Charles E. Anthon (1823-83)

Charles E. Anthon was born in New York City in 1823, the son of a prominent lawyer. Anthon graduated from Columbia College in the class of 1839 at age sixteen. After some years spent studying abroad in Europe, he returned to the United Sates and accepted the position of chair of history at St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland.

In 1852, Anthon was appointed professor of history and belles-lettres at the New York Free Academy (now the College of the City of New York) and remained in this position until shortly before his death in 1883. Anthon received an honorary degree of Master of the Arts by Columbia University in 1853 and received a Doctorate of Laws from the University of the City of New York in 1866.  

Anthon began studying numismatics in 1865.  He became a member of the American Numismatic Society, then known as the American Numismatic and Archaeological Society, in December of 1866 and was nominated as President of the Society in 1868.  Anthon would remain as the Society's president until his death in 1883, except for a three year period from 1870-73.

A noted scholar of numismatics, Anthon was particularly known for his work on medallic art and the Gloriam Regni coins of the Franco-American colonies.  

As an officer of the ANS, Anthon also played an important role in continuing and expanding the Society's publications program through his work as editor of the American Journal of Numismatics. Anthon maintained the scholarly integrity of the journal, and increased the length and frequency of this publication at a time when others were in support of changing its content to meet the concerns of collectors, and in favor of limiting the number of volumes issued each year.

Anthon died on June 7, 1883 in Bremen, Germany, where he had gone to recuperate from an extended illness.

To learn more about Charles Anthon,

Ask the Archivist