HOWARD, MCCANN AND SWITT

This week I added F. Leland Howard and George A. McCann to American Numismatic Biographies and updated Israel Switt.

Howard, F(rank) Leland (b. 8/21/1907 d. 6/25/1991)

Born in Hodgenville, Kentucky. Graduated from University of Kentucky. Received Ph.D. from University of Virginia. Economics instructor at the University of Virginia. Married to Edith Owen Sisk with three daughters.

He began working at the mint in 1933. Superintendent of the Silver Unit of the Mint Bureau. Appointed assistant to the Director of the Mint in 1939. Acting Mint Director in 1944. He took an active role in attempts to recover 1933 Double Eagles sold to collectors.

He served as director of the Treasury Office of Domestic Gold and Silver Operations from 1961 until his retirement in 1968. He was awarded the department's highest honor, the Alexander Hamilton award. Howard died at Martha Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is buried at Columbia Gardens Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

McCann, George A(loysious) (b. 7/3/1895 d. 2/19/1956)

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of James and Mary McCann. For thirty years he resided in Westmont, New Jersey. Married to Jennie M. Traynor with a son.

In early years he worked for his father as a broom maker. Weigh Master at the Mint in 1920. Appointed Cashier of the Mint on March 19, 1934, and served until 1940.

The Secret Service suspected that McCann provided 1933 Double Eagles to Israel Switt but charges were never filed. In 1941 he was convicted of thefts of silver from the Mint and sentenced to a year and a day in prison.

He died at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and was buried at New St. Mary's Cemetery in Bellmawr, New Jersey.

Switt, Israel (b. 9/27/1895 d. 1/18/1990)

Born in Philadelphia. Brother-in-law of Edward Silver. Married to Elizabeth Gross in 1920. Parents of Joan Langbord. Philadelphia jeweler. He was accused of acquiring as many as 25 1933 double eagles from the Mint illegally. His family sought legal title to ten remaining coins but lost the court battle in 2011. They also lost an appeal in 2016. The ten coins were shown at the Denver ANA World's Fair of Money in 2006.

Switt is buried at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Trevose, Pennsylvania.

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
THE FAROUK 1933 DOUBLE EAGLE (https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n21a24.html)
THE FAROUK 1933 DOUBLE EAGLE, PART 2 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n22a20.html)
THE FAROUK 1933 DOUBLE EAGLE, PART 3 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n24a17.html)
FAROUK 1933 DOUBLE EAGLE BRINGS $18.9 MILLION (https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n24a16.html)

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