SCOTT, JOHN WALTER

Fig. 1. The Original photograph published in Philatelic West, Vol. 75, No. 3 (May, 1919)  Cover, Photo. Courtesy Theo van der Caaij.

Copyright © 2011-2025 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 Walworth, London, England on November 2, 1845. He began to collect stamps in 1860 around the time of the death of his father. He immigrated to America in August 1863, shortly before his eighteenth birthday. 

PREFACE TO THE READER

In America Scott owned three companies selling stamps and coins; the second one was renamed Scott Stamp & Coin Company Limited by the new owners on the 10th of December 1885. This is confusion about the two names 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. 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. If you are searching for the Scott Stamp & Coin Company Limited go to the ENCYCLOPEDIC DICTIONARY OF NUMISMATIC AND PHILATELIC BIOGRAPHIES then click on the three horizontal bars at the top left to get the menu with all the names in alphabetic order and then select  Scott Stamp & Coin Company Limited. 

This article will be republished in expanded, corrected and revised form in a book on J. W. Scott and The Scott Stamp & Coin Company Limited, which has been in the planning stage for many 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 this artcle and for the future book.

J. W. Scott Company, Limited

The modest and humble beginnings of John Walter Scott's business career in America were aimed at earning a living and money was earned by hard work as a street peddler. Yet, Scott like all Americans who heard about a gold strike in California Scott ran for the gold only to find himself returning to the streets of New York from whence he came. 

He moved to New York in August 1863 and immediately was forced to sell his stamp stock brought from London out of necessity while looking for work having come with very little funds to live on. He apparently became partners with either William Penn Brown or James Brennan since these two were the established stamp dealers at City Hall Park for several years previous. In fact, Brown used to call himself the second earliest stamp dealer in New York City referring to Brennan. Soon Scott earned enough to go on his own. As Chris King has pointed out Scott's sister Emily used to mail him Penny Blacks to sell in New York making 11¢ profit on each by charging 12¢ apiece.

First New York Kiosk :  City Hall Park (1863-1865)

Like either William P. Brown or James Brennan, whichever were his partner  J. W. Scott, like the two of them were unincorporated working merely as street peddlers that sold without any required peddlers' license.   When Scott went independent he was selling coins and stamps, the first of three coin and stamp businesses he would establish in his career.  

Around spring of 1865 he closed his peddlers' stamp, coin and curio business and moved to California attempting gold mining but may have wound up in the U.S. Army in Missouri as a Lieutenant before hitting California being short on cash. He returned to New York two years later boarding a steamship from Sacramento and managed back after a mishap around Panama. Once he returned he then established his signature stamp company at 34 Liberty Street, next to the City Hall Post Office. So far no incorporation papers have yet been discovered that give all of the details. 

 J. W. Scott Company, Limited, his second company by the same name opened in New York City in 1867 which kept an address in London, Philadelphia,  and New York City.  His return to New York in 1867 brought him to reorganize a new firm of J. W. Scott Company, Limited at 34 Liberty Street, also called Scott & Company until December 1885.

First New York Shop : 34 Liberty Street, New York, (1867 to January 1, 1871).

From 1875 he was at 814 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (June 1876). He probably had an office there for the International Exhibition and had business envelopes and or trade cards printed with the Main Exhibition Building printed on the back. A. C. Klein had such a trade card and one wonders if Scott was the designer and the printer especially since her card has designs of postage stamps which Scott was famous for making on commission by request. (See the Trade Card below)

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 and printer for Walter S. Scott & Company and for the Scott Stamp & Coin Company.

U.S. Army Registry - Fourteenth Regiment, Missouri,  shows  a J. W. Scott enlisted in June 27, 1865 and was commissed as a 1st Lieutenant on August 24, 1865, during the Civil War. If this was John Walter Scott then we know why his California sojourn from New York took so long to return from a failed gold prospecting effort.

Adelia C. Klein's (A.C. Kline) Trade Card. She was one of the first stamp, coin, and curio shops in Philadelphia. Around 1860 Ebenezer Locke Mason, Jr.,  Edward Cogan, and William Idler also had similar shops with Idler additionally offering watch and jewelry repair and Mason photographs and carte visite, while Cogan offered very similar art works as Kline. Several years after the Civil War Adelia's husband John William Kline eventually joined her shop taking credit for her years of work claiming he was the dealer all along using his wife's name. 

When John Walter Scott opened shop in Philadelphia P. M. Wolsieffer was selling stamps and the Chapman Brothers were working for John White Haseltine in his stamp, coin and curio shop. 

The A. C. Kline Trade Card displays a front design that inspired the creation of Philatelica eventually adapted as the logo for the American Philatelic Society. The rear design is the 1876 Centennial at Philadelphia pavillion of Horticulture Hall with the dimensions of its enormity. This card may have been designed and printed by John W. Scott. For Sale $500 Write john@numismaticmall.com

During J. W. Scott's journey west he may have joined the Army as he mentioned he might while in New York. If this is him then he joined the Fourteenth Regiment in Missouri on June 27, 1865 and was promoted to the rank of 1st Lieutenant  on August 24, in 1865, Company I, during the Civil War. 

John Walter Scott circular printed bothe sides with letter to 15 year old Charles S. Ordway (1854-1940), dated Octiober 30, 1869, the same year as Scott's first Stamp Album. This circular was published in an article by Chris King, "John Walter Scott: The Father of American Philately," London Philatelist February 2025. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic & Philatelic Library and Museum : Special Collection : John Walter Scott file. Apparently a unique example of this circular as the only surviving specimen. FOR SALE $600 SOLD Write john@numismaticmall.com  

1871 Circular  Card of John Walter Scott seeking plates both lithographic , steel engraved or electrotypes for Locals and Carriers. Ex-Herbert A. Trenchard. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library. FOR SALE $400. SOLD Write john @numismaticmall.com

Fig. 2. The Fall 1869 Edition of the J. W. Scott & Co. Catalogue of American & Foreign Copper Coin. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $200 Write john@numismaticmall.com 

75 & 77 Nassau Street, New York, (November 1870). 

In the days before television novelty items were a major source of entertainment. Scott advertised in the Journal of American Philately, February 1871 selling novelty items including "Serpent Eggs" more of a gag or prank items a type of firework, historically known as the "Pharaoh's Serpent" or "Sugar Snake". They are typically made from a mixture of sugar and baking soda. When heated, the sugar and baking soda react, producing carbon (which is black, hence the "snake" appearance) and carbon dioxide gas, which pushes the carbon outward, creating the snake-like effect.

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.

James R. Grant letter dated August 30, 1872 to John Walter Scott criticizing his stamp albums and the quality of the paper. An extraordinary rare gem of historical value and the only known letter of its sort. Courtesy of the Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library and Museum : Special Collection : John Walter Scott. A Museumpiece - FOR SALE $1,200 Write john@numismaticmall.com  

Wells Fargo correspondence to John Walter Scott & Company, postmarked Leutzinger Type 11-9, Oakland, California,  April 14, 1879 on rare postal Stationery. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library. FOR SALE $275 SOLD Write john@numismaticmall.com  

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.  The graphic illustrated covers of Mason & Co., had illustrations of a Scott #64, 3¢  postage stamp and 1793 Flowing Hair Large Cent, suggesting that they too were created by Scott for Mason or that he designed and printed them as well as his invoices.

 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.

Mason & Co., Invoice with woodcuts of Scott #64 and 1793 Flowing Hair Large Cent may have been designed and printed for Mason by Scott. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library, Special Collection, Ebenezer Locke Mason, Jr. File. Ex- Herbert A. Trenchard.  FOR SALE $650. Write john@numismaticmall.com

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. 

From 1876 and March 12, 1877 he removed his shop to 146 Fulton Street, New York, with the exception of Philadelphia during the International Exhibition. 

John Walter Scott to the Chapman Brothers, Samuel Hudson Chapman and his younger brother Henry Chapman, Jr., Philadelphia, duplex cancel, station 3, postmarked October 8, 1878, on billboard commercial cover. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library, Special Collection, Chapman Family Archive. Crease right side and top conforming to the dimensions of  Scott's Fixed Price List (FPL) booklet. Apparently, John Walter Scott's introducing himself to the Chapman Brothers mailing them one of his fixed price lists for them to purchase items from him. He had a fire on March 12, 1878 that burned his shop catching fire from Pierce and Company Paint and oil warehouse. Seven months after the disaster Scott has to restablish himself and so sends out his mailings that he is in business. Throughout the 1870's - 1890's hundreds of overnight start-up businesses selling coins and stamps and curios sprund up finding small ads in magazines, newspapers and through the mails most of which folded up after a few months. Seeing the Chapman brothers not only endure but grow over nine months Scott realized they could acquire inventory buying from him. The Chapman Brothers opened shop in January of that year and were nine months in business when the Scott catalogue was mailed to them. Historically Significant & Rare. FOR SALE  $750 Write john@numismaticmall.com

Fig. 4. The Fall 1879 Edition of the Scott & Company, Standard Coin Catalogue : Copper.  Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library. FOR SALE $200 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. A group of thirteen different trade cards for sale. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $390  SOLD Write john@numismaticmall.com  

Scott & 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.

Scott & Company - 721 Broadway, New York (May 1, 1882-December 10, 1885)

Fig. 6. Scott & Company, 721 Broadway, New York. Note the sign atop the building reads Postage Stamps and Coins. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library,  J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $150  SOLD Write john@numismaticmall.com  

He moved again on March 1 or March 15, 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 and Philatelic Library. FOR SALE $100 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 and Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $100 Write john@numismaticmall.com  

The 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) : 52

In 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 and Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file.FOR SALE $80 SOLD Write john@numismaticmall.com  

John Walter Scott to the Chapman Brothers, Samuel Hudson Chapman and his younger brother Henry Chapman, Jr., Philadelphia, duplex cancel, station 3, postmarked March 17, 1882, on billboard commercial cover with rubber stamped in purple ink on a diagonal the change of address to 721 Broadway, New York City. He remained here at 721 Broadway, New York, (March 1882-December 10, 1885). 

Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library, Special Collection, Chapman Family Archive. Rare. FOR SALE  $750 Write john@numismaticmall.com

John Walter Scott to the Chapman Brothers, Samuel Hudson Chapman and his younger brother Henry Chapman, Jr., Philadelphia, duplex cancel, station 3, postmarked June 8, 1882, on billboard commercial cover. Postman obliterated address writing in pencil on the fron of the cover "No such No." Scott ordered at least one copy of the plated Bushnell Coin Catalogue. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library, Special Collection, Chapman Family Archive. Rare. FOR SALE  $650 Write john@numismaticmall.com

John Walter Scott to the Chapman Brothers, Samuel Hudson Chapman and his younger brother Henry Chapman, Jr., Philadelphia, duplex cancel, station 3, railroad postmarked October 9, 1882, Station D,  on billboard commercial cover. Annotated on the back "In regards to the Mobile 2¢ black" referring to a Civil War Era cover franked with Scott #73 Andrew Jackson, black, popularly called "Black Jack", and dating it to post July 1, 1863. Apparently either Henry Chapman or J.W. Scott had the cover and Scott was making inquiry about it. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library, Special Collection, Chapman Family Archive. Rare. FOR SALE  $650 Write john@numismaticmall.com

In January he had 50,000 business envelopes printed with his 721 Broadway, New York City printed.

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.

John Walter Scott to the Chapman Brothers, Samuel Hudson Chapman and his younger brother Henry Chapman, Jr., Philadelphia, duplex cancel, station 3, railroad postmarked February 23, 1884, Station D,  on billboard commercial cover. Annotated on the back "Coins $10.25 check sent". Apparently Henry Chapman purchased coins from  J.W. Scott sending him a check for $10.25. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library, Special Collection, Chapman Family Archive. Rare. FOR SALE  $650 Write john@numismaticmall.com

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. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library. This is the earliest cover known for the change of ownership. For sale. A key piece for historical criteria for any collection. SOLD $1,030. 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, postmarked June 20, 1897. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $90 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 and Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $100 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. This was Scott's Circulars having gone independent leaving his three year stay with Henry Collin and Henry Calman. He opened shop as well as a printing house at 163 Fulton Street selling stamps and coins and printing all Scott philatelic literature, and albums. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $125 Write john@numismaticmall.com  

This 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 and Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. Write john@numismaticmall.com

On 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.”

A Manual Of Valuable Coins Frequently Found in Circulation Giving the Highest Price Attainable For All American Gold, Silver, Copper, Worth More Than Their Face Value. (NY : Scott Pubs, 1893) Last page before inside back page has an add selling flags of all nations with an illustration of the July 3, 1890 USA flag of 43 stars. Above : Left is the fron cover, Center : back cover. Right End: Inside front cover with notice "This company has not sold out and has no successors, all satements to the contrary being the inventions of dishonest parties who are vainly endeavoring  to secure part of the company's enormous trade, which they are unable to get or obtain by honorable means. - - - This is the only company that enjoys the benefit of Mr. J. W. Scott's experience and he has no connection with any other company." This statement ensued the infringement lawsuit by Henry Collin and Henry Calman to stop John Walter Scott from using his own name since they bought his company. The court ruled any man can use his own name in business and ruled in favor of the defendant, John W. Scott. Scott was aware that business as usual was going on inside the company he sold and in his statement in A Manual Of Valuable Coins he refers to his enormous trade bemoaning that fact and in an effort to redirect the trade to himself at his new office is notifying the public with this statement. Courtesy Lupia NUmismatic and Philatelic Library. Rare. For Sale $150. Write john@numismaticmall.com

Fig. 14. John W. Scott Company business envelope design of January 7, 1893 based on the original 1889 logo of incorporation. This one franked with Scott #252a Type III with guide line, Barry machine cancel, postmarked March 16, 1896, sent to Charles Wetter Bowen (1851-1916), a druggist in Providence, Rhode Island.  Note that the envelope printing was for 10,000 and this one here is at the end of them. March 16, 1896 is the very day he has a new batch of the envelopes printed but this time in a quantity of 25,000. He must have been down to his last few writing this one shown above. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic  & Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $200 Write john@numismaticmall.com  

J. W. Scott to Geoege R. Lumsden (1865-1932), Norwich, Connecticut, a well known naturalist and collector of natural history, postmarked March 17, 1896. Perhaps the last envelope from the 1893 printing of 10,000 - yielding an average of 8.58 envelopes used per diem. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic  & Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $200 Write john@numismaticmall.com  

J. W. Scott to Jacques Stegelman, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Barry machine cancel, postmarked June 20, 1897, billboard display advertisement on postal stationery #U356. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic  & Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $100 Write john@numismaticmall.com  

J. W. Scott to John T. Mason, Constable of Downieville, Downieville, California franked with Scott #252a Type III with Barry machine cancel, postmarked December 21, 1896. Constable John T. Mason is well-known for keeping his ledger with photographs of Chinese Americans with detailed descriptions for their identification. 

Downieville was a mining camp town from the Gold Rush Era and hostilities toward Chinese was an ongoing problem in the West. This prejudice led in 1882 to the Chinese Exclusion Act that "banned the immigration of Chinese laborers, and dozens of communities across the western United States expelled their Chinese residents.  . .  In 1892, Congress passed the Geary Act––named after its sponsor, Representative Thomas J. Geary, a California Democrat––re-authorizing the Chinese Exclusion Act. The bill, which extended the ban on the immigration of Chinese laborers for another ten years, imposed additional punitive measures on the Chinese, including requiring them to obtain certificates of residence that established their right to be in the country. Anyone found without such a certificate was subject to immediate arrest" - Michael Luo, The New Yorker, "The Dark Purpose Behind A Town Constable's Journal," January 28, 2022

A sad part of American history and Constable John T. Mason's ledger is a relic memorial to this episode of the Wild West past. This is especially its value since Mason's ledger records the sad fact that the cruel abusive treatment caused eleven Chinese to return to China never to return. Sadly still this etnic bias persists today not only against Asians but Hispanics, Muslims, and anyone who does not fit the traditional WASP profile. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library. FOR SALE $250 Write john@numismaticmall.com

TOP: J. W. Scott to H. Smith, Medford, Massachusetts, billboard advertising cover on postal stationery #U356. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic  & Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $100 Write john@numismaticmall.com  

Tier 2 : J. W. Scott to George L. Gilmore, Lexington, Massachusetts, billboard advertising cover on postal stationery #U356. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic  & Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $100 Write john@numismaticmall.com  

Tier 3 :  J. W. Scott to Jacques Stegelman, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, billboard advertising cover on postal stationery #U356. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic  & Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $100 Write john@numismaticmall.com

Bottom :  J. W. Scott to renown stamp dealer, Ezekiel Thomas Parker (1867-1940),  Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, billboard advertising cover on postal stationery #U356. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic  & Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. Parker was the Chief Clerk of the Second Vice President of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, but was a very successful stamp dealer for fifty years. FOR SALE $200 Write john@numismaticmall.com

Fig. 15. John W. Scott Company, A Complete Price List of All Adhesive United States Stamps, Postage & Revenue, 1899. This booklet is handstamped by a dater APR 6 1899 in purple ink, beneath (now faded) the rubber stamp in fancy typography  J. N. T. Levick.  Ex-Levick Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $200 Write john@numismaticmall.com  

J. W. Scott to very famous collector,  John Vickers Painter, Cleveland, Ohio, postmarked November 9, 1899. Exceptional cover with torn stamp prior to being postmarked. We've all received stamps toirn in the mail by the Post Office and occasionally one they tore and then postmarked. This is an exceptional example having value both in postal history and for the fame of both sender and recipient. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $250 Write john@numismaticmall.com  

J. W. Scott to Mrs. J. C. Rich, Rochester, New York, postmarked December 7, 1899, registered mail, franked with Scott #282c Webster 10¢ brown. Rochester was one of the larger centers for stamp and coin collecting since the 1860's. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $150 Write john@numismaticmall.com  

J. W. Scott to John V Yegge, a poultry breeder and dealer and stamp dealer, Dewitt, Iowa, postmarked January 15, 1900, Barry Machine #18, Dial 4s, Killer 6, Machine 11, franked with Scott #220.  Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library,  J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $250 Write john@numismaticmall.com  

J. W. Scott to Charles Connor Wells (1884-1957), Los Angeles, California, postmarked April 15, 1900, Barry Machine #11, Dial 2s, Killer 2, no machine num ber slot left blank, billboard advertising cover on postal stationery #U356. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic  & Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $100 Write john@numismaticmall.com  

Fig. 16. John W. Scott Company, full page ad in the June issue of The Numismatist, 1906. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic 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. CCourtesy Lupia Numismatic and Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $60 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 and Philatelic Library, J. W. Scott file. FOR SALE $60 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.

J. W. Scott was inducted into the American Philatelic Society (APS) Hall of Fame in 1941.