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Although Brasher and his coinage have been mentioned in many articles in The American Journal of Numismatics, The Numismatist, and elsewhere, as well as auction catalogues, the first detailed study did not appear until 1958 when Walter H. Breen wrote "Brasher and Bailey: Pioneer New York coiners, 1787-1792" for inclusion in the Centennial Publication of The American Numismatic Society. In 1979 Richard A. Bagg, working the archives of the New York Historical Society, the American Numismatic Society, and elsewhere, was able to locate extensive additional information concerning Brasher's life. Unfortunately, specific details concerning the issuance of Brasher's famous 1787 doubloon remain elusive, as does data pertaining to the 1742-dated Lima-style doubloon also attributed to him. In 1992, William Swoger published a biography of Brasher in Coin World, embodying what was known of his history up to that time.

Brasher was born in 1744 of Dutch stock. The family had several branches some of whom used such spelling variations as Brasier, Brazier, Breser, Bresert, and Bradejor. Among family members through the years were other silversmiths, including Ephraim Brasher's younger brother Abraham.

Ephraim Brasher married Anne Gilbert in 1766. Little is known about her other than that her brother was a silversmith. The same year, 1766, possibly represents one of the earliest appearances of Brasher's work in the silversmith trade. A silver coffee pot bearing his hallmark, presently part of the Abbott-Lenox Fund Collection in the New York Historical Society, has been attributed to that date. By that time he was 22 years old and probably had completed his apprenticeship.

During the Revolutionary War, Brasher served as grenadier in the Provincial Army, 1775-1776. In 1783 was part of the Evacuation Day Committee which celebrated troops leaving New York City.

The civic and local affairs of the New York City government were not recorded until February 10, 1784,for New York City was under a military form of government during the Revolutionary period. After that date systematic minutes were kept, some of which mention Brasher.

On August 31, 1785, Ephraim Brasher petitioned the Common Council that "he may be permitted to convert the fire Engine House in St. George's Square into a Place of Business on his erecting a fire Engine House on his own ground." Although several other local proprietors objected to the petition, it was granted on September 29, 1785. Perhaps it was intended to use the structure as a smithing location. St. George's Square was located at the intersection of Pearl and Cherry streets. The New York City Directory, first published in 1786, gave 1 Cherry street as Brasher's address.

The Articles of Confederation, adopted in 1778 and continued in effect until 1789, stipulated that Congress had the power to regulate the value and alloy of coins struck, although the various states had authority to coin money. As Congress had not implemented a framework for federal production of coins, specimens in circulation continued to be a varied mixture which included much foreign coinage.

The Bank of New York, established in 1784, distributed a list of coins, their weights, and the accepted value at which various foreign gold coins would be received in payment. The New York Register, published in 1789, noted that "payments made at the bank must be examined at the time, as no deficiencies suggested afterward will be admitted."

Testing Gold Coins
Many of the gold coins circulating were counterfeit. It was considered unwise to accept a coin until it was pronounced genuine. Confusion arising from a wide variety of denominations, designs, and countries of origin aided counterfeiters. To this was added the problem of clipping (removing small amounts of metal from a coin's edge) and sweating (leaching in acid) gold coins.

It is believed that Ephraim Brasher was called upon by the government and possibly by others as well to assay, test, and otherwise evaluate many of these foreign gold coins. once this was done, apparently his counterstamp, usually in the form of the letters EB in an oval, was impressed upon each as a permanent identification. Numerous specimens of EB-marked foreign gold coins are known today, including a 1711 guinea of Queen Anne, rose guinea of George III, a quarter guinea of George I, and a half joe of Joseph I which appeared in the James Ten Eyck Collection sale held by B. Max Mehl in 1922, to mention just a few.

S. Decatur, in an article entitled "Ephraim Brasher, Silversmith of New York," (American Collector, 1938) asserted that "Brasher's reputation for probity was unquestioned; it was immediately recognized that his initials on a gold or silver coin was a guarantee of its purity."

The same thought was earlier advanced by Howland Wood, writing in an article, "The Coinage of the West Indies with an Especial Reference to the Cut and Counterstamped Pieces," which appeared in the American Journal of Numismatics in 1914. Dissenting was Vernon L. Brown, who in a 1964 article, "The Brasher Doubloon," which appeared in The Numismatist, questioned the theory as he found no evidence that other goldsmiths of the time performed such a service.

Ephraim Brasher served at one time as an assayer for the United States Mint. The American State Papers, Finance, Vol. 1, "Estimated Expenditures for the Year 1796,11 notes that a $27 Treasury Warrant was made out:

"...in favor of John Shield, assignee of Ephraim Brasher; being for assays made by said Brasher, in the year 1792, for the Mint on sundry coins of gold and silver, pursuant to instructions from the then Secretary of the Treasury."

The original petitions no longer can be traced. It is not known whether separate petitions were presented by Brasher and Bailey or whether they combined their efforts. It is known that Brasher did not always work alone, and at one time John Bailey was associated with him, as were his brother Abraham and George Alexander at various times.

In 1787 the New York Directory lists Brasher's address as 77 Queen Street and Bailey's residence as 22 Queen Street, which indicates the possibility of a close relationship at the time.

On March 3, 1787, the committee appointed by the Assembly was "at a loss to determine the extent of the intended regulation, whether it was only to ascertain the value of the pieces now in circulation, or whether it was meant to extend to new coinage." It was argued that a new coinage would be subject to certain abuses.

On March 15 it was resolved that a committee be appointed "to establish a coinage of copper in the state." By April 12th the intent of the bill apparently had been changed, for it emerged with the title "An Act to Regulate the Circulation of Copper Coins in this State." This legislation passed on April 20.

Over the two month period from February 12th to the retitling of the act on April 12th the legislators drifted from the original proposals for new coinage to legislation providing only for the regulation of existing coinage.

In The Comprehensive Catalogue and Encyclopedia of United States Coins Don Taxay asserts that "Possibly some or all of the doubloons were presented to the Legislature in order to effect a favorable verdict," as the size of the doubloon was identical to the planchet size for coining coppers. Walter H. Breen disagrees with the pattern theories and believes that the doubloons were actually made for circulation. In The Standard Catalogue of United States Coins (1954) Wayte Raymond proposed that a gold coinage was necessary for larger transactions during the 1787 era, and, therefore, the doubloon was minted for that purpose. John J. Ford, Jr., has suggested to the writer that the design of the 1787 Brasher doubloon is similar to the seal of the Bank of New York, thus indicating the possibility of a connection between the two.

Another theory purports the pieces were made as souvenirs.

Brasher Doubloons
The 1787 doubloons, which bear Brasher's surname in full as a signature, BRASHER, bear no mark of value. This was not an unusual situation, for when the United States Mint first produced gold coins in the following decade the pieces bore no mark of denomination. The same characteristics extended to numerous foreign gold coins then in circulation. The value of gold coins was determined by the metallic purity and weight. For this reason the counterman EB which appears on all known examples of the Brasher doubloon would have been a further indication of the coin's quality.

Probably dating from the same period is another type of gold coin attributed to Brasher, the so-called Lima doubloon which is a stylistic copy of an eight real piece of Philip V produced in Lima, Peru, dated in large figures 1742. The workmanship and execution of the Brasher piece are different and have been a subject of investigation by John J. Ford, Jr., who has suggested to the writer that these also bore the tiny date 1786, but only a tiny portion of the 1786 date is still evident. The two known pieces bear the full BRASHER signature and are countermarked EB. One was in the Garrett Collection sold by The Johns Hopkins University, and the other, on a smaller planchet and called a half-doubloon, is in the Smithsonian Institution.

The 1742-Dated Pieces

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"Issues of any private mint would logically find more readily an unquestioning acceptance if they'd look like coins already in circulation. Pass a New York doubloon [of the distinctive 1787 Brasher design], with its strange design, and it would be looked upon with suspicion and possibly refused; pass a worn Mexican or Peruvian gold coin, or something enough like it, and it would be accepted with hardly a second glance after the clear ring and heavy weight are noted ... It is therefore safe to attribute such a motivation to Brasher. Now this man surely knew better than to make imitations of British guineas or other coins with a foreign ruler's name and titles. The seemingly anonymous Lima doubloons with their cabalistic initials must have appeared as a logical type for private issue that would both match something already in circulation and not offend the patriotic sensibilities. Brasher's plainly readable signature on the coins would be an additional safeguard for anyone questioning the pieces..."

In April 1790, after Washington moved to Broadway, he paid Ephraim Brasher 8/8s/4d pounds for 114 silver skewers." During the same period Brasher made wares for other notables, including spoons for George Clinton.

Brasher's patronage by the president of the United States and other prominent people suggests that his reputation must have been unsurpassed at the time. He would have every reason to believe that gold coins prominently bearing his name would be accepted in the channels of commerce.

During the 1780s Brasher, in addition to his silver and goldsmithing, was busy with civic affairs. In 1784 and 1785 he served as sanitary commissioner. From 1786 to 1791 minutes of the Common Council indicate that Brasher was paid as a coroner "for taking inquests on dead bodies.,, In later years he served as an assistant justice (1794-1797), election inspector (1796-1809), and commissioner of excise (1806-1810).

Brasher remarried on December 2, 1797. It is not known whether his first wife died or if he was divorced. Brasher died in 1810. When his will was probated on December 11th of that year it was learned that his wife Mary was given "all my estate both real and personal."

Brasher Doubloons In History
Brasher doubloons first achieved numismatic recognition in 1838 when Adam Eckfeldt discovered a piece among gold coins which were sent to the Mint for assay and melting. He withdrew the piece and gave it to the Mint Cabinet which at that time was at its early state of formation. In 1846 William E. DuBois referred to the Mint example as "a very remarkable gold coin, equal in value to a doubloon, coined at New York in 1787."

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A dozen years later the obverse and reverse of the 1787 doubloon were described by J. H. Hickcox in An Historical Account of American Coinage, 1858. The several editions o Professor Montroville W. Dickeson's The American Numismatic Manual, which first appeared in 1859, contained an illustration of the piece. Dickeson remarked that he had seen four examples and "it is said to have been duplicated in silver," although he had never seen one in that metal. He further noted that "it is inferable that this coin was gotten up as a pattern piece."

The first 1787 Brasher doubloon scheduled to appear at auction was the Seavey Collection specimen catalogued by W. H. Strobridge in 1873. However, Lorin G. Parmelee bought the entire collection intact before the sale took place, so the event was canceled.

When Sylvester Crosby's monumental work The Early Coins of America, appeared in 1875, it contained an illustration of the Brasher doubloon. The author noted that "four of these doubloons have come to our knowledge; they are owned by Mr. Bushnell, Mr. Parmelee, Mr. Stickney, and the United States Mint at Philadelphia; the first has the punch-mark on the breast of the eagle."

The first Brasher doubloon to actually be sold at public auction was the Charles I. Bushnell specimen sold by the Chapman brothers in 1882. It realized $505 and was subsequently sold to T. Harrison Garrett through Ed. Frossard. This remains today as the only known specimen of the variety with the EB punch-mark on the eagle's breast rather than the wing.