If you were a "dealer," who would you...
KollectorKing
Posts: 4,820 ✭✭✭✭✭
emulate (past and present), and what "kollector" (past or present)would you emulate & why?
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collector...Louis Eliasberg. I'm reading the book about how he built his collection...neat stuff...
Russ, NCNE
Tom
and it sets us apart from practitioners and consultants. Gregor
Collector: Eliasberg. He collected the old fashioned way...by date and mintmark and collected all US. I wish we could see more of this type of collector today.
<< <i>Collector: Eliasberg. He collected the old fashioned way...by date and mintmark and >>
by acquiring 90% of his collection by simply buying another collectors collection enmass.
WOW what an adventure that would be..........really...
Camelot
you may have a point there..........................................NAH!!!!!
Collector - Myself cause I only collect what I want/like
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<< <i>Collector: Eliasberg. He collected the old fashioned way...by date and mintmark and >>
by acquiring 90% of his collection by simply buying another collectors collection enmass. >>
True, but that last 10 percent must have been quite a challenge.
It's nice to have money!
Collectors: John H. Clapp (his vision), Harry Bass (his determination), Allan Lovejoy (his eye) and Louis Eliasberg (his checbook)
Bear: you'll go blind if you do that.....
Jack Lee. Built an amazing quality set that will probably never be duplicated.
Harry Bass for his collection of US gold by die variety and die state
Bill Anton for his colonials in general, but most notably - so far - for his collection of contemporary counterfeits documented in his book The Forgotten Coins.
John Ford for so many series, but most notably his collection of gold and silver ingots of the 19th century. (JJF gets extra points for his amazing range of expertise.)
I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but you get the idea.
As for the dealers I most admire, knowledge and success count, but I give extra points to those that have maintained their pure love of the game throughout the years. (It's way harder than you think.) Tony Terranova and Art Kagin come to mind.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
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<< <i>Collector: Eliasberg. He collected the old fashioned way...by date and mintmark and >>
by acquiring 90% of his collection by simply buying another collectors collection enmass. >>
I think Eliasburg was an interesting collector - he set out to acquire every US coin made and I think he was successful, but because of that quest he became the ultimate "hole filler" - If he already had it in VF, no sense in buying a nice one, gotta another hole to fill. THere were some wonderful coins in the Eliasberg collection, all acquired not because Louis sought nice coins, but because he bought collections that contained spectacular coins that had been collected by other collectors who were connisours. I attended the 1982 sale of the complete collection of US Gold coins, which was the 1st of the Elaisberg collections to be auctioned off. If it was wonderful it came from Clapp, if it was ordinary, Louis Eliasberg bought it on his own. Sad to see that someone with so much money and a passion to accomplish a goal, didn't make the effort to acquire quality coins on his own. That said, I have been told that Eliasberg was very generous in sharing with others his passion for coins.
“It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.” Mark Twain
Newmismatist
42/92
This is a difficult question, because none of us have dealings with every dealer, and we know of many wonderful dealers from the past only by reputation. But in my mind the dealers who should be emulated are those many dealers who over the years have taken the time and made the effort to educate and assist young (and old) coin collectors in learning about this wonderful hobby, those dealers who are patient, knowledgeable and honest in their dealings with each of us in the collecting fraternity. The dealer that will patiently explain to a 5 year old how to hold a penny so he (or she) doesn’t damage its surface with finger-prints, will explain why a shiny new penny is not as valuable as a worn1909 penny that has an “S” on the front and a tiny little “V.D.B.” on the back and shows that child how to find Victor D. Brenner’s initials on the bottom reverse of that coin. The same dealer who, when a non-collector widow comes into his place of business with a few worn silver dollars, including one dated 1893, with a little “S” on the reverse, doesn’t say, “these are all pretty worn and I can only give you $6 apiece”, but tells her that there’s 1 or 2 of those coins is quite valuable and pays her a fair price for what her deceased husband had collected and knew was valuable. That’s the dealer that I would emulate, because he is someone who was a teacher and gives back to his hobby for the benefit of others and who sleeps well at night because he is a fair and honest person.
Of those dealers no longer with us, I would have to nominate the B. Max Mehl. Below is a quote from the Fort Worth Star Telegram that says it all:
“Mehl was also a natural advertising and public-relations expert. Born in Lithuania in 1884, he started in the United States as a teen-age shoe clerk. But he was always interested in rare coins. It was in December 1903 that he ran his first coin advertisement in the Numismatist magazine. The next March he published a booklet called Catalogue of Fine Selections of Choice United States Gold, Silver and Copper Coins, Private and Territorial Gold, United States Fractional Currency. This was possibly his first publication, (and certainly the one with his longest title).
Soon, he began publishing his own monthly magazine. He even started a radio program beamed to countless coin and stamp collectors avidly listening to this brand new broadcast medium.
By 1910, his innovative advertising caused the Fort Worth Post Office to double the number of mail carriers on Mehl's route. Mail addressed to him that first year accounted for more than half the business of the Fort Worth postal system.
He sold copies of his Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia for $1 each. These were purchased by people who fantasized that some day they would find in their loose pocket change rarities such as a 1913 Liberty Head nickel or an 1804 silver dollar that would make them rich.
Over several years, Mehl sold many of the most valued coin collections ever assembled. Numismatics will recognize the names Granberg, Ten Eyck, Dunham, Atwater and Neil. He handled the famous rarity-laden Waldo C. Newcomer Collection on consignment.”
"Mehl probably did more to advance the hobby [of coin collecting] than any other individual of his time," [Q David] Bowers said. "Mehl's fame endures today. There even is a contingent of numismatic bibliophiles who collect Mehl-iana. During his career, Mehl handled most, if not all, of the classic rarities including eight transactions involving the 1804 dollar as well as the Dunham 1822 half eagle."
President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill were among Mehl's clients. King Farouk the First of Egypt was one of his "royal customers" during Farouk's reign from 1936 to 1952.”
B Max Mehl died in 1957 at age 73, so few of us today would have had any dealings with him as a coin dealer.
There are other dealers who have contributed greatly to American numismatics, but perhaps the Stack family is the most significant family of dealers in the latter half of the 20th century and continuing yet today: Joseph and Morton Stack founded Stack’s in the early 1930's and in 1945 Norman and Benjamin Stack joined their father, Joseph, in the business; Harvey Stack, Morton's son, began full-time in 1947, joined by his son Lawrence R. Stack in 1973 and his daughter Susan Stack in 1976. The first Stack’s Auction catalogue was dated October 18 and 19, 1935 and included 53 pages presenting 1,403 lots of American colonial, regular issue Gold, Silver, Nickel and Copper coins and Patterns. Joining these were lots of American paper currency, ancient and modern world coins and medals. Stack’s auctions continue to this day, and many of the great collections in Numismatic history have been sold by Stack’s.
In addition to the Stacks’, Q David Bowers is another Dealer who is a remarkable for his true love of numismatics and who has contributed greatly to each of us with his wealth of knowledge. Art Kagin is another dealer who has contributed greatly to our hobby and who has forgotten more than most of us will ever know about coins. Reminiscing with Art at a coin show is one of life’s delightful experiences. I could name many others, but these are just a few that come to mind.
As for collectors, there are too many to name, but perhaps the best are not the richest, but those who like many on this forum are passionate about coin collecting and in addition to assembling their own collections, share their collecting interests with others to enhance and help other collectors to enjoy this wonderful hobby.
In addition to Harry Bass and Louis Eliasberg, who have already been named, there are T. Harrison Garrett, and his two sons, Robert Garrett and John Work Garrett who formed a monumental collection of coins and Josiah K. Lilly, whose collection, consisting of over 6,000 gold coins was donated to the Smithsonian Institute and can be viewed today if one chooses to visit the National Numismatic Collection in the National Museum of American History in Washington DC. There are many more, but time is too short to name them all.
“It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.” Mark Twain
Newmismatist