Henry Lewis Writesel and the Federal Coin Exchange

Zoins

Anyone here remember Henry Lewis Writesel (1899-1970)?

I've been curious about him since I ran across his tokens and catalogs a while back which seem pretty neat. I like the tokens because they have an official design look to them and the reverse is similar to some territorial gold coins.

Here's his Ancestry page:

Ancestry wrote:
The Life Summary of Henry Lewis

When Henry Lewis Writesel was born on 19 October 1899, in South Carolina, United States, his father, William Edwin Writesel, was 26 and his mother, Charlotte Chapman, was 19. He married Clara M Bricker on 18 April 1917, in Franklin, Ohio, United States. They were the parents of at least 6 sons and 4 daughters. He died on 21 August 1970, in Columbus, Franklin, Ohio, United States, at the age of 70, and was buried in Galloway, Franklin, Ohio, United States.

https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LKYR-QMR/henry-lewis-writesel-1899-1970

I have a few of his tokens but no pics yet. Here's one on the bay now:

ricko

First one I have seen....nicely done.... Looked for it on ebay, could not find it. Cheers, RickO

Treashunt

Interesting, but I have never seen it before

CaptHenway

Never seen that before.

ldhair

Same here. Never seen it.

ldhair

Found it in Paul Cunningham's book. I believe it's listed as 28-1710A.

bkzoopapa

Federal coin Exchange became Mike Kohlman( or Coleman?) Sr. store .they also ran auctions including the 1964 ANA sale in Cleveland. Harry Jones started out there almong with Mike Jr. they were players in the Canadian market as I recall

Zoins

Great info @bkzoopapa and @ldhair!

Writesel's name is on catalogs from 1946 and 1947 as "Henry L. Writesel". Federal Coin Exchange was Michael Kolman in 1955 when they published the following auction catalog:

Auction catalog: February 28, 1955. 1779 lots, 46 pp., 2 plates, no prices realized. Size: Octavo.

https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/Mail-Bid-Auction-Federal-Coin-Exchange/3594285008/bd

Zoins

@ricko said:
First one I have seen....nicely done.... Looked for it on ebay, could not find it. Cheers, RickO

I agree it is a nicely done token and was happy to pick up several specimens.

Here is the one on eBay now:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ABRAHAM-LINCOLN-FEDERAL-COIN-EXCHANGE-MEDAL-TOKEN-1942-NDAA-/253089347470

Zoins

Update

Paul A. Cunningham mentions this this token in "Lincoln's Metallic Imagery". It "was commissioned by Michael Kolman of Federal Coin Exchange and designed by Robert McNamara who issued the So-Called Half Dollars series struck by Heraldic Art. Co."

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1942-Abraham-Lincoln-Medal-Token-Heraldic-Art-Co-Related/303497182416

There were also a lot of die trials of this token in Robert McNamara's estate:

http://zocollo.com/images/metro/zn/Heraldic_Art_Medals_by_D.A._Smith.pdf

tokenpro

That's a nicely executed little token but it hasn't been particularly hard to find over the years. On a related exonumia note, Mike Jr. had one of the best collections of non-U.S. encased coins, many of which were featured in a TAMS Journal story some years back. Mike had several other oddball exonumia mini-collections that he would bring out to tempt me and others.

Zoins

@tokenpro said:
That's a nicely executed little token but it hasn't been particularly hard to find over the years. On a related exonumia note, Mike Jr. had one of the best collections of non-U.S. encased coins, many of which were featured in a TAMS Journal story some years back. Mike had several other oddball exonumia mini-collections that he would bring out to tempt me and others.

Good info. I find these fun to collect because they are cheap and not overly difficult to find. I also like the look on both sides and the name of the dealer. "Federal Coin Exchange" just sounds neat.

I've liked the design for a while but just learned these were done by Robert McNamara which adds to the interest for me.

tokenpro

Some of the products that the Kolmans marketed were sold under the name Federal Brand - you may run into that name as well.

Zoins

@ZoidMeister just posted a great token in the Token Thursday thread here:

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/comment/13116333/#Comment_13116333

And so I looked up Henry Writesel again. Here's a great catalog of us when his name was more important than Federal Coin Exchange. Over time, the names would switch places.

Photos courtesy of NW Antique Link (nwantiquelink).

Zoins

Here's a 1947 cover where Federal Coin Exchange is larger and Henry only mentions his name in parentheses on the cover.

Imagine buying an 1804 silver dollar, or selling one, for $2,000?

Photo courtesy of Damizu Inc (damizuinc).

Zoins

And finally a 1954 catalog, the year before ownership was transferred from Henry Lewis Writesel to Michael Kolman.

Photo courtesy of @BestGerman.

ZoidMeister

Amazing information and provenance @Zoins !

It looks like the version you have in the original post here is some type of white metal. The one I found is copper.

It was the design of the reverse that compelled me to pick it up.

Z

Zoins

@ZoidMeister said:
Amazing information and provenance @Zoins !

It looks like the version you have in the original post here is some type of white metal. The one I found is copper.

It was the design of the reverse that compelled me to pick it up.

Z

Congrats on your new pickup!

They do come in both compositions. I have both and a few errors as well!

The design really is wonderful on these. Hats off to Writesel and McNamara for making these

coinsarefun

Just saw this now and bookmarking it…….thanks everyone who contributed.