"I read David Lange's piece about Bob Hilt's book. Bob passed away in a plane crash sometime during the 1990's. He was an avid collector of early US silver and gold coins by die varieties. He came up with some theories on populations of die varieties based on deliveries of dies, etc. He was very dedicated to his studies on these and I remember him having discussions with Harry Bass about his theories. Harry did not dismiss his thoughts and enjoyed his reflections and theories.

I believe that he has been unjustly maligned by other numismatic scholars. Bob was a businessman from Omaha and would have undertaken the next series of coinage, if there had been enough interest in his work. There was not and he chose not to share his thoughts any further. I represented him many times at auctions and always enjoyed our relationship. The last time that I saw Bob was at the COAC when Harry's coins were displayed. His collection has never surfaced since his death. I hope that this may shed some new light on Robert Hilt."