BUILDING THE LILLY COLLECTION, CONTINUED

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V19 2016 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 19, Number 31, July 31, 2016, Article 17

In a series of recent blog posts, Harvey Stack wrote about his family's role in helping form the Josiah K. Lilly Collection. Here's the sixth installment. -Editor

In the last few months of 1953 and into the first half of 1954 there was much excitement and planning in the numismatic hobby. This was because the collection of King Farouk of Egypt was being cataloged to be sold in Cairo in the spring of 1954. At Stack's we were very busy preparing the Anderson-Dupont and Davis Graves catalogs for our pending auctions. All this kept the numismatic press busy, and public interest in the sales in Cairo, and our in New York was very high as a result of much new material on the market.

In early spring 1954, Josiah K Lilly made one of his semi-annual stops in New York and as was customary, he stopped in to visit at Stack's. He inquired what was happening with the coins in Cairo, and what new things had we uncovered to add to his collection. He was happy to examine the Schermerhorn Collection of Double Eagles, ($20 gold). He liked the overall quality and noticed that a few were still missing. We informed him that we were seeking the others, which were primarily in the Saint-Gaudens series.

We discussed how the banks in Europe had many U.S. $20 gold still buried in their vaults, and spoke of our concern that many previous rare dates might be part of these hoards. We advised Mr. Lilly, as we did other collectors, that they should not jump to buy these "rarer dates," as it was possible that a quantity could suddenly appear on the market. Mr. Lilly agreed. We billed him for the Schermerhorn Collection, and he said he would be patient.

Next we reviewed the foreign gold coins we had assembled. But we weren’t done! Mr. Lilly asked, “Since I am now adding the U.S. double eagles to my gold coin collection, what about the other denominations?" We spent an hour explaining the other denominations and he expressed interest in expanding his United States gold collection.

"I would prefer if you could find some of the other U.S. coin series, as partial sets or even complete denominations, as you did years ago with Louis Eliasberg, King Farouk, and others we talked about. I could get a good head start, as I know that there are some sets of these in existence. Is it possible?" Mr. Lilly asked.

Earlier we had spoken about our good fortune in getting for outright purchase, the coins in the Davis-Graves and Anderson Dupont collections. We had told Mr. Lilly how those two acquisitions had precluded our attendance at the Cairo sale.

We then showed him the sets of gold coins from the Anderson-Dupont collection that we were in the process of cataloging for a fall auction. From that collection, we had four (4) different complete sets of lower denomination U.S. gold coins. Each set was housed in beautiful leather boxes, lined with deep purple velvet, as they were when we bought the collection. Each coin from each issue and mint were systematically stored side by side; just opening the boxes was a dazzling experience. !!!

Looking at the sets, examining them carefully was like seeing the "crown jewels of numismatics." Mr. Lilly was pleased with what he saw, it would meet his needs not to have to try to assemble these beautiful, rare and popular series at one time. Of course he inquired, "How much for the four sets?" We responded " $ 50,000." He looked up at us with a twinkle in his eye and said, "I will take them." For those who want to consider the deal he got, prices were far lower in the 1950s, and many of the coins he acquired would now be five, six, or seven figure coins on the 2016 coin market. My, how coins have grown in value.

After this transaction was completed, Mr. Lilly asked: "Now that I own the $1, $2.50, $3, $4 and almost a full set of $20, how do I gather the $5 and $10 gold sets?” We told him the story of our purchase of the Col. E.H.R. Green Collection from the Chase Bank in 1943-1944 and the $5 and $10 gold coins it contained. From this vast hoard we were able to make virtually complete sets of these denominations that we sold to King Farouk at the time. We also were able to assemble virtually complete sets of $5 and $10 gold coins for Clifford T. Weihman, (who was considered “the olive oil king”) and who still had his coins.

Mr. Lilly, with a smile on his face said " Well maybe he has some left for me!" We all laughed and told him that we would investigate. He thanked us for our help in achieving his goals from when he first walked into our shop to talk about “Pirate Gold.” He also expressed his gratitude for our assistance and expertise as he expanded his collection into other series. To get such a compliment from such a dedicated collector warms my heart to this day.

We arranged for a delivery and set a date in May to hand carry his coins to him and to visit "Eagle’s Nest" again.

What a buy! It's never a bad thing to have deep pockets in any era. When collections come to market, few are in the position to purchase them en masse. Great acquisition. -Editor