NEW RESEARCH ON THE COIN COLLECTORS KLINE

A. C. Kline and John W. Kline have been thought to be one in the same person since 1876 when E. J. Attinelli published this conflation of personae in Numisgraphics on page 60. The most informative study ever published on this was by George Turner and Herbert A. Trenchard, "John William Kline: America's First Philatelic Author" Philatelic Literature Review, Vol. 42, No. 1, Whole No. 158, 1st Quarter (1993) : 24-41. Four and a half years later Joel J. Orosz published his study The Curious Case of the Coin Collectors Kline (Bowers & Merena Galleries, Inc., August, 1997).

At the current state of the research the identification of A. C. Kline as the wife of John W. Kline is conclusive and seems certain based on interesting anecdotes published in the Philadelphia Inquirer March 21, 1878, which tells the story of John W. Kline, who was arrested in March 1878 because he passed a forged judgment note dated January 12, 1877 purportedly signed by himself and his wife A. C. Kline and witnessed by David C. Wilson, a lad. The note was forged for a $300 loan from Edward V. Lansdale of 52 North 13th Street Philadelphia who later on discovered he was hoodwinked. The verdict in the case was against John W. Kline who was held on $2,500 bail.

Although John W. Kline's wife bears the name A.C. Kline, it does not necessarily defend and support the theory that the coin auctions sold by the name A. C. Kline were those of Mr. & Mrs. John W. Kline. What the court case in 1878 reveals is that John W. Kline was a conniving schemer who practiced duplicity. This opens the question of the possibility of a coincidence of two people who used the initials A.C. Kline both living in Philadelphia.

To read the complete article, see: KLINE, Jr., JOHN WILLIAM (sites.google.com/site/numismaticmallcom/encyclopedic-dictionary-of-numismatic-biographies/kline-john-william)

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