Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Colburn, Jeremiah

COLBURN, Jeremiah, numismatist, b. in Boston, Mass., 12 Jan., 1815; d. there, 30 Dec., 1891. He began to collect coins, and afterward turned his attention to shells, minerals, etc., and finally to books, autographs, manuscripts, portraits, and engravings relating to America, including continental money and the more recent issues of paper tokens. In 1840 he began a collection of bank-notes. In 1857 he contributed articles to the “Historical Magazine” on American coins and coinage, which were followed for several years by short articles on these subjects in “Notes and Queries.” He was one of the founders of the Boston numismatic society, had been its curator, vice-president, and president, and since 1871 had been one of the editors of the “American Journal of Numismatics.”