Robert Hewitt Jr.

Robert Hewitt Jr. was a successful real estate investor in Manhattan, New York, and a notable numismatist.[1] Hewitt began collecting coins as a young man while serving a mercantile apprenticeship and compiled a comprehensive Abraham Lincoln medal collection considered by numismatists as one of the greatest of its kind.[2][3] In 1908, he endeavored for the creation of a medal to commemorate the centennial birth of Abraham Lincoln. He commissioned esteemed French-American sculptor and medallist Jules Edouard Roiné for the design, "which is described as the most beautiful representation of Lincoln's features that has as yet been made."[4]

In 1918, Mrs. Hewitt donated the Robert Hewitt Lincoln collection to the U.S. National Museum (Smithsonian Institution).[5] At the time of donation, the U.S. National Museum reported that the collection included “1,200 specimens of medallic souvenirs of President Lincoln, and includes medallions, plaques, medals, medalets, coins, tokens, and…campaign” items.[6] Hewitt’s extensive collection of Lincolniana provided both an important historical and artistic view of Lincoln.

In addition, Hewitt founded the important numismatic group the Circle of Friends of the Medallion in 1909 with other medal enthusiasts and produced the first privately created medal series in America.[1] Also, Hewitt served as the Corresponding Secretary of the American Numismatic and Archaeological Society (currently the American Numismatic Society) in 1868-69[7] and the Second Vice President in 1880-84.[8][9]

Notes
  1. Johnson, D. Wayne. "Medals in Books Led to Two Art Medal Series", E-Sylum, vol. 8, no. 9, article 12, February 12, 2005. Numismatic Bibliomania Society website. Retrieved on September 3, 2007.
  2. Schuyler, Montgomery. "A Medallic History of Lincoln", Putnam’s Monthly and the Reader, vol. V (October 1908-March 1909), p. 679.
  3. Chicago Historical Society. "Charter, Constitution, By-Laws/Membership List/Annual Report for the Year Ending October 31, 1908", p. 275.
  4. Roiné, Jules Edouard, 1857-1916; Olcott, George N., 1869-1912; Jones, Richard Lloyd, 1873-1963 (1908). The Lincoln centennial medal. pp. v, viii.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) See also The Lincoln Centennial Medal (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1908) and Krans, Horatio Sheafe, ed. The Lincoln Tribute Book (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1909).
  5. Smithsonian Institution. "1918 Report of the U.S. National Museum", Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, published 1919, p. 27.
  6. Smithsonian Institution. "1918 Report of the U.S. National Museum", p. 27 and 28.
  7. American Numismatic Society. "Secretaries of the American Numismatic Society" Archived 2011-05-21 at the Wayback Machine, The American Numismatic Society website. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.
  8. American Numismatic Society. "Vice Presidents of the American Numismatic Society" Archived 2011-05-21 at the Wayback Machine, The American Numismatic Society website. Retrieved on February 13, 2011.
  9. Lossing, Benson J. History of New York City Volume II (New York: The Perine Engraving and Publishing Co., 1884), p. 598.
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