STAN KESSELMAN INTERVIEW, PART FOUR

STANLEY KESSELMAN: So, the last story I want to tell you.

GREG BENNICK: Yeah, please do. I'm just glad Harry Bass started to talk to you again. That's great.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: Oh, we were very friends. He went out with me on the first date I was with my wife.

GREG BENNICK: Really?

STANLEY KESSELMAN: Yeah. And the story with that is a personal story. I'm at 62nd Street and Park Avenue walking my first date back to her place. And she says she has to go to the bathroom, which women do a lot. And I said, we're at 62nd and Park. There's a Regency hotel. I have one of my employees stay in there. We can go up to his room and use his bathroom. And she says, all right. And she says, "I can use the bathroom in the lobby." And I said, "Yeah, go up to the room. Don't worry." So, I get on the house phone. I said, "Harry, we're coming up. I'm with this girl. She wants to use the bathroom." He says, "Come on up." So, we go up to Harry's room. The Regency is a high-class hotel. He's wearing a cashmere bathrobe. She goes and uses the bathroom. It's the first bathroom I've ever seen with a telephone in it on the wall. And comes out. I said, "This is my employee. Her name is Sharon. I'm Harry Bass." He was so sophisticated. They were talking back and forth. He knew she was not my employee. He figured that out in five minutes. I mean, he had so much more money and so much sophistication than I did.

GREG BENNICK: Yeah.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: So, we all went to Maxwell's Plum to get something to eat. And then I walked her home.

GREG BENNICK: Amazing.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: Yeah. So, he was with me when I had my first date with my present wife.

GREG BENNICK: That's great. That's great.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: And we were all very friendly for a long, long time. My last story that I can tell is when Mike Brownlee and Johnny Rowe were in St. Louis. And we're staying in a hotel that was built 100 years ago. And how they got my bed into the room was an act of physics. The bed was the size of the room. And the hotel was in a very bad neighborhood. So we go to the auction. And Brownlee and Rowe say to me, why don't we split the auction up instead of bidding against each other?

So, one of us bought the coins. And at the end of the auction, we put all the coins in a paper bag. And whatever you pull out of the paper bag is yours.

GREG BENNICK: Wow.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: So, they said, "Stanley, you go first." I said, "Fine. No big deal." I put my hand in there. I pull out a coin. All right. That's my coin. Mike Brownlee goes next. He puts his hand in the bag and pulls out a coin. Then Johnny Rowe puts his hand in the bag and pulls out a coin. I said, "Wait a second here. You guys are getting two coins for my one coin." I said, "That's not fair." And they said, "Stanley, you really figured that out, didn't you?" So, they started to laugh. And we split the bag, you know, 50-50.

GREG BENNICK: That's great.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: And then Mike Brownlee says to me, "You know, everybody's watching us at the auction. They saw us buy all the coins. You better be careful tonight. You better lock your door in the room. And we'll meet for breakfast tomorrow morning." OK. I go to the room. I have half my coins. And at 2.30 AM, there's a knock on my door. I say, "Who is it?" He says, it's the water that I ordered for my party, ice water. And there's a bottle of champagne in it. And I said, "Listen, I wasn't going to open that door for anybody at any time."I said, "Listen, I have a gun in here. I'm going to count to three. I'm going to open the door then. I'm going to shoot first and then see who you are." I'm scared out of my wits.

GREG BENNICK: Yeah.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: So, I count one. I count two. And I hear footsteps going away. So, five to 10 minutes later, I get the courage to open the door. And there's no champagne, but there's melted ice water in a big bucket.

GREG BENNICK: Wow.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: And I said, "Wow, I am so smart." Scared the hell out of me. So, I go down to breakfast, 9 in the morning. I meet Michael. And he says to me, how's my night go? I said, "Michael, you're a genius. They tried to come and get me and get my coins." And Michael says, "Do you mean the boy with the ice water that I sent?" He sent them. Scared the hell out of me, let me tell you.

About the Interviewer
Greg Bennick (www.gregbennick.com) is a keynote speaker and long time coin collector with a focus on major mint error coins. Have ideas for other interviewees? Contact him anytime on the web or via instagram @minterrors.

To watch the complete video, see:
Stanley Kesselman Interviewed for the NNP by Greg Bennick (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/638521)

To read the complete transcript, see:
Stanley Kesselman Interviewed for the NNP by Greg Bennick (Transcript) (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/638520)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
STANLEY KESSELMAN INTERVIEW, PART ONE (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n25a06.html)
STANLEY KESSELMAN INTERVIEW, PART TWO (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n26a13.html)
STANLEY KESSELMAN INTERVIEW, PART THREE (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n27a11.html)

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