Abe Kosoff: Dean of Numismatics
Q. David Bowers
"Money Talks"- from "The Numismatist," October 1962.
Beginning in the autumn of 1962, announcements were made concerning the forthcoming sale of the Lahrman Collection. ("The Numismatist," November 1962)
In the same vein, Kosoff continued:
"It is understandable, of course, that high prices will attract many new people into the field, and this is exactly what it has done. Unfortunately, a lot of these newcomers are irresponsible and play around with coins as a little extra income item.
'The responsibilities of full-time numismatists are quite different, however, and these men have had long experience and know that the only way to handle the collector to the advantage of all concerned is to study the item before they make any representations, and when they do, they must stand behind them.
"If one were to take any issue of many of these numismatic publications and make an analysis of the ridiculous assertions and representations published therein, it would prove most embarrassing. Of course, the publishers always state that censorship would be a most difficult thing, and with this I agree. However, there are ways which have been proposed in the American Numismatic Association for years, and nothing has been done about it.
"While being critical I do not mean to infer that these numismatic publications do not do more good than harm, and I want especially to commend Coin World on the marvelous progress it has made in so short a time... "
In the spring of 1962 Abe Kosoff published a booklet, An Illustrated History of United States Coins, which featured patterns and regular issues from the collection of Dr. J. Hewitt Judd. Judd, an Omaha doctor, was a long-time friend of Abe and Molly Kosoff. His collection, acquired when coins were available inexpensively, assumed vast proportions. In the Judd catalogue the pieces were offered at fixed prices. Over the next several years, the majority of the coins found new homes. Some, however, remained unsold. As the market advanced, prices on the Judd coins still in stock were moved up accordingly.