Q. David Bowers
"Then came the rumors. One stated that Farouk, in exile, had hired a prominent firm of attorneys to obtain an injunction to halt the sale, while another rumor suggested that Farouk had become a Turkish national and the Turkish government would seek to obtain the collection. Still another rumor had it that attorneys had obtained court orders in several countries, including the United States, to stop purchasers at customs entry point and to confiscate the coins in his behalf.
"For every rumor there were several denials Denials from Egypt, denials from several source in England, denials from the United States.
"Then there were more rumors. It was suggested that collectors or dealers of the Jewish faith would not be permitted to enter Cairo or that Jews would be permitted but only under special visas which would be issued if they applied as Christian Scientists. Cairo denied these rumors and assured us there was absolutely no truth to them, that WE would be welcomed to Cairo, that there would be no trouble in obtaining the regular visas.
"Some more rumors ... Every coin had a string attached. A reserved bid on each lot was being determined, and these reserves would be so high that few coins would be worth buying. And, that there were many individuals in New York City, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, and other places particularly movie stars, writers, and others-who owned blocked funds in Europe. These were funds that could not be brought into the United States, These people were making arrangements in Europe that would permit the use of these blocked funds for purchases in Cairo. Price would be a secondary consideration-they might just as well buy coins then try to bring the money back to the United States.
"Well, we knew a number of such people ourselves. Maybe that angle was worth checking into-were they really thinking along those lines? Every day there was more confusion, more angles, Late in November 1953 we received a letter from Hans Schulman-more rumors-he had heard from a source in Rome that the Turkish government was representing Farouk and trying to stop the auction sale from taking place, and that it intended to seize any purchases that buyers took out of Egypt.
Schulman had been caught in a most awkward position when Farouk abdicated. Farouk owed him a very substantial sum in payment for coins, some of which Schulman still had to pay other sources for. It did not seem likely that the new government was going to assume the playboy king's debts. Schulman then let it be known that he was going to warn all potential purchasers of his intention to attach their purchases to satisfy the king's debt which arose from the transactions involving those coins. He urged the potential purchasers to write to the Egyptian government suggesting that it work out some arrangement with Schulman so that his debt would be removed.
"By this time my good friend and colleague, Sol Kaplan of Cincinnati, Ohio, had become involved in the matter, and we asked him to write to the Egyptian government to consider Schulman's claim. He did. And undoubtedly others did as Nell, for eventually an arrangement was made. Cairo and Schulman began negotiating, and finally Schulman was permitted to use his credit against purchases in the auction sale.
"Schulman then worked out arrangements with several dealers. He would buy coins for them and Jay with his credits. If he had to pay more than the dealer wanted to pay, Schulman would absorb the difference, which made it nice all around. The buyer got the coin at his price, and Schulman got some of his money back.
'There were more rumors. One claimed that the auction would be delayed until April. Another implied that the United States coin offering would be canceled. I sent a cable to Baldwin in London, and soon the rumors were denied. In the meantime I was still trying to buy the entire collection, but not with much chance of success. I finally gave up the idea and placed announcements and advertisements in trade journals stating that I was going to Cairo and would handle bids for interested persons.
"There were still more rumors. On January 11, 1954 I heard that Farouk had a definite order to stop the sale. An order from whom to whom? On January 12th Sol Kaplan telephoned to say that he heard that the Bank of England was buying the entire coin collection. On January 13th, a letter from Hans Schulman advised me that there was a big fight in Cairo between the finance department, which needed the money, and the military junta which despised the British and, therefore, Sotheby and Baldwin, and wanted to call off the sale.
"More from Schulman-they were going to withdraw from the sale any lot which consisted of more than one coin (which would take care of almost the entire catalogue!). Another letter from Schulman on the same day-the Egyptian government is planning to remove a group of coins from the sale but has not decided yet. This taking out would be by them bidding up to the top. It would include all the United States items and paper money. Still more from Schulman-a New York stamp dealer has been advising Cairo about the stamp collection. A member of the firm has just returned from Cairo and says that the military might bid up all the lots in the stamp sale (which was scheduled to take place prior to the coin sale) and would probably do the same in the coin sale. Still another rumor- Farouk, who was in Italy, and other Italians are forming a combine to buy back as many lots as possible. The sale will definitely go through, but it may be only a token sale. Still another-an Egyptian official was bringing some of the valuable objects in the various sales to Washington for a publicity reception. All these rumors did very little to clarify the situation. We got the impression that Americans were being discouraged from going to Cairo. Whoever planned that succeeded in part, for some of the big names in American numismatics stayed at home. A number of us, however, decided to go, and all of us later agreed that it was an unforgettable experience. For me it remains one of the highlights of my career.