WREN LEO CULKIN (1907-1972)

Wren Culkin was a stamp collector and stamp dealer with little involvement in numismatics before he was chosen to sell an important collection at auction.

Culkin may have been born in Omaha on March 10, 1907. His World War II draft registration form gave his date of birth as March 10, 1905. His parents were Patrick J. (1873-1960) and Jane (1870-). Patrick managed a clothing store. In about 1927, he took a job at a Los Angeles clothing store and left his wife in Omaha without financial support.

If census records could be found, they might confirm Wren's year of birth. Finding those records is not easy. For the 1910 Census, he is listed as Leo Culkin at three years old. In 1920, the family name is indexed as Culkim and Wren is twelve. In 1930, he was listed as Leo W. Culkin and twenty-three years old. In 1940 he was incorrectly indexed as Wren L. Culpin and thirty-five years old. In 1950, he is indexed as Wien L. Culkin and forty-five years old.

Culkin began collecting stamps with a bulk lot at age seven He was soon selling and trading with schoolmates. He was a stamp dealer much of his life with the Culkin Stamp Co. Also as a child, in 1921 he was a boy scout.

In 1927 he was treasurer for the Omaha chapter of Alpha Sigma Lambda fraternity. This suggests he was attending the University of Nebraska. In 1929 he was an officer in Alpha Sigma Lambda national fraternity.

He was married in 1934 to Ina Elizabeth Hirsch (1902-2000). His wife collected airmail stamps and was an award-winning exhibitor. In 1949 he had a stamp house on the family property.

In 1937, he joined the Omaha Coin Club.

During World War II he worked at an Omaha bomber plant.

He was assistant curator at the Boys Town Philamatic Center in 1954, under curator Dwight O. Barrett. Later in 1957 he took over from Barrett as curator. He served until his death in 1972 and was succeeded by Melvin D. Stark. The Philamatic center claimed to have the most complete collection of confederate currency and most complete collection of broken bank notes.

In 1964, the PhilaMatic Center joined the American Numismatic Association as club member C52202 with Wren L. Culkin as Curator.

In 1968 he served as librarian for the International Bank Note Society.

Culkin died in Omaha on November 13, 1972, and is buried at Calvary Cemetery. His cemetery records give his date of birth as 1907.

Culkin had no experience conducting an auction before taking on the sale of the massive collection of Nelson T. Thorson. Thorson was founding president of the Omaha Coin Club in 1934 and president of the American Numismatic Association 1933 to 1935.

If these sales had been conducted by a major auction company fifty years later, The Thorson collection might be better known. The Culkin sales are not available on the Newman Numismatic Portal. Dan Hamelberg provided a description of the contents of these sales.

• April 15, 1959, first Thorson library sale, 273 lots.
• May 4, 1964, second Thorson library sale, 821 lots.
• September 17, 1964, stamps, (not in Gengerke)
• October 31, 1964, Thorson U. S. and world coins, 836 lots.
• May 4, 1965, final Thorson library sale, 199 lots.
• November 1, 1965, Thorson U. S. and world coins, some U, S. currency, 1054 lots.
• October 1, 1966, State Bank Notes and U. S. currency, 1498 lots.
• November 25, 1966, Thorson U. S. and world coins, 785 lots.
• November 1, 1967, U. S. and world coins, some U. S. currency and bank notes, 843 lots.
• December 1, 1967, stamps, (not in Gengerke)
• December 28, 1968, stamps, (not in Gengerke)
• February 18, 1969, U. S. and world coins, 750 lots.
• November 29, 1969, U. S. and world coins, 545 lots
• June 13, 1970, stamps. (not in Gengerke)

The 1964 sale was advertised and promoted in The Numismatist. Thorson's name was not mentioned in the ad. There were also articles about the sales in Coin World.

The (Omaha) Evening World-Herald for November 9, 1964, had a report on the October 31 auction held with the Omaha Coin Club show. The article reported that in addition to floor bidders, there were 310 mail bids. There were eighteen bidders from eight foreign countries.

According to the newspaper, the highest price paid was $340 for "a 1799 Indian Head penny." Newspapers sometimes had a problem with coin descriptions. The auction catalog identified it as a 1799 cent: "Lot 54.  1799 Normal Date  Readable Rev.  Weak   G-VG   Est. 325.00."

The Thorson collections were massive and included jewelry, autographed photos, signed documents, firearms, Indian relics and rare smoking pipes. The Culkin sales do not account for these collections. Can any E-Sylum reader offer insight into the disposition of the rest of his collections?

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web