Jesse Kraft
Dr. Jesse Kraft
Resolute Americana Assistant Curator of American Numismatics
Dr. Jesse Kraft joined the American Numismatic Society in 2019 after having completed his Ph.D. at the University of Delaware. At the ANS, his responsibilities include all coins, tokens, medals, and paper currencies of both North and South America. He is currently expanding his dissertation into a book (expected publication in 2022) that explores the methods used by consumers and merchants to successfully navigate the circulation of foreign coinage in the United States (and earlier colonies), ca. 1650-1857. He has published various articles and chapters on an array of monetary issues from the turn of the 16th century to the present, such as a contrast between the Lima and Potosí mints in the 16th and 17th centuries, Philadelphia goldsmiths of the late 18th century, and the divisive Stone Mountain commemorative half dollar of 1925. Another major responsibility of his at the ANS is the cataloguing and curation of the Medallic Art Co. (MACO) archives, which will culminate in a state-of-the-art online database.
Research
Jesse Kraft’s research primarily focuses on the Americas—sometimes in minute details about a specific time, place, or person, and sometimes broader about global implications. This may also range in topic, and may include political and social history, art history, monetary production and circulation, mining, die studies, and just about everything in between for coins, tokens, medals, and paper currency. While he is actively turning his 2019 doctoral dissertation at the University of Delaware (The Circulation of Foreign Coinage: An American Response, ca. 1750-1857) on the circulation of foreign coinage in the United States into a book, he is also immersed in everything related to the Medallic Art Co. (MACO) and has several publications in mind in the regard. In 2021, Jesse successfully revived the Coinage of the Americas Conference (COAC) and plans to keep these active on a bi-annual basis.
Publications
Recent articles and chapters:
“Regulator and Regulated: The Monetary Conditions of Goldsmith Thomas Shields and the Successful Circulation of Foreign Gold Coinage,” The Journal of Early American Numismatics 3, 1 (June 2020): 137-168.
“To Fund a Confederate Memorial: The 1925 Stone Mountain Memorial Half Dollar,” ANS Magazine 20.1 (2021): 24-39.
“‘An Uncommon Barking of Dogs’: The 1768 Robbery of the Eastern Treasury and the Path to Revolution in New Jersey,” The Journal of Early American Numismatics 4.2 (December 2021):
“Repatriating MACO’s Die Shells to the ANS,” ANS Magazine 20.4 (2021): 24-37.