BILL HENDERSON SUPPER CLUB

I enjoyed reading Dr. Larry Lee's comments on the Bill Henderson Supper Club. I thought I would share my recollections of one of their dinners.

I spent the first week of June 2013 in Colorado Springs. I was there to do research in the American Numismatic Association Library. Mostly I was making notes on auction appearances of the 1792 half disme. I had an interest in that topic at the time.

I was staying at the Econo Lodge Motel on Nevada Street, across from the Hallenbeck Coin Gallery. Shortly after I got to town, I walked over there. I was amused to see they were using a Yap stone as a door stop. Tom was out of town but Ken Hallenbeck was there.

After we talked for a while, Ken invited me to join the Bill Henderson Supper Club (HSC) later in the week. He disclosed the secret location. Perhaps I was supposed to say, "I'm a friend of Bill," but I may be confused with something else. Speaking of Bill, while I was talking with Ken, Bill Rosenblum came in with another member from Denver. They would both be at the dinner.

I didn't take notes, but I think it was the evening of June 5, 2013, when I showed up at the secret location. A group of the members were gathering at the bar. Bill Rosenblum hit me up for $20 to pay for the dinner.

I was greeted by a white-haired woman that I may not have otherwise noticed. The last time I saw her, Mary Sauvain had black hair. Apparently, retirement caused her hair to change.

Shortly It was time to move into the dining room. I followed Dave Perkins. I had known him for at least ten years. He had been secretary/treasurer of the NBS in 2003.

There were about twenty people seated around the table. I figured that I knew about half of them. Here I was, a thousand mile from home, and four of the people at the dinner had worked for the same coin dealer. That was Gary Adkin's company, Numismatic Services, Inc., and included Ken Bressett, Phil Bressett, Mary Sauvain, and me.

There were three former presidents of the ANA at the dinner including Ken Bressett, Ken Hallenbeck, and Ed Rochette. Ed sat to my left. His health had been declining and he was no longer able to drive to the meeting. Someone else had brought him.

At one point, Ed was staring at his drinking glass. He said he was looking at the face of a cat. Sure enough, the lights overhead reflecting off the facets of the glass, had the appearance of a cat face. Ed saw that while the rest of us were talking about coins.

I understand the HSC has no officers and no rules. They have enough organizational structure to designate a moderator and topic for the discussion. This month Phil Bressett was the moderator and the topic was "small."

For many of the speakers, this represented a small coin. For someone else it meant "few" for a coin with few examples. For another it meant a small amount of time so he described a recent acquisition.

Dick Horst had been president of my local club, the Northwest Coin Club, in 1974 to 1976, before moving to Colorado. That was before I was a member. He commented that, at one time, Paul Runze from Minnesota had exhibited coins that were ten millimeters or less. In 2013, Paul Runze was my employer.

Sitting at the other side of the table was Chris Marchase. He is a grandson of the original Bill Henderson. I don't think we had met previously. I was familiar with his interest in Lesher Dollars. In 2009 he had won the Howland Wood Memorial Award for best-of-show exhibit as a first-time exhibitor. There are few of us with that distinction.

Sitting to my right was Henry Mitchell. His father, Ralph "Curley" Mitchell, was a well-known collector and author from Southern California.

I wish I had taken notes on the others who attended. Since this was membership by invitation, the people attending would be more mature in age and advanced in their numismatic experience. I suspect the ones I did not know may have been as interesting as the ones I knew.

A typical coin club has a constitution, elected officers, dues and they put on public coin shows. The Bill Henderson Supper Club does none of that. Wayne Homren mentions his monthly Numis Nova meetings that are similar social events. I think Bill Murray was involved with a similar club in San Antonio, Texas.

The Attinelli Fellowship is a dinner club on a national level focused on numismatic literature collectors. Like the HSC, attendance is by invitation only. Are there other "secret" clubs operating at a local level? Are there any successful local dinner clubs with open attendance?

Bill Henderson was born on March 30, 1916, and died on June 5, 1989. He was a veteran of the Army Air Corps during WWII. He served as mayor of Colorado Springs in 1959 to 1963 and is credited with getting the ANA headquarters located at Colorado College. His service to the ANA resulted in the Farran Zerbe Memorial Award in 1978 and inclusion in the ANA Hall of Fame.. Henderson was a student of Colorado history and collector of Colorado memorabilia. His collection of Lesher Dollars was the finest known.

I corresponded with Dr. Lee this week. He mentioned that while there was a limit of eighteen active members, there were other inactive members who have moved out of the area or are no longer able to attend. Dr. Lee is one of these inactive members. During Summer Seminar, every member can bring a guest. Those meetings bring in additional experts from around the country.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
DR. LAWRENCE LEE INTERVIEW, PART FIVE (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n50a17.html)

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