NEWSPAPER PORTRAIT INSCRIBED TO FUTURE NEW YORK POLITICIAN SEYMOUR HALPERN ON THE VERSO AND SIGNED BY WILLIAM HOPE "COIN" HARVEY, A LEADING ADVOCATE OF COINAGE OF SILVER INTO MONEY. by Harvey, William Hope. (1851-1936). Known as "Coin" Harvey, he was a leading advocate of the use of silver as legal tender - [1930].

Circa [1930].. [1930].. Very good. - Portrait, approximately 5 inches high by 3-3/8 inches wide, clipped from a newspaper and mounted on a piece of card 6-5/8 inches high by 5 inches wide. Inscribed & signed on the verso in black ink: "To / Seymour Halpern / with my best wishes / W H Harvey". There is some minor soiling to the mount & a small area of the surface of its bottom edge is rubbed away. Very good. <p>William Hope Harvey [1851-1936] was an American lawyer, author, politician and health resort owner. Known as "Coin" Harvey, he is best remembered as a leading promoter of the use of silver as legal tender. He adopted the view that the demonetization of silver through the Coinage Act of 1873 was extremely harmful to the economy, which went through a series of depressions and recessions in the last quarter of the 19th century. He advocated a return to the unlimited coinage of silver into money and authored his popular 1894 pamphlet "Coin's Financial School" to advance this policy.<p>The Queens, New York Republican Congressman Seymour Halpern (1913-1997) started his political career as a campaign aide to New York's powerful mayor Fiorella La Guardia and first served in New York's State Senate for 14 years before seeking a seat in the U.S. Congress. In Albany Halpern sponsored 279 bills that became law, including measures on schools, housing, civil rights, nutrition and mental health. A Liberal, he was something of an anomaly as the lone Republican representative from New York City, and generally garnered support from Labor Unions and endorsement from the Liberal Party. Yet he never even considered switching parties as he considered membership in the Republican Party a family tradition and commitment. While he found ample time for his private pursuits, including painting and collecting autographs, he took his legislative duties very seriously. Of these, he was proudest of his co- sponsorship of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and of the original 1965 Medicare legislation.