HARVEY STACK'S NUMISMATIC FAMILY, PARTS 10-11

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V21 2018 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 21, Number 6, February 11, 2018, Article 21

Harvey Stack's latest Stack's Bowers blog series focuses on growing up in a numismatic family. Here are excerpts from parts 10 and 11. -Editor

In mid 1950 Norman, who was working very closely with my father, was drafted into the Army because of the nation’s involvement in the Korea War. As both Ben and I were married at the time, we were exempt from the first draft, which took only single men. Norman had to report for service by December 1950.

That same year, Ben went to his father, Joseph, and insisted that since he was the oldest of the juniors, he should be made a partner. This wounded my Uncle Joe, especially as Norman had been drafted and went into the service. They fought about it, with Joe saying he was considering giving both Ben and Norman a partnership when Norman returned from the Army. The debate got very intense, and Ben shouted at his father and stormed out of the shop. A few months later Ben moved with his family to Las Vegas to open up a coin shop there. He wanted to open his store in Vegas, because it was a growing city, with lots of money being spent and gambled, and he felt he could do well out there. (More about Ben’s future in numismatics will be told later.)

During the same time frame, my father, Morton, fell and broke his upper arm. The break was so bad that they had to use "pins" to set it. Unfortunately the break became infected and Morton developed a form of osteomylitis that required treatment and medication three times a day. A private nurse visited him three times each day; she would remove the old bandages, clean the wound, and redress it. This was another great loss to the operation at Stack’s.

But Stack’s had not only my Uncle Joe and a dedicated staff, but also many collector and dealer friends who would come in to help out, by sorting coins, doing attributions and just being helpful. To mention a few, there was William Blaisdell, Ray Gallo, Doug Smith, Harold Bareford, Joseph Spray, Fred Knobloch, Oscar Schilke, Martin Kortjohn, and Ed Rice. Each would stop into the shop, spend a few hours and be of great help. That was the relationship the Stack family had with collectors.

Fortunately we were able to hire John Burnham (who later became curator of the Yale University coin collection) who was proficient in coins of the United States, federal as well as colonial, and also the currency of the period. We also re-engaged Hans Holzer, a European expert.

During this hectic period, we all worked very long days and on weekends when necessary, but we managed to get the work done. We still maintained the schedule we had established before our difficulties arose. I still was in charge of the shop, and I also stocked, cataloged and worked with all to maintain the pace. It wasn't easy, but it had to be done.

By early spring 1951, Morton had overcome the infection in his arm, and once again came to work daily to shoulder his responsibilities in the office.

As I wrote in an earlier series of articles, we were lucky to open a new account with Josiah K. Lilly, chairman, Eli Lilly & Co. the famous pharmacy house in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was early spring in 1951 when a well-dressed gentleman walked into our shop, looked about, and asked my father (at the counter) if we had any Spanish Colonial Doubloons in stock. He said that he had a great fondness for the sea and had spent much time reading the early history of the Spanish who came to Central and South America in the early 16th century through the 18th century. He wanted to own a "piece of gold" of the period.

Morton said he had a number of different specimens in stock, and explained to Mr. Lilly that several of the Spanish American colonies (later countries), issued coins during the colonial period, as this was a way to ship the gold they plundered from the natives of Central and South America.

Morton first showed Mr. Lilly a Portrait piece and a Cob, each denominated as 8 Escudos. He also explained that the Spanish American mints made smaller denomination in gold, such as the 4 Escudos, 2 Escudos and even 1 Escudo. Mr. Lilly was fascinated by these facts and decided to try to build a collection, From the assortment he was shown he selected 12 different representative examples. Mr. Lilly wrote a check and requested that once it cleared we send the gold coins on to him at his office. During the visit, my father introduced Mr. Lilly to Uncle Joe, and also wanted me to meet him, so I could help him in the future should he decide to continue building his collection.

Before Mr. Lilly left, we gave him a copy of Wayte Raymond's book called, "Central and South American Spanish Colonial Gold." It contained a listing of each country, mint and denomination. It did not discuss rarity, but provided a checklist that a serious collector could use to determine what was known about the series, up to the date of publication of the book.