Most businesses used telephone numbers in their advertisements and directory listings by 1916. If you have access to US City Directories online through Ancestry.com, it is easy to check numismatic names.

In NYC 1920: Elder Coin & Curio Co., 21 West 35th St. Tel: Fitzroy 3716. Thomas L. Elder, manager. Jewelry, gems, beads, etc.

In NYC 1916: Tiffany & Co., 401- 409 Fifth Ave. Tel: Murray Hill 6000. [Store was at 37th St. then]

In Washington, DC 1917: There were telephone exchanges and numbers such as Main 2230 and Columbia 516.

In Philadelphia 1916, there seem to be two competing telephone companies as the exchange and number has a company prefix, i.e: Bell Phone Market 3176 or Lombard or Filbert exchanges. Others are listed as Keystone Phone Main 432 etc.

Henry Chapman has Philadelphia Directory listings but I did not check him out completely.

The point is - telephones were common before the 1930's. And their exchanges became famous - "Butterfield 8" and "Pennsylvania 6-500." Telephone exchanges had an identity which has been lost. With the present string of numbers, no one memorizes numbers anymore (or has to) with "contacts."

Monday afternoon I went to the bookshelf and pulled down Fixed Price Lists & Premium Paid For Lists of United States Coin Dealers 1900-1929 published by Remy Bourne in 1988. In December, 1913, Edgar Adams issued his "Catalog With Fixed Prices" identified as "No. 1." This included "Telephone 1346 Main." No other catalog illustrated in the book included a phone number.

Do the math! December 1913 was a hundred years ago. I was surprised to find this so early and apparently so far ahead of the rest of the dealer community. I was also a bit surprised to realize that it has now been 25 years since Remy published the book.

I challenge E-Sylum readers to come up with any earlier use of a phone number on a coin dealer catalog.