The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 29, July 22, 2007, Article 5

ROBERT DUPHORNE AND THE 'OTHER' BUST QUARTER BOOK

Members of the John Reich Collectors Society receive the group's
quarterly publication, the John Reich Journal.  I picked up my copy
on my visit home last weekend.  One of the featured articles is
"Robert Duphorne and the 'Other' Bust Quarter Book." by Louis
Scuderi.  The eight-page article is a trove of information on this
relatively obscure title.  I've had a copy in my library for years
but never knew much about the author, and I doubt that any bibliophile
knew much until now.

Scuderi purchased a copy of the Duphorne book at the 1996 American
Numismatic Association convention.  The book was published in 1975
and had been disparaged by Walter Breen and others.  For example,
Karl Moulton has written that "Bergen lent his notes about corrections
and new varieties not listd in the original Browning work to R.
Duphorne for his rather worthless book about Early Quarter Dollars
that was published in 1975.  If Mr. Duphorne does indeed exist, he
has never come forth to accept the credit or blame for this
particular volume."
Full Story

Through a chance discussion with a coin dealer, Scuderi learned
that Duphorne was from Albuquerque, NM. Since that's where Scuderi
lives too, he pulled out the phone book and found a listing for a
Robert Duphorne.  After a number of failed attempts, he finally
reached the octogenarian author.  Bob had specialized in collecting
bust quarters and in the early 1970s he decided that the 50th
anniversary of the publication of Browning's book would be a fine
time for a new reference on the topic.

Some 90% of the coins pictured in the book were from his own
collection, which he'd pieced together primarily by searching
dealer stocks, augmented with an occasional auction purchase.
The book was a compilation of all the information Duphorne had
gathered on the series.

Since Duphorne did his collecting outside of the mainstream numismatic
scene, "his book came as somewhat of a surprise and was viewed with
some suspicion.  However, in terms of his use of attribution information,
he was far ahead of what was normally used in 1975 for capped bust
silver.  His obverse and reverse identification charts ... contain
information that is now commonly found in the newer books..."

"Since Robert Duphorne was such an unknown in numismatic circles,
it was easy for a few comments on the part of Walter Breen to color
the views of subsequent collectors.  It is also quite clear that
Breen's dismissal of the D92 coin was based on a conversation that
never occurred."

[Congratulations to Scuderi and JRCS on a great article.  What
other outside-the-mainstream numismatic authors are out there
awaiting discovery?  Can anyone suggest other mystery writer
worth researching?  -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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