Q.David Bowers
To this John Work Garrett replied on May 26, 1924: I am in no hurry about the duplicates I sent you the other day. The only thing is I am leaving Baltimore about the middle of June and am going abroad on the 2nd of July, so if you have any suggestion to make, I must hear from you before the former date. Although I am rather afraid of the silver slug, I do want it in my collection, and I am sending you my check herewith for it ...
During the summer and autumn of 1924 many of the Garrett duplicates were sold by Mehl. On January 8, 1925, B. Max Mehl began a lengthy correspondence on a Conway & Co. $5 gold piece:
As you recall, when I visited you last spring, and when you mentioned the particular varieties of the pioneer gold that interested you, I then told you that I knew of a Conway & Co. $5 gold piece and that I would endeavor to secure it for you. You will, therefore, I am sure, be interested to know that my negotiations have gotten to the point where the owner is in a mood to sell, and at a price which I believe to be consistent with its great rarity. (Only three or four are known, including the specimen in the Mint Collection.) Delayed writing to you a few days as I wanted to submit the coin to you. This I am doing today, by prepaid express, and trust the coin will reach you without delay. Upon examination, you will find the coin, I believe, as choice a specimen as any of the other two or three known specimens.
Of course, it is not necessary for me to tell you anything about the great rarity of this coin. You know about it as much as I do. There is only one record of auction sale of this coin, 13 years ago (1908) where it brought $3,200. A little later, I understand a specimen sold to a Western collector for $4,000. In fact, before mentioning this coin to you, I placed myself in the position as your representative. I analyzed its great value from my point of view. In other words, I weighed carefully every phase of its rarity, value, etc., as though I were buying it for myself. I placed it in comparison with all the great numismatic rarities of the world, and I could find very few to surpass it or even equal it in rarity and value.
But then your knowledge of the pioneer series is such that it is not necessary for me to tell you about this great coin. Suffice it to mention that during the past 20 years I have spent more than $75,000 for numismatic advertising. This season's expenditure alone is over $14,000. Then too, every year I circularize each and everyone of the more than 30,000 banks in the United States and Canada. But through all these years, although other great rarities were unearthed, not a single specimen of this great coin appeared. Therefore, the opportunity to secure this great rarity now certainly justifies the expression that its purchase truly represents "the chance of a lifetime."
The price first asked for this coin was $4,000, but after an exchange of correspondence I am able to make you a price of $3,500 which, I believe after you will kindly consider the coin and compare it with the other great rarities, records, etc. you will recognize the price as fair and consistent with the value of the coin.
As mentioned to you over the telephone while in New York, while this transaction will be on a cash basis as far as the owner is concerned, but in order to make the deal, I would consider to accept as part payment some of the duplicate coins from those you have with me, as listed in my letter to you of June 11. These coins I will accept at their present auction prices, not deducting any commission from them. I enclose a duplicate list of the coins that I could use. The average current auction price for this list of coins is $1,341.90. I will allow you $1,500 for this lot on the purchase of the Conway coin. This, together with the fair price for the coin, will, I believe, be recognized by you as a most advantageous purchase for you.
After several letters were exchanged concerning the value of duplicates and the price of the coin, John Work Garrett acquired the Conway $5 gold piece. On February 20, 1925, Mehl acknowledged receipt of a check to settle the account. He noted:
The Conway piece that you have, originally (came), I believe, from the Granberg Collection, purchased by Mr. Woodin, and then purchased by Mr. Newcomer of whom I purchased all of his duplicates when he purchased the Granberg Pioneer Collection about 12 years or so ago.
In the spring of 1925, B. Max Mehl corresponded with John Work Garrett concerning the Judge Slack Collection of territorial gold coins, resulting in the purchase by Garrett of one piece which he needed for his collection:
Lot 12, a Shultz & Co. $5 gold piece for $1250. No other notable purchase was contracted through Mehl during this time. However, on June 21, 1926, Mehl sent a telegram to Garrett stating that he had an urgent need for an 1804 silver dollar. Understanding that Garrett possessed two of them, he desired to buy one. To this Garrett replied that "have only one which I don't care to sell." In April 1927 , the subject of Garrett's 1804 dollar came up again, in an entirely different context:
Since the publication of my reprint of the Haseltine Type Table and my inclusion thereto of the list of known 1804 dollars, I have received numerous inquiries, or requests and complaints, as is usual whenever new publications appear. These communications are welcomed by me, as my purpose for republishing Haseltine's was more or less to bring out either the unknown or unpublished facts regarding the series covered in that work.
From some comment received, I believe that my list of the 1804 dollars is not complete nor entirely correct. One friend informs me that you possess an 1804 dollar not given on my list. If so, first of all, I want you to know that the omission was not intentional, and I shall be glad to have any information that you may care to give me regarding the 1804 dollar or dollars that you may possess in your collection.
Garrett immediately replied on April 28, 1927:
I have your letter of April 22nd in regard to the 1804 dollar in my collection. I have only one which was in the collection of my father, the late T. Harrison Garrett, and was obtained by him from the Berg Collection in 1883. It is apparently the one numbered 9 in your list. It is the one described in the American Journal of Numismatics, Volume 25, as No. 10. It is in Fine condition. Your No. 13, which is accredited to me, never belonged to me, and the one above is the only one that I have. I bought part of the Ellsworth Collection, but did not buy the 1804 dollar which belonged to him. That was bought by Mr. Wayte Raymond, and I do not know who is now possessor of it. I think Mr. Raymond bought your No.3 which was also in the Ellsworth Collection.