Augustus B. Sage
Biography
Born in Middletown, Connecticut. He worked as a teacher after 1854. Employed as a printer and later as a New York City coin dealer. He published articles on numismatics in the New York Sunday Dispatch using the pseudonym "Gus".
He hosted meetings in his house in March 1858 for the purpose of establishing an Antiquarian Society in New York City. It became the American Numismatic Society in April with 14 members. He served as corresponding secretary and curator for the ANS.
He issued a list of coins, medals, tokens and books in 1859. He conducted five auctions from 1855 to 1859. Sage issued store cards including several featuring contemporary numismatists.
Served as captain in New York volunteers during the Civil War. Married Mary B. Watson February 11, 1867. Employed as a lawyer after the war. He died in New York. In 2016 he was inducted into the PCGS CoinFacts Coin Dealer Hall of Fame and in 2020 into the ANA Hall of Fame.
bio: CW/NM 3/17/76
Source credit: Pete Smith, American Numismatic Biographies
Bio Snapshot
Date of Birth: 1841 - May - 13Place of Birth: Middletown, Connecticut
Date of Death: 1874 - Feb - 19