Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
June 1, 1816
Primary Source Reference:
Peale Museum Accessions Book, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, p. 80
Notes:
The Peale Museum's coin may have resemebled this silver 8 reales piece struck in 1809, during the reign of Spanish King Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte (1768-1844; reigned 1808-1813).
John McAllister, Jr. (1786-1877) was a Philadelphia optician, local historian, and pioneering American coin collector. He is remembered in numismatic circles as the author of the 1844 "McAllister Memorandum" about 1792 half dismes, the first coin struck for circulation by the fledgling United States Mint. See Joel J. Orosz and Carl R. Herkowitz, "George Washington and America's 'Small Beginning' in Coinage: The Fabled 1792 Half Dismes," American Journal of Numismatics, 2nd ser. 15 (2003):119-127.
