RARE COL. GREEN NUMISMATIC LITERATURE OFFERED

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V20 2017 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 20, Number 31, July 30, 2017, Article 3

On July 28, 2017 Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers emailed an announcement of a special offering of rare numismatic literature at the upcoming ANA convention. -Editor

In partnership with Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers, Stack's Bowers Galleries is pleased to showcase Numismatic Literature relating to the magnificent collection of Colonel E.H.R. Green as part of their August 2017 Official Auction of the ANA World's Fair of Money in Denver, Colorado. This group of seven lots will be offered in Session I, commencing at 5:00 PM on August 1, 2017.

Offered are books, inventories and appraisals, including F.C.C. Boyd's extensive original appraisal of the Colonel E.H.R. Green Collection and the famous photographic record of Colonel Green's collections of United States quarter eagles, half eagles and eagles—a three-volume set of great rarity. In addition to their connection with Colonel E.H.R. Green, the items feature associations to important numismatic figures like M.L. Beistle, F.C.C. Boyd, Waldo Newcomer, and Morton Stack. These are historic volumes of superb research value and all were once in the libraries of either the Stack family or John J. Ford, Jr. A unique opportunity for the numismatic literature collector!

The seven numismatic literature items featured in this email were acquired for their specific association with Colonel E.H.R. Green, a numismatic character of particular interest to collectors. Green was not only one of the great collectors of the 20th-century, but he was also a man with a fascinating back story who lived a colorful life. Some brief biographical notes are included in the sale catalogue, but like many famous numismatists, his story is worthy of further exploration.

Here are excerpts from the catalog with links to the full listings. -Editor

[Green, Colonel Edward Howland Robinson]. Boyd, F.C.C. Appraisal of the Colonel E.H.R. Green Estate Collection of Coins, Medals & Tokens, and Paper Money. New York City. F.C.C Boyd, Appraiser, (1937).

Original red cloth-backed stiff brown card covers. 35.5 by 45.5 cm. (2), 442 leaves of original carbon typescript on pre-printed sheets, ruled in blue, with pencil computations. Front and back covers neatly detached, otherwise Fine with all interior pages intact. Of the highest importance as a contemporary record of one of the greatest American collections, accomplished by another of the greatest collectors of the early 20th Century.

The son of financier Hetty Green, popularly known as the "Witch of Wall Street," Colonel E.H.R. ("Ned") Green (1868-1936) spent astonishing sums in the 1920s and 1930s on his hobbies. Arthur H. Lewis's biography of Green, The Day They Shook the Plum Tree, tells the remarkable story of the miserly mother and her profligate son, who, upon Hetty's death in 1916, indulged his enormous appetite for yachts, coins, stamps, jewels, orchids, and exactly the sorts of women one assumes Hetty warned him about at length. The average annual income in the United States in 1916, when Hetty Green died, was a bit over $700; in 1936, when Col. Green died, it was something over $1,700. Lewis estimates that Col. Green spent as much as $3 million a year on his various pastimes. He vies with Egypt's King Farouk as perhaps the most eccentric coin collector of the twentieth century.

The Fabled Photographic Record of the Colonel Green Collections of United States Quarter Eagles, Half Eagles, & Eagles

Morton M. Stack's personal set of this monumental photographic record, with his name stamped in gilt on an inset leather label at the base of each front cover. Affixed to the rear pastedowns are the printed labels of B.A. Martin, the official Stack's special edition binder. Colonel Green's remarkable collection of United States gold coins by variety, including many pieces from the famed Waldo Newcomer collection, remains one of the finest ever formed. The three volumes present here posthumously record his front-line collection in each of the series depicted. Taken around the time the coins were sold, in 1943 and 1944, to His Majesty the King of Egypt, these well-produced photographs continue to be extremely significant and particularly important for establishing provenance. A number of Colonel Green / King Farouk coins passed into the hands of John Jay Pittman, Harry W. Bass, Jr., D. Brent Pogue and other major collectors. Only a few copies of each of the above volumes were prepared and, to our knowledge, a complete set has come to auction only twice before.

Beistle's Register, Deluxe Leatherbound Edition

Beistle, M.L. A Register Of Half Dollar Die Varieties and Sub-Varieties. Being a Description of Each Die Variety Used in the Coinage of United States Half Dollars as Far as the Issues are Known, Covering the United States Mint at Philadelphia, and Branches at New Orleans, San Francisco, Carson City and Denver. Shippensburg, 1929.

8vo, original full brown flexible morocco leather, gilt; all page edges gilt. xxxiii, (1), 261, (1) pages, interleaved; frontispiece portrait of the author, autographed in ink; portrait plate of David Proskey; primer chart; 7 fine photographic plates. Minor damage to front pastedown. Near fine.

No. 1 of only 135 deluxe interleaved copies issued with photographic plates. Inscribed in black ink on the front flyleaf: "To Col. E.H.R. Green, In appreciation of your encouragement which has helped the author make this book more complete and accurate, Sincerely, (signed) M.L. Beistle, Shippensburg, Pa., Sept 20th 1929." Only the deluxe edition featured actual photographic plates, the regular copies including less expensive halftones. Prior to the 1967 publication of the Overton work on early half dollars, Martin Luther Beistle's volume was the primary reference on the subject. Bill Bugert published an article in the January-March 2008 issue of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society's journal, The Asylum, on the publication process of Beistle's work, which was partially underwritten by Col. Green and for which F.C.C. Boyd provided advice on promotion and printing. This is arguably the single most desirable copy of this reference.

A Supplementary Green Estate Appraisal by F.C.C. Boyd With His Expenses for the Appraisal

An interesting supplementary record of this fabled collection, being the appraisal of a part of Green's holdings kept at the Chase National Bank vault in New York (most of the collection was held at the First National Bank in Boston). One hundred eighty-four items, with a face value of $367.70 were assigned a "Market Value" of $1,338.57. It is a rather prosaic accumulation, though including two "Assay Bar[s]" valued at $367.30 and $368.75. The expense sheets are perhaps more interesting, apparently recording the costs involved in an appraisal of the main collection. Headed E.H.R. Green Estate / Contents of Vault 1st Nat Bank Boston Mass. / Re Coins, Medals and Paper Money, they total approximately $1,800. The lion's share went to J. Barnett and J. Wade, who each received $300 "salary" payments on January 24 and January 30. The remainder of the charges appear to be travel expenses incurred by Boyd over a nine-month period.

Inventory Records Pertaining to The Colonel E.H.R. Green Collection and its Formation

[Green, Colonel Edward Howland Robinson]. Estate Records Pertaining to the Col. Green Collection. Typewritten cover title: Estate of Edward H.R. Green. Black Covered Notebook (Notebook Title Elbe 814A.) Contains Three Loose Typewritten Lists of Coins.

A 24-page listing of coins in the Green Collection, formerly in the Waldo Newcomer Collection, titled at the top of the first page, Central & South American Gold Coins Belonging to Waldo Newcomer, Baltimore, Md. This includes many important pieces, including: Argentina 8 Escudos, 1842, fine, Reeded, Excessively Rare; Bolivia, 1834 Potosi, Unc., Serrated, Only known specimen...; Bolivia, 1 Onza, 1868 Potosi, Unc. Br., Lettered, Probably unique. Williams knew it only in silver; Brazil, 1,000 Reis, 1818, Unc., Ornamented; Brazil, 4 Escudos, 1749, O/S, E. Fine, Ornamented, First coin struck at Chilean Mint, exceedingly rare; Chile, 5 Pesos, 1875, Proof, Ornamented, Unique... formerly owned by the Chilean Ambassador at Paris; Costa Rica, 4 Escudos, 1837, R, E. Fine, Reeded, Probably Unique; Mexico, 4 Escudos, O/M, E Fine, Serrated, Schulman says "Only one I have ever seen"; Mexico, 8 Escudos, 1823, Unc, Plain, A very rare Proclamation piece; Porto Rica, 2 Scudos (?), 1747, Fine, Reeded, Gold Proclamation piece; etc.

[Green, Colonel Edward Howland Robinson]. Estate Record of Colonel Green's Latin American Gold Coins. Typewritten cover title: Estate of Edward H.R. Green. Black Covered Steel Rimmed Notebook (Notebook Title: Stanite R 701) Contains Record of South American Gold Coins. American Gold Coins.

A tabular arrangement, recording Col. Green's extensive acquisitions of Latin American gold coins. Organized by country, date, denomination, and mint, each entry comprises the supplier's initials, acquisition date, and cost. A number of pages contain no entries. Dealers listed are WR (Wayte Raymond?), JAK, HC (Henry Chapman?), and RK. Most acquisitions appear to have been made in the 1920s or early 1930s. While the coins themselves are not physically described, numerous rarities appear to be present, and many three figure and occasional four figure prices are recorded. The inventory appears to comprise a complete acquisition record of Green's Mexican, Argentinean, Bolivian, Brazilian, Chilean, Colombian, Costa Rican, Cuban, Ecuadorian, Guatemalan, Haitian, Honduran, Paraguayan, Peruvian, Salvadoran, and Venezuelan gold coins.

Arranged by mints, the remarkable Waldo Newcomer collection, the "most complete collection ... ever brought together" of half eagles and varieties is described in detail; eagles are then similarly listed, followed by quarter eagles, double eagles, "the only complete set in existence" of three dollar pieces (including the famous 1870-S, called "uncirculated" and offered at $2000 by itself), and one dollar pieces. It concludes with a listing of 53 "Individual Prices on Some of the Greater Rarities ... based on recent auction records and records made at private sales" totaling $50,325. Each section of the collection features entertaining if overblown introductory text written by B. Max Mehl, but the descriptions are practically identical to those found in the surviving inventory of the Newcomer collection, and the prices vary but rarely.

Mehl states that "The coins here listed will be sold separately at the prices marked on this list if the collection is not sold as a whole." There does not appear to be a price listed for the entire collection, nor is there any indication when Colonel Green acquired it en bloc. However, certain sections of the offering have summarized prices noted in their introductory texts, an example being the "Complete Set of Denver Mint Half Eagles" which are "Listed at a cost of $37.25 while the face value alone is $35.00."

Almost as interesting as the coin listings themselves is the insight one gets into B. Max Mehl as a marketer and personality. A truly fascinating and historic volume that appeared in Part I of the John J. Ford Reference Library sale in 2004, in what we believe to have been its only public sale until now. It realized an impressive $4,600 those dozen years ago, commensurate with its numismatic historical value and charm.