Alexander del Mar

Alexander del Mar (aka Alexander Del Mar and Alexander Delmar) (August 9, 1836 - July 1, 1926) was an American political economist, historian, numismatist and author. He was the first Director of the Bureau of Statistics at the U.S. Treasury Department from 1866–69.

Del Mar was a rigorous historian who made important contributions to the history of money. During the mid-1890s, he was distinctly hostile to a central monetary role for gold as commodity money, championing the cause of silver and its re-monetization as a prerogative of the state.

He believed strongly in the legal function of money. Del Mar dedicated much of his free time to original research in the great libraries and coin collections of Europe on the history of monetary systems and finance.

Alexander del Mar, of Jewish-Spanish descent, was born in New York City, August 9, 1836 as oldest son of Jacob and Belvidere Alexander del Mar. He lived for a short period of time in the United Kingdom with his uncle Emanuel del Mar and there received an education in humanities from a private tutor, Arthur Helps (later knighted, becoming Sir Arthur Helps). He was instructed in history, literature, law, and political economy.

After graduating from New York University as a civil engineer, he was educated as a mining engineer in Spain at the Madrid School of Mines.

Aged 18, he returned to the U.S. in 1854 to become the financial editor of the short-lived Daily American Times. He moved to Hunt's Merchant's Magazine in 1860, and in 1863 co-founded and edited with Simon Stern the prestigious quarterly New York Social Science Review (first published in January 1865). He was also involved with the Commercial and Financial Chronicle, founded in 1865 by William Dana.

...
Wikipedia