The E-Sylum:  Volume 9, Number 21, May 21, 2006, Article 18

MORE ON THE ORIGINAL HOLDER FOR THE 1913 LIBERTY NICKELS

Saul Teichman writes: "With regard to the eight-coin case which
contained the five 1913 Nickels, Howard Spindel's reply is not
correct.  The description below is from correspondence between
Eric P. Newman and myself:

The copper composition pattern five cent was in the leather case
when I first saw it about 1942 on a trip to New York City. The
case has and had 8 punched holes in two lines of 4 each and plastic
(celluloid acetate probably) slide-in protectors on both faces.
That coin holder was attached to the back of the case and was closed
over on each of the 4 sides by flaps of leather. The top flap has
a snap to close it over the other flaps. It was specially made for
the coins it held. I know nothing of its prior history other than
a report that it was shown in Chicago in 1920 at a numismatic
convention.

Whether Sam Brown or someone else had it made or not would be
speculation on my part but Colonel Green would not have had it
made as he had so many numismatic and other collectibles of real
importance and did no special mounting other than having acetate
holders for paper money in standard loose leaf binders and standard
Wayte Raymond coin holders.

The original contents of the case consisted of the five Liberty
head 1913 nickels, a 1913 Type I Indian head nickel without the F
initial of the designer, a regular 1913 Type I Indian head nickel,
and the copper composition Type II 1913. The three pieces in the
holder are apparently legitimate and added to make the 1913 Liberty
Heads appear legitimate."

George Fuld examined Newman's 1913 coin holder in 1960 at his
vault.  He remembered it as having only six spaces, so I asked
Eric for confirmation and to learn if there was a second case.

Eric writes: "The case is in our possession and has been for 65
years. It was exhibited with the five 1913 Liberty Head Nickels
when they were assembled a couple of years ago. It now contains
the original normal uncirculated 1913 Indian Head Type II nickel
and the unique uncirculated copper composition 1913 Indian Head
Type II nickel.

The copper piece has darkened somewhat over the 65 years it has
been on hand and has been in an acid free manilla envelope during
that period.  The case remains in nice condition. It has four
openings in the top row and four openings in the bottom row, each
row having the original cellulose acetate sliders to cover the
coin openings on the top and bottom of each row. The sliders have
not noticeably deteriorated.  I do not recall seeing another coin
case constructed in that form. If there are other questions your
readers may have I will try to answer them. Keep your E-Sylum as
a great stimulant to numismatic inquiry, reports, responses and
research."

  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