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THEODORE GRAHAM WEAR JR. (1902-1974)On the Numismatic Bibliomania Society Facebook group, Marcus Davis posted photos of some recent library acquisitions including Coin Collecting in a Nutshell by Ted G. Wear. Kerry Wetterstrom commented,"I don't think I've ever heard of Ted G. Wear before now. A pseudonym perhaps?" Well, I'd heard of him and had a couple of his books in my library, but didn't know anything about him. I passed the question along to E-Sylum Feature Writer and American Numismatic Biographies author Pete Smith, who submitted this article. Thanks for the detective work! -Editor
Ted G. Wear
Theodore Graham Wear Jr. (1902-1974)
Ted G. Wear wrote three books on numismatic topics.
Wear was born in Joplin, Missouri, on September 23, 1902. His parents were Theodore Graham Wear (1865-1935) and Marie Price Dawson (1875-1954). They were divorced in 1909 on grounds of abandonment and incompatibility. She had gone to California and told her husband she did not wish to return. In 1910, Ted Jr. was living with his mother and grandmother in Topeka, Kansas. Wear attended Columbia University for two years and graduated from the University of Kansas. He began working as a reporter for The Topeka State Journal in 1925. He covered topics of the theater, movies, business and the railroads. He was promoted to city editor in 1954. He was married to Verna Anne McCue on August 28, 1930. The 1930 Census showed her working in advertising for a dry goods store. I suspect they were both divorced and remarried. Wear retired from the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel and served with the New York Selective Service system in the 1950's and into the 1960's. His draft card shows that he was 6' 1" tall and weighed 185 pounds. He worked in New York as a free-lance television writer and public relation writer. 
He joined the ANA in May 1963 as member 49688 and promptly donated a copy of his book to the library. The Numismatist (February 1964) carried a review of his 1963 book Coin Collecting in a Nutshell. "Another of the run of the mill books which offers little new information on coins and collecting. The book does attempt a chatty fictionalized lightness but it does not quite come off. The subject would have fared better with more straight prose. Of little use to the coin collector with experience, it may appeal to the layman who has no knowledge of the subject." Perhaps this is why Ted G. Wear is not a well known numismatic author. Wear promoted his book with interviews for newspapers and spoke to a local coin club. However, I found no references to him as a coin collector or an active club member. He died in New York City in July of 1974. I did not find a published obituary. I had the Ancient Coins title and I'm pretty sure I had Nutshell, too. But I don't recall having Strange Moneys of the World. To paraphrase Will Rogers, I've rarely met a book I didn't like, at least a little. Every author brings a new perspective and arrangement, highlighting different aspects of the topic. But not all books are 'keepers'. Smartypants Dennis Tucker added this comment to Facebook. -Editor
"It's hard enough collecting coins in the suburbs. I can't imagine collecting them in a nutshell."
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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