Q.David Bowers
Henry Chapman published a "Notice of Removal" which on September 25, 1917 stated: Owing to the large increase in my business and an ardent wish to be enabled to serve my customers in the future even better than in the past has compelled me to enlarge my facilities and I have purchased the four-story residence, No. 333 and 335 South 16th Street, northeast corner of 16th and Pine Streets, two squares west of my old address.
After nine months of rebuilding I am moving the 25th of this month into my new home, and in the new building I have three floors devoted exclusively to my numismatic business.
When all of my stock is ticketed and arranged in the five large burglar-proof safes as well as some 25 cabinets I will be able to display what I believe is the finest stock in America of ancient and modern coins of the world.
Problems still plagued the cataloguing project, and numerous letters were exchanged. On November 9, 1918, Henry Chapman wrote:
I have just returned last night from Princeton where I worked for three full days up to 10:30 at night. I got the foreign coins again catalogued. This is the third time I have done them. This time I bought a book to write the manuscript in, and it will not be lost again.
By this time the controversy concerning the cataloguing of the Garrett Collection by the Chapman brothers must have been resolved, as there is no further mention of it in the correspondence.
The subject of the next exchange of letters was John Work Garrett's expressed desire to acquire certain great colonial rarities which were not presently in the collection. Chapman, referring to the Ellsworth Collection (which was subsequently purchased by Garrett; the duplicates were later sold by Wayte Raymond in the autumn of 1923), replied:
Confidentially, there is a great and magnificent collection of United States coins which might possibly be purchased, but the collector is determined not to offer 'them himself at auction and to insist on selling en bloc. I have conferred with him within the year concerning it. His collection contains the greatest pieces, such as the Nova Constellatio 1,000 mills, unique; 500 mills (two known); 100 mills (two known), which we formerly owned. He paid, as well as I Can recall, about $7,500 or $8,000 for the three pieces, but they would probably bring a great deal more today. He also has the George Clinton [cent] and exceedingly rare colonial and state coins and great rarities in the United States regular series.
I will propose a way by which you might secure these pieces, which was the way the late 1. G. Parmelee who had the finest collection of United States, colonial, state, and government issues until his collection was sold about 1890, used to obtain great rarities. For instance, we bought the Bushnell Collection from which your father obtained many of his greatest rarities including the Brasher doubloon, which he bought there for $500 (a specimen which we formerly owned also sold last year for $3,600) and then Mr. Parmelee bought it from us, selected what he needed or left the pieces in the collection, placed it in our hands for sale at auction, and bought back the rarities for his collection.
He thus made certain that these pieces did not get away from him. He backed us for the amount of the purchase money. We wrote the first catalogue of coins ever published in quarto size, with autotype plates, and made the sale a great success and realized a net profit for him, over all expenses, of about $3000 dollars.
The present collection is valued, I think the owner stated to me, about $60,000. If you had the pick of this collection it would make your collection absolutely the finest collection of the United States coins. If you would go into a similar arrangement with me as above mentioned, I will try to obtain a definite price and terms from the owner.
John Work Garrett developed an interest in mintmarks, which their collection had a very small representation of, as during its initial formation in the years before T. Harrison Garrett's death in 1888 mintmarks were largely ignored by collectors. Thus, for example, on December 16, 1919, he bought from S. Hudson Chapman a number of branch mint gold coins including an 1854-D half eagle at $8, 1839-0 quarter eagle at $4, 1849-C coin of the same denomination at $3.50, and a rare 1859-D quarter eagle at $35. In February 1920, John Work Garrett purchased an additional $130.40 worth of coins at the Kingman Sale, for which Chapman charged $6.52 (5%) commission. After receiving his invoice John Work Garrett was prompted to write:
I enclose my check for $140.92 to pay for the coins you bought for me at your recent sale, and the Proof coins of 1918 and 1920 [apparently an error; the coins were probably Uncirculated]. I am rather disappointed in the condition of many of the coins which you purchased which do not seem to come up to the mark. I notice that you exceeded my bids in four cases out of the eleven on which I was successful. I am very much surprised that the bidding went so high on the [1840] half cent restrike and should be curious to know who was so desirous of having it besides myself.
On March 11, 1920, S. Hudson Chapman tried to clear up the confusion: I tried, as always, to be careful in describing these pieces. No. 117, 1811 large 8, [half dollar], Uncirculated, mint lustre, was fully up to description as far as I remember, but I recollect a curious circumstance: No. 116, the lot ahead of it, when we came to deliver it lacked the 1811 straight date. Now it might be that this piece was pushed down on No. 117, and 117 stolen. Is the piece delivered to you the large 8? If it has not the large 8, I should like to see it. Nearly all the pieces around these dates are almost never perfectly struck up, and sharp, and if the stars are not struck up it has nothing to do with the preservation. The condition refers to the preservation. If the piece is defective, it is mentioned, but as weak stars are usual in these early dates, it is not mentioned; and when an unusually sharp specimen occurs we mention it, see No. 114.
When the John Story Jenks Collection was sold at auction on December 7-17, 1921, (a sale which stretched over a week in length) by Henry Chapman, John Work Garrett enlisted his brother, S. Hudson Chapman, to bid for him. He was ultimately successful in the purchase of $2,313.15 worth of lots, plus $115.65 commission (5%), plus $20 for a catalogue with pictorial plates and price lists, and one dollar for a duplicate copy of the catalogue without plates; altogether a total invoice of $2,449.80. At first, Garrett gave bids on various lots authorizing the maximum expenditure of $1,000. However as the sale progressed, two telegrams were sent to S. Hudson Chapman raising the authorization.
Chapman's reports of the sale furnish interesting commentary on one of the greatest auctions of the early 20th century. As he wrote on December 21:
I have carefully endeavored to follow out your instructions and to buy for you the coins you indicated or I deemed you most desired of those you listed in the Jenks Collection. Beginning under your limit of $1,000 for the total purchases, I soon realized that I would overrun this amount in the first day alone as I obtained for you the most beautiful coin of the sale and in itself an extraordinarily beautiful specimen of. the piece, the Syracusan medallion, at $510, which the coin is fully worth, and began using my discretion in passing pieces, particularly if I knew I could supply you in the future, such as the Mythridates tetradrachm at $85. I also let some desirable lots go that went over what I considered full price.