The E-Sylum:  Volume 4, Number 28, July 8, 2001, Article 6

OTHER NUMISMATIC HOAXES 

   Bowers continues:  "Bob Bashlow also participated in a few 
   other hoaxes, such as under the pseudonym of  T. Wellington 
   Braithwaite, a "wealthy eastern investor" who bought heavily, 
   he said, then was puzzled when other dealers criticized the 
   grades of what he had bought elsewhere. Typical T.W.B. 
   caper (I will not name names here, but I know them): 

   T.W.B. telephones Dealer A (and records the conversation): 

   "This is T. Wellington Braithwaite. You probably don't 
   remember me, but a few years ago I bought many rare coins 
   from you. I took them to [Dealer B] and he said, 'All of these 
   coins are overgraded.' You've been taken." 

   "What does 'overgraded' mean?" 

   Thereupon Dealer A told T.W.B. what a super-jerk Dealer B 
   was, etc., etc. 

   Another hoax in numismatics was the "fake auction" in the 
   1950s conducted by R.H. Burnie, a Pascagoula, Mississippi 
   dealer and specialist in small-denomination California gold, 
   who later ran off with the proceeds." 

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization 
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor 
at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum