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CINCINNATI COLLECTOR HENRY CLAY EZEKIEL

Over the years much has been written about the lives of prominent numismatists. Strangely, Ihave found very little concerning Henry Clay Ezekiel, who not only amassed a huge collection of tokens,medals, and paper money relating to Cincinnati, but also was acquainted with the die sinkers who wereresponsible for striking a significant percentage of all merchant tokens issued during the Civil War.

According to an article in the November, 1930 issue of The Numismatist, Ezekiel was born onJanuary 30, 1846 in Richmond, Virginia. He attended the Lancasterian School in Richmond, and upongraduation enlisted in the Confederate Army. Following his discharge he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio,where he resided for the rest of his life.

Ezekiel became an auctioneer, and in all probability started this career by working for someoneelse. His earliest advertisements under his own name, in 1875 issues of The Cincinnati Enquirernewspaper, describe his business as Ezekiel & Co., Auctioneers; sales-rooms Nos. 19 and 21 W. PearlSt. His October 5 th sale was of dry goods, woolens, blankets shawls, notions, furnishing goods, &c. Thefollowing day he conducted a special importers' sale of ribbons, silks, velvets, feathers and flowers,collarettes, ties, scarfs, genuine human hair, &c. From that modest start, he quickly became Cincinnati'spremier auctioneer.

In 1878 Ezekiel began an association with Louis Rosin & Company, and by 1880 SamuelBernheim was also involved with the firm. An announcement in the January 1, 1881 newspaperannounced that the business was dissolved, and that H. C. Ezekiel and Samuel Bernheim will continuethe General Auction and Commission Business at No. 134 Main Street under the firm name of Ezekiel &Bernheim This was a partnership that was destined to last for more than thirty years, and with greatsuccess.

Ezekiel & Bernheim handled such diverse items as fine art, automobiles, real estate, tobaccocrops, pianos, furniture, oriental rugs, glassware and china, coins, and antiques. During their years inbusiness they liquidated the inventories of numerous companies that were going out of business. In1911, for example, they conducted a sale devoted completely to shoes; 75,000 pairs of them. In additionto their Main Street location, they had a warehouse on E. Second Street, and another on Walnut Street.One of the services the firm offered was the insured storage of furniture, etc. in these facilities.

Ezekiel was active in community affairs. In 1877 he was elected president of the newly-formedYoung Men's Hebrew Association, and he was a member of several other Jewish organizations. Hevolunteered his services as auctioneer for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's concert seats, and heserved as a director of the Ohio Mechanics' Institute. In March, 1894 he married Jesse Myers ofAvondale (a neighborhood in Cincinnati) in what was described by The Cincinnati Enquirer as the mostbrilliant social event of the week. More than fifty family members and friends were in attendance. Thenew couple spent their honeymoon in Asheville, followed by a trip to New York.

An article in the June 16, 1914 issue of The Cincinnati Inquirer announced that the CincinnatiCommission Company had purchased Ezekiel & Bernheim's business, which had gone into receivershipseveral months earlier. Two of the four principals in the new company were Walter and Lewis Ezekiel; Iassume they were sons of Henry who, shortly prior to that notice, had announced his new realty agencyin the Provident Bank building at Vine and Seventh streets. He remained in that business until his deathin 1930.

Having read this far, perhaps you are wondering what all this has to do with Civil War tokens.Well, Ezekiel was a very active, knowledgeable, and, as you'll see, significant collector and dealer innumismatic items, and he was especially interested in those from Cincinnati. He was listed as a newmember of the American Numismatic Association in the September, 1905 issue of The Numismatist.From that time on his name appeared frequently in that publication. His obituary notice in theNovember, 1930 issue cites a 1911 biographical sketch in which he related that he became interestedin coins while living in Richmond and that he became acquainted with Edward Cohen, who was in thebanking and brokerage business in that city. One day while in the banker's office (about 1860) a Negrobrought into him a lot of silver coins among which he found an 1804 dollar. Mr. Cohen later sold thedollar to his uncle, Col. M. J. Cohen, of Baltimore, for $100. This dollar became the Colonel Cohen 1804dollar, one of the dozen or so known specimens of this date that many collectors regard as originals.

Even prior to his membership, Ezekiel was placing ads in The Numismatist. His earliest, in theJune 1904 issue, offered to buy many types of items from Cincinnati, including shinplasters, store cards,tokens, copperheads, etc., and encased postage stamps. A full page ad in the October 1904 issueannounced that in a forthcoming sale of my collection of Paper Money of the Confederate States ofAmerica, which I will sell at an early date in New York at Public Auction through Mr. Lyman H. Low, thereare a number of large lots of the different denominations and varieties which are in absolutely perfectand uncirculated condition; many of the series, letters and numbers are consecutive and in precisely thesame shape as received from the Treasury at Richmond and have been in my possession since the fall ofthis great stronghold of the Rebellion. I will sell the EXTREMELY RARE Jefferson Davis and GeneralBeauregard silver pieces, much finer and in better condition than those illustrated in the catalogue of,and sold in the Betts sale, Bids by mail or in person by dealers and collectors are respectfully solicited.Catalogues of this and my future sales of Coins, Medals, etc., mailed free on application.

A lengthy article in Charles Theodore Greve's Centennial History of Cincinnati andRepresentative Citizens, which was published in 1904, included a article by Ezekiel titled CincinnatiMakers of Metal Money, "Hard Times" Tokens and Shop Cards in which he explains that in addition tothe manufacturers, or printers and engravers of paper money, there were also a number of die sinkersand stampers of metal pieces, which passed current as money for the value of One Cent each, prior toand during the War of the Rebellion. Among these were the following: V. R. Allen, B. C. True, JohnStanton, James M. Murdock, Murdock & Spencer, Joseph J. Sayre and others. These firms also madesutlers' checks, used in the Union Army, milk checks, bar checks, soda water checks, street car checksand checks, or "necessity" coins, of all kinds, payable on demand, which-passed as money in Cincinnatifor a standard of value, as stamped thereon.

Ezekiel was well acquainted with two very prolific Civil War token die sinkers, John Stanton andJames Murdock, Jr., and he was able to obtain examples of their work from directly them. Among theitems offered in his September 1905 sale was an almost complete series of Hard Times Tokens, withmany of the very rare types and varieties, and a nearly complete series of the city of CincinnatiMerchants' War Tokens 1862, '63, '64, from A to Z, mostly milled edges and uncirculated, as they camefrom the dies of John Stanton, War Token manufacturer of Cincinnati.

A fascinating article of interest to collectors was published in the June 4, 1911 edition of TheCincinnati Inquirer. Ezekiel had come to the attention of the reporter because he had run a classifiedadvertisement offering to buy numismatic items from Cincinnati. Concerning the Civil War tokens thatcirculated in Cincinnati, Ezekiel noted that John Stanton, a die sinker and engraver of Cincinnati, madeduring the war of the rebellion, 1861-5 more 'Copperheads,' 'War Tokens,' 'Store Cards.' and othermetal tokens or checks which passed current as money for the value of 'one cent,' and for higher valuesin exchange for merchandise, milk, bread, coal, drayage, &c., than any other die sinker or engraver inthe United States. Mr. Stanton is still living at the age of 82, and I am personally acquainted with him. Hewas born in Orange County, New York on March 9, 1829, and is now in the metal novelty business.

He made the first ones of these War Tokens with the Liberty head and date underneath in1862, and continued making them in 1863 and 1864 until the close of the war, at about which time theUnited States Government issued fractional currency, and this put an end to the manufacture of theselittle metal coins or 'necessity money,' which were issued by many merchants throughout the UnitedStates.

It was early in the war of the rebellion when Mr. Stanton conceived the idea of making theseWar Tokens which passed for one cent. While at Lafayette, Ind. he saw for the first time one of thepatriotic war tokens of the size of a small cent, which gave him the ides that these things might do asbusiness cards, and at the same time issued for the value of one cent. He came back to Cincinnati andproposed the same to a number of Cincinnati merchants, and secured orders for very large quantities.He made these tokens for several hundred firms in Cincinnati, and at this time does not recollect howmany firms he supplied, but from the number that are known of by collectors they run into thehundreds......

These little copper War Tokens, Copperheads or Store Cards passed readily as money in valueof one cent from hand to hand, and no questions were ever asked in respect to them. They were quiteconvenient for making change, and no one questioned that the firms or individuals who issued themwould redeem them promptly, which, of course, was done, excepting where they were gathered up bycollectors and are still held by them.

Mr. Stanton also made quite a number of Sutlers' Checks for most all of the Western regimentsthat went into the war. He also made, about 1861, the well-known 'Wealth of the South' series, of whichhe sold a great many, not only in the North, but in the South, and they were used as tokens, also asbadges at the time they were made. He got up a circular describing them and sent the same to all thepapers throughout the South at the beginning of the war. They advertised them very extensively andlarge numbers of them were sold by him. There was considerable Confederate sentiment in and aboutCincinnati, where large quantities were disposed of, and they were worn as badges by Southernsympathizers.

As I mentioned earlier, Ezekiel was acquainted with Stanton and Murdock. An ad in theNovember 1917 issue of The Numismatist announced that a remarkable collection of Civil War tokenswould be sold. Known as the J. Murdock, Jr., Collection, it was described as comprised of specimensmade by John Stanton and J. Murdock, Jr., Cincinnati die-cutters, from 1862 to 1864. This collection isbelieved to have been held intact since the war until recently, when it was purchased by Mr. Henry C.Ezekiel of Cincinnati. Mr. Ezekiel has a wonderful collection of Cincinnati War Tokens, and in order tomake it more complete if possible, he purchased the Murdock collection as a whole - the only way itcould be purchased. Strange to say, he was able to add to his former collection only a very few pieces.He has now decided to dispose of the Murdock collection except for the few pieces he retains, and theywill be offered at auction in the East shortly. Practically all the specimens are in uncirculated condition,bright, and many proofs.

Ezekiel's collection wasn't limited to tokens and obsolete currency. It was described as beingthe most extensive in all branches of numismatics. He has also a large collection of autographs, stamps,historical and literary curiosities, possibly the most extensive of any private collector in the UnitedStates. Art was another of Ezekiel's passions, and in 1924 his private Collection of Pictures andSculptures was sold by the Traxel Art Gallery in Cincinnati. He would have been a fascinating person toknow!

For more information about the Civil War Token Society, see:
http://cwtsociety.com/

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
HENRY CLAY EZEKIEL (1846-1930)(https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n14a15.html)