Early 19th-century coin collector. Born: January 14, 1822 in Kinderbrook, New York. Died: March 17, 1881, in Jacksonville, Florida.
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Also known as “L.H. Abbey”, coin collector Lorenzo Harris Abbey was a Fish and Tackle merchant who patented the “Abbey Fly” fishing lure in 1874. He partnered with one C.F. Imbrie in a fishing tackle business called Abbey & Imbrie.
Harris married Ann B. Loosee. The two had a daughter named Ann Eveline, who was born in 1848. Harris survived his wife, who died before the 1880 Census.
Henry H. Leeds & Company sold some of Abbey’s holdings on September 8, 1863. W. E. Woodward sold some a year later (Woodward #10, October 18-22, 1864).
Famous Coin Pedigreed to Lorenzo Abbey
Abbey’s 1799 Draped Bust cent (the “Abbey Cent”) was one of the finest at the time. According to 19th-century numismatic historian Dr. Emmanuel Joseph Attinelli, Abbey purchased the coin for $25 from a Mr. Rogers of Fulton Street, who paid a countryman $2 for it. PCGS graded the coin XF45, which puts it high in the condition census, but not the finest.
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