2017-03-02 Thu

The D. Brent Pogue Sale Part V will begin on 31st March at the Evergreen Museum & Library in Baltimore. The sale offers a collection by Thomas Harrison Garrett who began collecting when he was a student at Princeton in the 1860s. He was born in a rich family and the first coin that he collected was a New Jersey copper. Apart from coins, he also collected books, autographs, prints, and other items at Evergreen House on North Charles Street in Baltimore.

In 1885, he had an 1804 dollar and the unique hallmark-on-breast 1787 Brasher doubloon. He had many world and ancient coins as well as tokens and medals. He also bought a James L. Claghorn collection of over 30,000 prints for $150,000.

On 8th June 1888, Garrett and his friends including important businessmen went on a yacht to the Chesapeake Bay. They stopped at the Naval Academy in Annapolis after which they headed towards Baltimore. Since the sea was rough, they stayed in the cabin. The steamboat Joppa crashed into its side. All except Garrett were rescued. Even his body was never found.

The coin collection was given by his widow to Robert Garrett, who kept it in his Baltimore office. He gradually started growing his collection. In 1919, the coins were transferred to his brother, Ambassador John Work Garrett. It was finally back in the Evergreen House. The collection grew further from there. In 1942 the Evergreen House and contents were given to the Johns Hopkins University.