This collection has been digitized and is available through the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/epnbox22-corr1978-marshalloverman
Collection open to all researchers.
Marshall E. Overman correspondence, 1975-1978, American Numismatic Society, Archives.
Copyright restrictions may apply. Permission to publish or reproduce must be secured from the American Numismatic Society.
Marshall E. Overman (1925-1998) was a member of the South Jersey Treasure Hunters who, with fellow treasure hunter William R. Paull, discovered a number of artifacts during the construction of the I-95 Expressway in Philadelphia in 1974-5.
Ivor Noël Hume (1927-2017) was a British-born archaeologist who served as director of Colonial Williamsburg’s archaeological research program. He was a pioneer of historical archaeology, the combination of social and economic history with archaeological study.
Eric P. Newman (1911-2017) was an American numismatist and served on the governing Council of the American Numismatic Society.
This collection contains correspondence between treasure hunters, Marshall E. Overman and William Paull, and two numismatic experts, Ivor Noël Hume and Eric P. Newman, concerning the discovery of a number of coins during the excavation of the I-95 Expressway in Philadelphia.
Photocopies of six letters between Overman and Hume, 1975. Hume advises Overman that the William III 1699 halfpennies he discovered are likely forgeries and informs him of the sizes and weights of the authentic articles. Overman confirms that the sizes and weights of the coins discovered are incorrect. In a subsequent letter Overman outlines a number of other coins discovered on the same site from around Europe and the Americas.
Twenty-one letters between Overman, Newman, and Paull, 1976-1978, following on from the correspondence with Hume. Newman confirms that the coins are forgeries and indicates that he and Peter Gaspar would like to write an article about them. Overman and Paull respond with further details about their finds, including coins other than the 1699 halfpennies. Included are: a map of the coins’ discovery site; a detailed list of the coins’ size and weight; thirteen color photographs and one black and white showing the site and some details of the coins themselves; an excerpt from Joseph Jackson’s “Encyclopedia of Philadelphia” (Harrisburg, 1931) about the history of the area; and a typescript of the article by Newman and Gaspar.
ArrangementThis collection has been arranged into one section of correspondence with Hume and one with Newman, with some short notes, by Overman’s daughter Ellen Overman.