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Waldo C. Moore Collection - An early 20th Century Numismatist

Disclaimer - this write up is partially written by me and contains portions of text from various internet sources about Waldo Moore...



Waldo C. Moore is a well known numismatist from Ohio. He was the 13th president of the ANA serving in 1919 and 1920. He created many different scrip from the early teens through the 1940's. He passed away in January of 1953 at the age of 78.



He was born in a small town called West Baltimore, Ohio, on July 23, 1874. The town is now known as Verona. At the age of 36 in 1910, Waldo took a series of examinations and became a successful bookkeeper. Moore and his wife Imogene operated a stock farm in Preble County, Ohio among other businesses. His 200-acre farm was one of the finest in the county. Waldo worked as a banker for the Peoples Banking Company in Lewisburg, Ohio. If you collect Ohio paper money of any kind then you've probably heard of Waldo.



Waldo was an avid numismatist and philatelist. His collections of rare coins, currency, and stamps were some of the largest and finest in America. He specialized in memorabilia related to Ohio financial history. Waldo also loved to share the extensive knowledge that only a serious collector accumulates. He wrote over 130 articles and many poems regarding his collecting hobbies that appeared in The Numismatist. He was an avid check collector and especially liked checks autographed by celebrities of his time. He would send them a bank draft for 1 cent from The Peoples Banking Company of Lewisburg Ohio. In return celebrities would send him a signed 1 cent check. He did this successfully hundreds of times and they are highly sought after even today.



A portion of Waldo Moore's collection of early scrip and 1930's depression scrip recently came up for sale on Ebay. It's a weird story...this scrip has been sitting tucked away for over 70 years. This particular group was passed down to several family generations and each time losing more of it's detail and history. Finally, someone decided to sell the whole group of about 200 pieces. They walked into an antique shop and tried to sell it to the dealer. It just happened that someone from Australia was there and ended up buying the whole collection. He took it back to Australia with him and listed the collection in 83 lots on Ebay. Alot of it was common pieces, but some were very rare. Here are the lots I won and most of these I would consider the best of the collection. Those lots I didn't win I either already had them or could do without them. I came away with 65 notes from this collection. Here's the list of what I won...



Depression Scrip from 1930's
  • City of Lorain 4 Pcs. - Unlisted issue date

  • Put Cleveland To Work Uncut Sheet - Only the 2nd uncut sheet I have seen and now I have both. Also both sheets are sequential - Serial # 104 and 105 - a cool pairing that took 20 years to put back together.

  • City of Toledo Payroll - Tough note to find for sale

  • Shaker Heights (Cleveland) SPECIMEN - Very rare - 2 examples surfaced in 2014 and none since

  • University Heights Village Cleveland - Common notes, but a good price

  • City of Dayton $1 & $5 - Tough notes to find for sale

  • Dayton Mutual Exchange 5 pcs - Some unique pieces and previously unknown

  • Bryan Manufacturer's Payroll 7pc - 5 of these unique and previously unknown

  • Put Cleveland To Work 6 pcs - Common notes, but includes some very low serial numbers

  • Dayton Mutual Exchange 4 pcs - Rare notes

  • Pioneer Rubber Company Willard - Previously unknown variety

  • County of Cuyahoga $1 CLEVELAND - Common note, but very high serial # and not cancelled

  • Brecksville Village School District - Previously unknown issue

  • Martins Ferry Prosperity Check - Serial # 1 - My top buy if you ask me and previously unknown variety

  • East Liverpool Taylor, Smith and Taylor - 3 Various denomination issues - hard to find notes

  • Lewisburg Grain Elevators 5 pc set - Common and not a complete set but all matching serial # 6 with one exception

  • Lewisburg Tobacco Co 6 pcs NRA - Common notes but all Serial # 4 and one #5. Rare for low serial #'s



Other Miscellaneous Scrip
  • Dayton Merchants National Bank - Not depression scrip but unique

  • Roselawn Valley Theatre $1 - Not depression scrip but cool Auction Scrip

  • Lewisburg Moore's Cheery Study - Guessing these are from 1910 to 1920 approximately

  • UHRICHSVILLE OHIO Set of 3 1939 Wooden Nickel flats - From my hometown as a kid - very small town and these don't come up for sale very often



I didn't win these, but here is a letter from Ambassador JOHN W. GARRETT in 1923 in reference to the 1 cent checks Waldo used to send out.



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Here is a 1 cent check from President Taft to Waldo Moore. As a side note, President Taft is the only person to ever to be elected as President (1909 - 1913) and also serve as the Chief Justice of the US (1921-1930).



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And here is the Depression Scrip that I won:



City of Lorain 4 Pcs.

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Put Cleveland To Work Uncut Sheet

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City of Toledo Payroll

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Shaker Heights (Cleveland) SPECIMEN

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University Heights Village Cleveland

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City of Dayton $1 & $5

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Dayton Mutual Exchange 5 pcs

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Bryan Manufacturer's Payroll 7pc



Bought this group believing they were all Bryan Ohio - The Ohio Art Company. Turns out 5 of these are from the Holabird Company. A different unlisted issue of depression scrip. And the 10 cent Ohio Art Company is unlisted as well.

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Put Cleveland To Work 6 pcs

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Dayton Mutual Exchange 4 pcs

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Pioneer Rubber Company, Willard Ohio

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County of Cuyahoga $1 CLEVELAND

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Brecksville Village School District

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Martins Ferry Prosperity Check - Love that serial # 1

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East Liverpool - Taylor, Smith and Taylor Co.

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Lewisburg Grain Elevators 5 pc set

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Lewisburg Tobacco Co 6 pcs NRA

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Other Scrip:



Dayton Merchants National Bank

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Roselawn Valley Theatre $1 Auction Scrip

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Lewisburg Moore's Cheery Study scrip

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UHRICHSVILLE OHIO Set of 3 1939 Wooden Nickel flats

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A couple of his auctions mentioned that he had "correspondence" from Waldo Moore to prove provenance. I kept asking about that as that's even more important than the scrip if you ask me. He kept telling me that he would list them at the end but never did. So I asked one last time and he said for X amount, he would throw them in with my lots I won. Can't pass that up.... so here are the letters:



This letter from The Ohio Art Company is very important. As of 1984 in the Mitchell-Shafer book, a 5 cent note was all that was known from them. I now have a 5 cent and 10 cent note. So the 10 cent is a new discovery as unlisted. But if you read the letter below to Waldo, the General Manager for Ohio Art Company says the scrip was issued in 5, 10, 25, 50 cent, 1 and 5 dollar denominations. So the hunt continues... But that also means in theory I'm missing the 50 cent note for The Holabird Company. So much for thinking I had a complete set of those.... image



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From the Put-Cleveland-To-Work Sociiety. Another important letter as it lists issue quantities. But, unfortunately these pages are pretty beat up and aged. So they are very tough to read. The 2nd page is actually an enhanced copy I made trying to darken the print. That's the best I could do with a copier. Next I will have to try with a flatbed scanner and see if I can enhance to original any better. Of course there is the option to take it to a professional restorer and see if they can bring out the ink any better with specialized chemical treatments. Yet another project for a restoration expert....



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Come and see a forgotten piece of history.....

http://www.depressionscrip.com



Always looking for more depression scrip -- PM me if you have any for sale or trade

Comments

  • Timbuk3Timbuk3 Posts: 11,658 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Wow, sweet, thanks for sharing !!! ??
    Timbuk3
  • TookybanditTookybandit Posts: 3,410 ✭✭✭✭
    Those are awesome! I love the Tabacco notes!!
  • uzuiwekuzuiwek Posts: 50 ✭✭✭
    I saw the notes when they were for sale and considered bidding, even though depression scrip really isn't in my realm of expertise. I'm really glad you ended up with them - it really is a great collection. Congrats!
    SPMC LM #405 - Collector of Ohio obsoletes. And other stuff, that I'm not going to tell you, so you don't buy it before I do.
  • JamericonJamericon Posts: 437 ✭✭✭
    Rod:-



    Fabulous set of Ohio scrip! Some of those notes are gorgeous.
    Jamie Yakes - U.S. paper money collector, researcher, and author. | Join the SPMCUS Small-Size Notes, National Bank Notes, and NJ Depression Scrip
  • Originally posted by: uzuiwek

    I saw the notes when they were for sale and considered bidding, even though depression scrip really isn't in my realm of expertise. I'm really glad you ended up with them - it really is a great collection. Congrats!




    I'm glad you didn't bid on them... .I already spent enough as it was...of course I would of spent more on some of the lots I won. There was a new bidder in the mix and I'm not sure who it was. Definitely someone I haven't run into before on Ebay depression scrip... Must be another die hard Ohio collector. image



    I do wonder what the seller spent to purchase this collection. All 80+ lots went for just over $8k on Ebay. Of course he lost a fair share to Ebay and Paypal fees. But still not too bad.
    Come and see a forgotten piece of history.....

    http://www.depressionscrip.com



    Always looking for more depression scrip -- PM me if you have any for sale or trade
  • KT5SilverKT5Silver Posts: 162 ✭✭✭
    Amazing script. Congratulations.

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  • lettowlettow Posts: 80 ✭✭✭
    I watched and bid on some of these. Great stuff. I wondered how it got to Australia.

  • Originally posted by: lettow

    I watched and bid on some of these. Great stuff. I wondered how it got to Australia.







    The seller told me that he was originally from Michigan and moved to Australia in the 70's as a kid with his parents. He flew back to Florida to pack up the last of his personal belongings from being in storage for 4 years into shipping containers to finish the move to Australia. They were doing some running around town and stopped into an antique shop.



    That collection does have some miles on it...from Lewisburg Ohio to Florida to Australia and now to Michigan and other places. I know Hugo from Germany won a couple of the lots too. So some of it is on it's way to Germany.



    Did you win any of the lots Jim?
    Come and see a forgotten piece of history.....

    http://www.depressionscrip.com



    Always looking for more depression scrip -- PM me if you have any for sale or trade
  • sellitstoresellitstore Posts: 2,404 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Congratulations on some great key additions to your collection.

    The letters are a wonderful primary source of information. Fortunately, a few collectors saved correspondence from issuing authorities because knowing the story behind the issue made the notes even more interesting, as it does for collectors today.
    Collector and dealer in obsolete currency. Always buying all obsolete bank notes and scrip.
  • oklahomadannyoklahomadanny Posts: 172 ✭✭✭


    Rod, this is quite a fascinating thread! The finding of the pedigree/lineage of the collection was an amazing find you couldn't put a price on. It was nice the seller was so forthcoming on how he obtained this group of notes. image



    I know Jim dabbles in scrip and wondered if he had spotted the group and did some bidding. Hope it didn't cost you too much. image



    In checking the thread I seen you added a couple of interesting documents to add to the pedigree. You should have some of the scrip "encased" with the 'Waldo C. Moore' collection. Maybe it will encourage people to google the name and learn a bit about this interesting man.
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    Dad 1916-2014
  • Good idea Danny.
    Come and see a forgotten piece of history.....

    http://www.depressionscrip.com



    Always looking for more depression scrip -- PM me if you have any for sale or trade
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