ULEX, GEORGE FREDERICK

Georg Friedrich Ulex (1841-1907), was born on October 12, 1841 at Hamburg, Germany, son of Georg Ludwig Ulex, an apothecary. He left his father's Apothecary shop where he worked as an apothecary at Stubbenhuk 5, Hamburg, Germany and sailed on the S.S. Dampfschiff to New York on May 15, 1867 to work in his profession in America. He was a numismatist noted for the sale of one of his collections in 1902 and also that of his estate that sold the remaining coins posthumously in 1908. In America he was known among the numismatists having been cited in the July 1870 issue of Mason’s Coin and Stamp Collectors Magazine by his initials G. F. U., Hamburg, Germany .

He left the United States about May of 1870 to return to his father's apothecary shop at Stubbenhuk 5, Hamburg, Germany. He was a corresponding member of the ANS since January 15, 1878.

Figs. 1 & 2. Ulex correspondence with the Chapman Brothers : (Top) postmarked May 1, 1885, Hamburg, Germany, franked with 20 Pfennig M42. (Bottom) : Postmarked December 29, 1885, Hamburg, Germany, franked with a strip of two 10 Pfennig M41. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, Special Collection, The Chapman Family Correspondence Archive.

He married Auguste Marie Friederike Walkhoff on May 15, 1886 at Hamburg. They had two sons Georg Johannes Ulex (1887-), and Oscar Friedrich Ulex (1888-) and, a daughter Sophie Marie Ulex (1890-).

“Mr. Low advertises a splendid collection to be sold by him next June. It consists of the American coins of Mr. George F. Ulex, of Hamburg, Germany. There are rarities in nearly all of the series represented, and it is especially rich in the Colonials, Territorial gold, half-cents, uncirculated and proof coins and patterns.” The prices realized of over sixty lots were published in The Numismatist August 1902 issue.

Fig. 3. Announcement of Lyman Low's Ulex sale. The Numismatist, No. 8, August (1902) : 248

Fig. 4. Announcement of Lyman Low's Ulex sale. The Numismatist, No. 2, February (1904) : 51

He donated some auction catalogs to the ANS library.

He died on April 22, 1907 at the age of 65 and 6 months.

Fig. 5. Announcement of the posthumous Ulex sale. The Numismatist, No. 1, January (1908) : 20

Fig. 6. Announcement of the posthumous Ulex sale. The Numismatist, No. 4, April (1908) : 122

Bibliography :

S.S. Dampfschiff passenger list, 1867

Proceedings of the American Numismatic and Archaeological Society, of New York At the Annual Meeting, March 18, 1879: page 10, 13

Hamburg, Germany marriage record, 1886

Hamburg, Germany Birth records, 1887, 1888, 1890

The Numismatist, Vol. XV, No. 5, May (1902) : 150-151 Low's announcement; No. 8, July (1902) : 208; August (1902) : 248; No. 1, January (1908) : 20;

Proceedings of the American Numismatic and Archeological Society (1903) : 23

Mason’s Coin and Stamp Collectors Magazine, IV, No. 7, July (1870) : 108-109;

John Weston Adams, United States Numismatic Literature, Vol. 1, 127, 132