write john@numismaticmall.com 721 Broadway, New York, (1881-1886).
In 1881 he published The International Postage Stamp Album, Sixth Edition,
1881.
From
June 1867 to August 1868, Scott issued fifteen monthly one-page price lists.
Only four of these fifteen issues are known in any collection and no complete
set is known anywhere. Of these four only August (3 copies) and September (4
copies) 1867, and February (9 copies) and April (11 copies) 1868 are known. In
September 1868, he issued his first catalog, which, logically, he entitled in
the Preface ”To Our Customers” as the sixteenth greatly enlarged edition: Descriptive Catalogue of American and
Foreign Postage Stamps, Issued from 1840 to Date, Splendidly Illustrated with Colored Engravings And Containing the
Current Value of Each Variety. This was the first "Scott Catalogue",
although Scott counted his first fifteen one-page lists and called the
September 1868 issue as his "Sixteenth Edition", when his address was
at 75 & 77 Nassau Street, New York. In March of 1868, he began publishing
the American Journal of Philately (AJP),
and helped found the New York Philatelic Society, Tiffany No. 14. He continued
publishing the AJP until December 1878. He resumed this publication in 1888. Scott's
coin and stamp catalogs became the most important ones in the country. In December
1868 Ebenezer Locke Mason, Jr. made arrangements with Scott for cuts of stamps
to illustrate Mason’s Coin & Stamp Collectors’
Magazine for 1869. In December 1869
Mason refers to Scott & Company as printers who printed a large order of
cards and catalogs for him. On May 28, 1870, in New York City, Scott organized
the first stamp auction ever held. Two years later he opened a branch in London
and organized his fifth auction there. The sale, held March 18, 1872, was the
first stamp auction held in Europe.  Fig. 3. Scott Postage Stamp Album at the 40th Exhibition of the American Institute in 1871.
In 1875 Scott
hired Edouard Frossard to edit The Coin
Collectors’ Journal, published as a monthly in blue paper wrappers. This
periodical was published from December 1875 to December 1888 with the final three years under new ownership. However, Frossard
only edited Volume 1 of the first year from December 1875 until December 1876.
The bulk of the remaining Volumes 2-12 were edited by David Proskey, except for
the final five issues of Volume 12. Lyman Haynes Low merged with J. W. Scott & Coin, in August 1885 four months prior to the December
1885 sale.
Between 1876 but before December
of 1877 he removed his shop to 146 Fulton Street, New York, with the exception
of Philadelphia during the International Exhibition. Fig. 4. The Fall 1879 Edition of the Scott & Company, Standard Coin Catalogue : Copper. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library. Write john@numismaticmall.com
He developed a new design
called “Form 9” on his business collateral, beginning on November 12, 1881,
printing 5,000 envelopes. He printed a series of Stamp Trade Cards each
depicting a miniaturized young girl holding a disproportionately actual size stamp. Fig. 5. Stamp Trade Card of Belgium depicting a miniaturized young girl in folkloric costume holding a disproportionately actual size and real postage stamp. Note the card is encased in a sealed protective plastic sleeve. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, J. W. Scott file. Write john@numismaticmall.comScott & Company, 146 Fulton St., NY, Dealers in Foreign Stamps and Coins
was printed on the blank back. No. 1 Stamp of
Switzerland; No. 2 Stamp of
Denmark; No. 3 Stamp of
Netherlands; No. 4 Stamp of
Belgium; No. 5 Stamp of Greece; No.
6 Stamp of Portugal; No. 7 Stamp of Austria; No. 8 Stamp of Roumania; No. 9 Stamp of Russia, and so on. Fig. 6. Scott & Company, 721 Broadway, New York. Note the sign atop the building reads Postage Stamps and Coins. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, J. W. Scott file. Write john@numismaticmall.comHe moved again on May 1, 1882
to 721 Broadway, New York. His business address after 1884 was 36-40 John Street,
New York. An illustration of the interior of his Fulton Street was published in The American Journal of
Philately and Coin Advertiser, Vol. XII, January (1879).  Fig. 7. Scott & Company Coin Auction Catalogue October 23-24, 1877. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library. Write john@numismaticmall.com
In 1877 he moved to the
store-front ground floor at 146 Fulton Street, New York, a five-story building,
calling the company business Scott & Company, Coin & Stamp Emporium,
and began publishing coin auction sales catalogues. Fig. 8. Scott & Company Coin Auction Catalogue, December 5-7, 1877. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, J. W. Scott file. Write john@numismaticmall.comThe actual number of coin
auction catalogs issued under J. W. Scott from October 23-24, 1877 until
December 10-12, 1883 is uncertain. Various authors have attempted to assess
this area but the results show evidence that they have mixed up the J. W. Scott
& Co., and the Scott Stamp and Coin Co., Ltd., as though they were all one property
of John W. Scott.
In July
1879 The Coin Collectors’ Journal,
published an article on the Confederate half-dollar of 1861. Scott purchased one
of the four known specimens including the die pair from Ebenezer Locke Mason,
Jr., who bought it from Ed Cogan in the coin auction sale of Michael Moore
collection sold at Bangs on May 2nd. Fig. 8. Scott & Company white metal token. Photo in The Numismatist, September (2012) : 52In June 1881 Ebenezer Locke Mason, Jr.,
mentioned that the Confederate half-dollar of 1861 as possibly resided in
Pittsburg, evidently rumor had it that someone having bought it from Scott. However,
Scott put it to auction March 8, 1882 at New York selling it to a Mr. South for
$870. Scott re-struck several hundred silver pieces of the coin using the
original dies selling them.
Fig. 9. In 1881
he printed collector cards of coins of the world. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, J. W. Scott file. Write john@numismaticmall.com
In 1882,
for his 42nd sale, he sold a photographic plate of some of the most valuable
stamps in the sale. It was the first time a stamp auction catalog contained
photographic illustrations; coins were much earlier with Cogan on June 23-24,
1869; and art auctions, even earlier at Christies, London, on March 12, 1860.
On December 10, 1885, in order to
pursue other investments, he sold the business to the Calman brothers and Henry
Collin, which they renamed Scott Stamp & Coin Company. Scott retained a
small interest in the company stock and continued to work as editor of the catalogs and The American
Journal of Philately until 1889, when he sold off his remaining interest in
order to start a new business.
In the 1880’s he was a member
of the Brooklyn Philatelic Club. In The
American Journal of Philately, Vol. 1, No. 3 (1888) : 88, his address is
given as 240 Jefferson Avenue, Brooklyn, Long Island, New York. At the May 4th,
1888 meeting of the American Numismatic and Archaeological Society, Scott read
his paper entitled : “The Paper Money of the Revolution,” The American Journal of Philately, Vol. 1, No. 5 June (1888) :
154-164, and No. 6, June 15 (1888) : 199-214, illustrated.
J. W. Scott Company,
Limited, was his third and final company. Walter S. Scott, the eldest child of J. W. Scott worked for his father in the family business and is listed in records as a clerk. 721 Broadway is the first address continuing from Scott & Company.
Note the change of company name hand-stamped diagonally from Scott & Company to The Scott Stamp & Coin Co. (beneath) SUCCESSORS, by the new owners, postdated May 6, 1886. Lupia Numismatic Library. For sale. A key piece for historical criteria for any collection. Write john@numismaticmall.com
163 Fulton Street, New York,
1889-1917 Scott Stamp & Coin Company Limited, his original company which he sold in December 1885 sued him after 1888 for reopening using his own name claiming breach of contract stipulating one of the terms of sale. However, the suit was frivolous and the court dismissed the case.
In 1889, after nearly five
years of financial struggling Scott reorganized the new J. W. Scott Company,
Limited and incorporated the company and established his corporate logo. His new company published List of Prices at Which We Sell U. S. & Fractional Currency, Colonial, and Continental Bills, Coins, Stamps, Albums, etc. Fig. 10. Scott promoted coins and stamps for young collectors publishing his Junior Weekly Letter. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, J. W. Scott file. Write john@numismaticmall.com He published a 16-page circular in 1890, with the cover title : J. W.
Scott Company, Ltd., 163 Fulton Street, New York, New York. Fig. 11. A Manual of Valuable Coins published 1890. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, J. W. Scott file. Write john@numismaticmall.com  Fig. 12. Front & Back of J. W. Scott Company 1890-1891 Circular pamphlet. The back advertises the A Manual of Valuable Coins published 1890. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, J. W. Scott file. Write john@numismaticmall.comThis same year he
began to publish The Metropolitan Philatelist,
which ran until 1915. Fig. 13. Front cover of The Metropolitan Philatelist. The Chapman Brothers and other notable coin dealers advertised selling stamps and coins in this magazine. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, J. W. Scott file. Write john@numismaticmall.comOn September 25, 1895, he initiated J.W.
Scott & Co., Ltd. Weekly News Letter, a single-sheet folio with the
positional statement : "a private and confidential communication to the 100
leading amateurs of America," which ran until May 1, 1897. He
served as one of the judges for the public numismatic exhibits at the
Collector’s Club on Saturday, January 25th, 1902.
In 1895 Augustus Goodyear
Heaton published “A Tour Among the Coin Dealers,” in The Numismatist which
read : "In the middle of downtown business life on John Street will be
found the J. W. Scott Company. It occupies a spacious lower floor with two show
windows on the street, and its manager, Mr. Scott, and a number of clerks are
busy behind the counters and at desks over a large stamp trade. Coins, though
subordinate, received considerable attention, and very choice pieces of all
kinds are frequently to be found. Numismatic publications are also on hand.” Fig. 14. John W. Scott Company business envelope design of March 1896 based on the original 1889 logo of incorporation. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, J. W. Scott file. Write john@numismaticmall.com
Fig. 15. John W. Scott Company, A Complete Price List of All Adhesive United States Stamps, Postage & Revenue, 1899. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, J. W. Scott file. Write john@numismaticmall.com
Fig. 16. John W. Scott Company, full page ad in the June issue of The Numismatist, 1906. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library.
In 1908 Scott ran a series of full page ads in The Numismatist from August to November.
In 1910 he published his Cents Silver and Gold Coin Catalogue of the World, comprising 180 large pages fully illustrated. In 1913 he published his Cents Copper Coin Catalogue of the World; including Roman Imperial coins comprising 200 pages fully illustrated.
Fig. 17. John W. Scott Company Limited An Abridged List, 1914. Note address 36 John Street. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, J. W. Scott file. Write john@numismaticmall.com
Fig. 18. An original (not a Numismatic Book Shop reproduction) of John W. Scott Company Limited, Standard Catalogues, No. 1, 1916. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, J. W. Scott file. Write john@numismaticmall.com In 1917 he sold his business
to J. E. Handshaw. About
two years later, on January 4, 1919, Scott died at his home in New York at age
seventy-four. His son Walter L. Scott supplied the biographical information for
his obituary. His wife and five children survived him. A donor, in 1878, to the
ANS library.
In 1935-1936, R. Green of the Numismatic Book
Shop, 1544 Arthur Avenue, Chicago, Illinois sold reprints of the J. W. Scott
1913 Copper, Nickel and Brass Coins of the World Catalogue, and the 1916 Gold
and Silver Coins of the World Catalogue. Bibliophiles beware of purchasing reproductions sold as originals.
He was inducted into the American Philatelic Society (APS) Hall of Fame in 1941.
Bibliography :
Proceedings
of the American Numismatic and Archaeological Society, of New York At the
Annual Meeting, March 18, 1879: page 13
Philatelic
West, Vol. 75, No. 3 (May, 1919) Cover, Photo
Work :
Charles Henry Coster, The United States Locals and Their History
(J. W. Scott, 1877)
Catalogue of the collection
of postage stamps exhibited at the Eden Musée : by the members of the Brooklyn
Philatelic Club, National Philatelical Society, Staten Island Philatelic
Society : with descriptive notes by J.W. Scott. (New York : The Committee,
1889)
The
Numismatist, Vol. 4, No. 1, January, (1892) : 18 (ad); No.
2, February (1892) : 28; No. 3, March (1892) : 46; No. 4, April (1892) : 64;
No. 5, May (1892) : 86; Vol. 8 (1895) : Table of Contents 1895, first ad page,
column two; Vol. XV, No. No. 3, March (1902) : 84, 87; June (1906) : 227; August, September, October/November, (1908), all full page ads; April (1914) : 31 ; February (1919) : 77 (obit); February (1992) : 231;
Heaton, A. G., “A Tour Among
the Coin Dealers,” The Numismatist,
Vol. 8, No. 1, January (1895) : 8
“Obituary,” The Numismatist, Vol. 32, No. 2,
February (1919) : 77
Mason, III, No. 1, January
(1869) : 11; III, No. 2, February (1869) : 21c-d; No. 3, March (1869) : 30d,
34a; No. 4, April (1869) : 44a; “Scott’s American Postage Stamp Album,” (J.
Walter Scott), III, No. 11, November (1869) : 128d-129a; IV, No. 4, April (1870) : 64; IV, No. 5, May (1870) :
79; IV, No. 6, June (1870) : 93; Scott, James W., [D-375], editor, New York
Philatelic Society. II, No. 6, September (1868) : 60a; III, No. 8, August
(1869) : 93d; V, No. 11, November (1871) : 180; Scott, John Walter, trading as
Scott & Co., The Coin Collectors’ Journal (1875-1888), B-I, No. 2, July
(1880) : 6d; B-I, No. 3, October (1880) : 12b; H-I, No. 1, June (1879) : 3a;
H-I, No. 1, June (1879) : 5a, 7c, 8a (Advertisements); H-I, No. 2, September
(1879) : 17c; H-I, No. 2, September (1879) : 16a; H-I, No. 2, September (1879)
: 19b; H-II, No. 1, June (1880) :2a; H-II, No. 2, September (1880) :10c; Sale
of the Smith Cabinet,” (Mason), H-II, No. 3, December (1880) : 18c-19a; H-III,
No. 1, June (1881) : 39a; H-III, No. 4, March (1882) : 60d; C-IV, No. 1, June
(1882) : 12; C-IV, No. 1, June (1882) : 13. Dr. Jonathan Brace Chittenden, "John Walter Scott," Collectors Club Philatelist, Vol. II, October (1923) : 126-141 Dr. Jonathan Brace Chittenden, "Scott in Philatelic Organizations," Collectors Club Philatelist, Vol. III, April (1924) : 65-73 Dr. Jonathan Brace Chittenden, "Scott in Philatelic Literature," Collectors Club Philatelist, Vol. III, July (1924) : 119-124 Dr. Jonathan Brace Chittenden, "Scott and the Exhibitions," Collectors Club Philatelist, Vol. III, October (1924) : 160-164
Pete Smith, “American
Numismatic Pioneers : An Index to Sources,” Asylum Vol. XXII, No. 3,
Consecutive Issue No. 87, Summer (2004) : 305;
Emmanuel Joseph Attinelli. A
Bibliography of American Numismatic Auction Catalogues 1828-1875;
Q. David Bowers, American
Numismatics before the Civil War 1760-1780 (Wolfeboro, 1998); Stanley M. Bierman, M. D., "J. W. Scott Sales 1870-1919," Philatelic Literature Review, Vol. 35, No. 4 (1986) : 113-136
Bourne, Remy, Fixed Price
Lists & Premium Paid For Lists of United States Coin Dealers 1822-1900
(Minneapolis, 1988);
Gnecchi, Ercole and
Francesco, eds., Guida Numismatica 4th
edition. (Milano : U. Hoepli, 1903. Edition) : 557, No. 5775
Rulau, Russell, Standard
Catalog of United States Tokens 1700-190-0 (Iola, 1994);
Pete Smith, American
Numismatic Biographies, (Rock River, 1992);
John W. Adams, United States Numismatic Literature, Vol. 1, 31, 58-63, 68,
179-182; 127
Numismatic
Scrapbook, Vol. II, No. 1, February (1936) : 10
full-page ad for 1913 reprint
“Numismatic Journalism,” The Coin Journal, Vol. III, No. 1,
January, February and March (1882) : 11
Charles Davis, American Numismatic Literature, (1992) :
159, no. 905
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