The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 31, July 17, 2005, Article 9

NEW YORK TIMES ON JOHN J. FORD

Today the New York Times published an obituary on
John J. Ford. Here are some excerpts:

"John J. Ford Jr., a coin dealer and collector known for
catalogs that brought new clarity to numismatics and whose
collections, including the earliest American coins and prized
Confederate pennies, have dazzled recent auctiongoers, died
on July 7 at a nursing home in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 81."

"Michael Hodder, a numismatic consultant, said bidders had
already spent $35 million on the Ford collections, and the
final total may rival the three auctions of the collection of Louis
E. Eliasburg Sr., who assembled every known American coin.
These exceeded $55 million.

Francis D. Campbell, the librarian of the American Numismatic
Society, said the sales have expanded appreciation of Mr. Ford.

"It's going to settle in that he was more important than we
thought he was," he said."

"John Jay Ford Jr. was born on March 5, 1924, in Hollywood,
where his father liked to socialize with movie people. The elder
Mr. Ford, a scientist and inventor, lost all his money in business
failures and retreated to Queens. He borrowed haircut money
from his teenage son.

The son, already a stamp collector, bought his first old currency
from a shop on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn. He paid 15 cents
for a Confederate bill that years later fetched $200.

He quit his paper route, and got a job as a delivery boy for
Stack's. By the time he was drafted into the Army, he had a
thriving business making his own numismatic deals as he
went about his errands.

He was regarded as a wonder, having virtually memorized
"United States Pattern, Trial and Experimental Pieces" by
Edgar H. Adams and William H. Woodin, then a standard
numismatic resource. Mr. Hodder likened this to memorizing
all of a day's baseball box scores, only more complicated.

After serving as an Army cryptographer, Mr. Ford did other
kinds of work, before finding his way back to coin shops. He
soon joined Charles Wormser at New Netherlands,
becoming a partner in two years."

"He is remembered for the no-nonsense bomb shelter full
of valuable coins and currencies in the basement of the
Long Island home where he long lived, not to mention his
Cuban cigars. His stories, like the one about taking a $67,000
check written on toilet paper from a tipsy oilman are still
savored: it was the only paper in the hotel room."

To read the full article, see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

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