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Copyright 2011-2017 John N. Lupia, III
John Kimball Wiggin (1825-1875), was born on August 5, 1825 at Wakefield, Carroll County, New Hampshire, son of Porter Kimball Wiggin (1789-1840) and Elizabeth Gerrich Piper Wiggin (1789-1881) .
John Wiggin was a well-known book collector, publisher, book dealer, antiquarian bookseller, dealer in autographs, curios, rare engravings, prints, swords, coins, medals, and Tokens at his store at 14 Summer Street, and from 1864 to 1869 at 18 School Street, Boston, Massachusetts. He was also a coin collector and served as the Treasurer of the Boston Numismatic Society. He is the brother of Colonel Charles Porter Wiggin (1835-1877), the principal owner of the town of Nordhoff, Ojai Valley, California.
In July 1848, he was granted a license at Boston to be a funeral undertaker.
In 1851, he married Mary Jane Perry (1827-1900). They had a daughter Bertha (1859-1893).
In October 1859, he became a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. A few years later in the 1860's he worked with Jeremiah Colburn on the Committee of the Library of the N.E. Historic-Genealogical Society.
The first of two known Wiggin coin auction sales selling U. S. coins was held at Leonard & Co., Boston, May 30, 1860.
Fig. Edward Cogan correspondence with John K. Wiggin postmarked June 24, 1861, on a Weiss C-P-D 10 Civil War Patriotic Cover, franked with a pair of Scott #26A 3c Washington, Clarke #101 Cancel. CV = $450.00 for a single stamp on a patriotic cover. Asking $550 for the pair. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library. Write john@numismaticmall.com
The second known coin auction sale was catalogued by Ed Cogan held on March 25, 1862, held at William C. Cook, Philadelphia. Lot 747 described a 1792 silver center cent, Judd-1.
Fig. John K. Wiggin advertisement on the back cover of the Benjamin Haines coin auction catalogue January 19-23, 1863.
In 1869 he retired from his firm Wiggin & Lunt, Book and Publishing business. His partner William Parsons Lunt continued operating under his own name.
Leonard & Company auction sale held March 7-10, 1876 : Bibliotheca Americana : Catalogue of the Private Library of the Late John K. Wiggin, and the Duplicates Remaining from His Publications and Books on Sale, Chiefly Relating to America. There were many rare coin auction catalogues, and numismatic books in his collection in Lots 395-397, 402-415, 444-457, 461, 463, etc.
The auction sale of the autograph collection was also held by Leonard & Company on Tuesday, March 21, 1876.
He died of softening of the brain on August 20, 1875 at Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. He is buried at the North Beverly Cemetery, Beverly, Essex County, Massachusetts.
Fig. Tomb of John K. Wiggin
Bibliography :
Boston Daily Bee, Tuesday, July 11, 1848, page 2
Boston Evening Transcript, Thursday, October 6, 1859, page 4
Boston Evening Transcript, Saturday, January 30, 1864
Waltham Sentinel, Friday, January 19, 1866, page 1
Commercial Bulletin, Saturday, April 17, 1869, page 2
American Journal of Numismatics (1872)
New England Farmer, Saturday, August 28, 1875, page 3
E. J. Attinelli, Numisgraphics (N. Y., 1875) : 18, 24
Boston Journal, Wednesday, September 26, 1877, page 3 obit of Col. Charles P. Wiggin
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