FISHER, DR. ALBERT LEROY

Dr. Albert Leroy Fisher (1845-1918), was born in Bristol, Ontario County, New York, the last of eight children, on August 1845, son of Jeremiah Fisher (1799-1861), a veterinarian and Altha Wilson Fisher (1804-1867). His family traces their ancestry to Anthony Fisher who came to Dedham, Massachusetts from Norfolk, England in 1637. His grandfather Nathaniel served in the Revolutionary War.

He was raised at Bristol. He attended East Bloomfield Academy. His favorite pastime was hunting, a sport in which he won many awards and medals. He began to develop an interest in numismatics about 1890 or 1891.

In 1871, he graduated the Hahnemann Medical School, Philadelphia.

He sometimes signed his name A. Leroy Fisher but in numismatics he was generally referred to as A. L. Fisher.

Fisher became a physician and specialized as a pediatrician.

On January 2, 1872, he married Caroline "Carrie" A. Wheelock, a direct descendant of the Puritans who sailed on the ship Hector and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. They had two daughters Hallie and Winifred. A round 1873, they moved to Elkhart, Elkhart County, Indiana.

He joined the Elkhart Academy of Medicine, the Elkhart County Medical Society, and the American Institute of Homeopathy.

He served as Vice President of the Elkhart County Historical Society.

He joined the ANA in February 1893, and became Member No. 130. During the renumbering he became ANA Member No. 46.

He attended the ANA 1893 Convention held at the Chicago World's Fair.

Fisher correspondence with the Chapman Brothers requesting a priced copy of the Frossard sale December 1, 1893, and the price for it so he might remit the amount expeditiously.

Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, Special Collection, The Chapman Family Correspondence Archive.

There are numerous specimens of correspondence from Fisher to the Chapman Brothers found in the Lupia Numismatic Library. From these we learn he was a steady client of the Chapman Brothers with regular purchases that average about $11 each. His conservative buying habits reflect the C+ rating of his November 8, 1907 coin auction sale given him by John Adams.

In 1894, he published "Therapeutics vs. Knife in Appendicitis," Hahnemann Monthly, October (1894).

From 1894 to 1904 he served as the Treasurer of the ANA.

Dr. Fisher's business envelope with his corner card A. L. Fisher, M.D., 315 Pigeon Street, Elkhart, Indiana, sent to the Chapman Brothers, postmarked June 29, 1895..Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, Special Collection, The Chapman Family Correspondence Archive.

At the ANA Annual Convention held at Detroit he read a paper "A Novice Among the Coins".

In July 1896, the Chapman Brothers approached him looking for gold coins to buy. Apparently he had a Nuremburg gold 1/32 ducat (KM #245), which the Chapman's did not want to buy at the price he asked since it was a common coin. The problem seems to have been each side held a different view to what was a fair market price for his 1/32 ducat. So he wrote them : "Gentlemen, You may buy the Nuremberg gold set No. 414 Steiger's Sale 16th if it goes cheap, or pay a fair price for the 1/32 Ducat if the others don't come home." Fisher is referring to the 49th Steigerwalt sale held on July 16, 1896, and the gold set in lot 414, as well as to the gold 1/32 ducat he possessed. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, Special Collection, The Chapman Family Correspondence Archive.

In March 1899, he advertised in The Numismatist that the was looking for the best 1804 cent that $15 could buy.

In July 1899, an announcement appeared in The Numismatist that Dr. A. L. Fisher of Elkhart is now out of bed having been sick for three weeks. In the same issue Fisher reported that W. W. Hays, the author of U.S. Cents of 1794, was found dead in his bed on the 10th instant.

He was a member of the American Society of Curio Collectors specializing in firearms.

He consigned his coin collection to Ben G. Green, to be sold at auction on November 8, 1907.

In 1913, he was elected City Councilman at large.

He died of cerebral hemorrhage on April 23, 1918. He was cremated and his urn placed in Gracelawn Cemetery, Elkhart.

Catalogue of the Choice and Valuable Collection of Rare Old Pistols and Guns Formed by the Late Dr. A. L. Fisher of Elkhart, Indiana: Also a Collection of Old American Lamps and Other Antiques, Etc.; To Be Sold at Auction Tuesday Morning and Afternoon, July 23rd, 1918. Nos. 1 to 321 of this catalogue, being Dr. Fisher's collection, were catalogued by Mr. W. A. Lawrence, of Elkhart, Indiana.

Bibliography :

"Dr. A. L. Fisher", The Numismatist, February (1895)

The Numismatist, March (1899) : 120 ad

The Numismatist (1902)

The Numismatist (1918) : 274 obituary

"Albert Leroy Fisher," in Abraham E. Weaver, ed., A Standard History of Elkhart County Indiana (1918) : Vol. !! : 521-24

Journal of the American Institute of Homeopathy, Vol. 11, July (1918) : 109 obit

John Weston Adams, United States Numismatic Literature, Vol. 2 (1990) : 21 see sale 34, C+ rating