Q. David Bowers
"Except for a beer joint, the town was locked up tight. The only rooms available-were atop this noisy alcohol dispensary. We took them. A problem concerned the coins and antiques in the trunk. Most of the coins we carted to the room, but some had to remain in the car as did the bulky antique pieces, which included some rare cameo glass, an Alfred Rich specialty. Somehow we found the keeper of the garage keys. For a special consideration he opened up, stored the car, and agreed to let us out early Sunday morning.
"We woke to a beautiful sunny Sunday, white carpet as far as the eye could see and the trees covered with fresh snow as well. That afternoon we arrived in Cleveland. Enroute we had to remove our coats, our jackets, and our ties, for it got very warm. In our hotel rooms we tuned in on an exhibition baseball game. Bob Feller was pitching for the home team against the New York Giants. It was just before the season's opening. Well, would you believe it, but that evening, taking a stroll before bedtime, it turned so cold that a coat was needed for comfort?
"There was a big fuss when we arrived in Davenport, Iowa. Loyd Gettys, of Davenport, who later became president of the American Numismatic Association, and V. Leon Belt, of Waterloo, Iowa, also later to be president of the ANA, were a couple of the big guns we met, and Ted Hammer, who put out a coin column, helped things run smoothly.
"Then it was on to the convention. That's when I met Sol Kaplan. On the return trip, Sol joined us until we arrived in Chicago. We had a delightful trip, and my friend, Al Slesinger, who was a lover of the opera and who was familiar with much of the music, entertained us with one aria after another. When Sol would later write to me, he would always end with 'regards to the fat boy and the musician.' Ben Rich was a bit on the heavy side.
"From this casual meeting an association between Sol Kaplan and myself grew into a very profitable one for both of us, eventually developing into a meaningful friendship."
After the commemorative boom had run its course, large quantities were available on the market. Sometime in the early 1940s Abe entered a joint venture involving Oregon commemorative half dollars. Earlier he had acquired a considerable holding of these from Wayte Raymond, who had been distributor for various issues and who had numerous unsold pieces. In particular, many 1938sets were held by Abe Kosoff's partnership, which purchased them for $6 per set of three coins. "There did not seem, to me, to be too many of these sets around," Abe Kosoff later wrote.
'T0 determine just how many and to further solidify our position, it was decided to offer to buy1938 Oregon sets. Before we knew it, we were involved. We put a finger into the water but soon we were over our heads.
"There was a fine gentleman in Minnesota, the Reverend Elias Rasmussen, who traded in coins and with whom I had become very friendly. Rasmussen asked if I would buy 100 sets. The price then was about $8.50 or $9. I bought them for the joint venture. He had another group of 100 at the same price, did I want them? I did. Then came a third 100 and a fourth batch of the same number. I am not going to name names, for the matter has long been forgotten, but my partner in the joint venture was in business for himself, and Rasmussen wasn't even buying directly. There was another midwestern dealer in between who didn't know what Rasmussen was doing with the coins (I hope!)."
Eventually, Abe Kosoff and his partner agreed to sell their holdings to Sol Kaplan, at which time a shortage of pieces was discovered-some had disappeared-"the box must have been misplaced." Apparently, Abe Kosoff suspected that his associate in the venture pilfered them and sold them back to the partnership through the midwestern dealer and Rasmussen route!
After Auction Sale No.1 had been completed, Julius Guttag asked Abe Kosoff if he would be interested in selling his numismatic library.
"Of course, I was delighted. He wanted an advance of $500, which by now I was in a position to make. He cautioned me that he had already approached another dealer who had traveled up to White Plains Road where the books were stored in an old barn that had been on the family farm years back. The dealer told Julius he couldn't advance the $500. In fact, he didn't think the whole library would fetch that sum.
"I told Julius I would send him a check for $500, and if the books didn't bring enough he could re-fund the difference. I then arranged to have the books delivered to my 'headquarters,' the rear of Alfred Rich & Sons antique shop at 122 East 57th Street.
"I catalogued Sale No.2 with one book on the showcase, one on a bent elbow, etc. The first day I catalogued six books. When I got to the sixth I had read parts of 5, and number 6 was too interesting to put down!
"O. Rundle Gilbert, who is still at it, was one of the few available auctioneers. Scott sold only for the Morgenthau Galleries. Thomas Elder held only his own catalogue sales. I imported Sam Kabealo from Youngstown, Ohio, and Sam did his usual fine job. Later he was to move to Pasadena, California.
"Well, Julius was so pleased he offered me his Latin American collection for which Edgar H. Adams had prepared a handsome, profusely illustrated book (and of the 1,000 printed, he gave many away and still had some 800 left!). The collection included 20th century Mexico, 16th century Peru, 19th century Colombia, etc.-these on one tray, and so on, all a mess, many trays containing thousands of coins.
"I recall a well-known Philadelphia dealer watching me sort the coins. 'Why don't you put them all in a sack and sell them by weight?' he asked. Well, Julius Guttag deserved better than that.
"We ran sections of the Latin American coins in 10 different auction sales. His Civil War tokens were handled with equal care as was his collection of obsolete bank notes, some 7,500 pieces. Julius Guttag was the father of National Coin Week and in the annals of numismatic history he has made an indelible mark."
In Abe Kosoff Remembers, the author related some anecdotes about Guttag:
"Fred Boyd told me that one day he and Wayte Raymond were standing outside of Tom Elder's place talking to Burdette G. Johnson of St. Louis, when Guttag strolled up. A sale was due to begin upstairs at Elder's in half an hour. 'Why did you bother coming all the way from St. Louis?' Guttag inquired of Johnson. 'Now that I'm here you might as well go home!'
"Before going upstairs, the trio conspired to make Julius pay 'through the nose.' Whenever Julius raised his hand, one, two, or all three would jump into the bidding. Boyd told me he recalled that they got only one coin they didn't want, but Guttag paid handsomely for his purchases. It is said that Elder actually smiled most of the after-noon. For those who knew Elder, this was really something."