BOOK REVIEW: JOHN J. FORD AND THE FRANKLIN HOARD

Karl V. Moulton's Ford/Franklin book was recieved this afternoon (Monday), shipped media mail, signature required from Congress AZ. I'd ordered it at $250 pre-publication price Jan 14 right after previewing the prepared manuscript at Orlando FUN.

Well-packed although I wonder if the thin shrink wrap rather than a plastic bag will keep the book safe from the irregular Midwest wet weather. 8 lbs and almost as hefty as QDB's 10 lbs Gold Rush history book and just about as thick but slightly smaller in dimensions. Binding adequate if book is handled properly. I thought it a bit slight until I compared it with QDB's slightly larger Gold Rush book and noted the binding similarity. A dust cover to support the massive book would have been nice but would have added considerable expense assuming the printer could even have provided one.

Profusely illustrated and the numerous excellent plates dominate the book although there is plenty of fascinating text . Some interesting facts immediately stand out in casual perusal such as Paul Franklin serving as a US Army tower machine gunner at Dachau concentration camp while guarding German prisoners of war and meeting a imprisoned German dentist who put him on the track of making gold forgeries.

Those readers who knew John Ford and tend to be older will be pleased by the size of the text and the ease of reading the numerous often confidential Ford correspondence .

Money well spent - indeed I'd gladly pay $350 for it which may be the post publication price - I dunno. . Only the impending Long Beach coin show prevents me from diving into the volume this week. It appears to be a fascinating read.

Accompanying the book was a mint condition Henry Clifford 1982 Bowers & Ruddy auction catalogue.

At first I thought that perhaps the auction catalogue (of which I already have several copies ) was to keep the massive book from damage in shifting within in the shipping box but it then dawned on me that it is a cross-reference to the book as some of the fantasies referenced in the book were sold in the 1982 Clifford sale.

I knew Henry Clifford personally and visited him at his downtown LA law office and Rose Bowl area Pasadena home. I personally attended the Henry Clifford sale in Los Angeles in 1982 and sat to the right rear of JJF in the audience. John sat in the left front row right next to an elderly (80's?) well-dressed petite man whom JJF appeared to be advising during the sale. This elderly man bought nearly all or all of the questionable ingots and pioneer gold pieces in the sale, apparently at JJF's urging. It was quite obvious that JJF either wanted to keep the fantasies off the numismatic market or to "bury" them in another wealthy collector's collection .

To read an earlier E-Sylum article, see: AN UPDATE ON MOULTON'S FRANKLIN HOARD BOOK (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n21a09.html)

TOKEN, MEDAL AND POLITICAL AUCTION

Presidential Coin & Antique Co., Inc.'s Auction Eighty-Three of Tokens, Medals and Political items will be held in conjunction with Whitman's Baltimore Coin & Currency Convention at the Baltimore Convention Center, June 20-23, 2013.

Hardcopies $6 - contact Joe Levine at Jlevine968@aol.com or view the catalog online here .

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