Wyatt, Thomas. MEMOIRS OF THE GENERALS, COMMODORES, AND OTHER COMMANDERS, WHO DISTINGUISHED THEMSELVES IN THE AMERICAN ARMY AND NAVY DURING THE WARS OF THE REVOLUTION AND 1812, AND WHO WERE PRESENTED WITH MEDALS BY CONGRESS, FOR THEIR GALLANT SERVICES. Philadelphia: Carey and Hart, 1848. 8vo, original red cloth, upper cover richly decorated in gilt within triple gilt fillets in a floral motif with shield at head and text in center; spine heavily decorated in gilt in a floral motif; rear cover decorated in blind; all page edges gilt. viii, (9)–315, (1) pages; 14 attractive plates depicting both sides of 41 medals, finely engraved by W.L. Ormsby utilizing a medal-ruling machine process. Recently professionally rebacked, using the original materials. Pages mostly clean, but plates foxed as usually seen. Very good or better. A well-preserved copy of the first book-length work relating to American medals, comprised of forty-one biographies of "the illustrious commanders of our two wars, who have been signalized by the presentation of gold medals, &c. ... men who have sealed their patriotic devotion with wounds and scars, as well as of historical incidents sacred to patriotism." Very scarce, especially in the original binding. Most of the surviving copies seen are much the worse for wear, and the plates, as here, are unfortunately nearly always foxed. Thomas Wyatt was the author of two numismatic works: this 1848 volume and a rare pamphlet titled A Description of the National Medals of America, Presented to the Officers of the Wars of the Revolution and 1812 (1854). He is best remembered today, however, for his more nefarious works. In the mid-1850s, Wyatt began striking medals, tokens and related items specifically for the nascent collector market. He also began producing fairly high-quality reproductions of rare American colonial coins, which were privately marketed as original coins emanating from a hoard discovered in 1856. The "Chelsea Hoard," as it became known, seemingly consisted of a group of Massachusetts silver coins that had been sealed in a bottle and forgotten about for two hundred years. In fact, the coins were all forgeries or fantasy pieces (the latter including Massachusetts silver pennies and the famous Good Samaritan Shilling). A fascinating account of Wyatt and his work is given in Eric P. Newman's masterful The Secret of the Good Samaritan Shilling (1959). Wyatt's copies have become a popular collectible in themselves, appealing to those of us fascinated by the history of the coin collecting hobby in the United States. Davis 1200. Sigler 2910. Ex Kolbe & Fanning's 2017 New York Book Auction, lot 395; ex Cardinal Collection Library.