Q.David Bowers
On April 4, 1931, Mehl wrote Garrett to offer a trial piece of a Cincinnati Mining & Trading Co. issue, and on learning Garrett already possessed a, gold striking in his collection sent his congratulations 'on " ... the ownership of the Cincinnati Mining & Trading Company gold coin, a specimen of which I have never had the pleasure of even handling." Later that year, B. Max Mehl was working on the extensive collection of Waldo Newcomer in Baltimore, Maryland. He wrote to Garrett from the Lord Baltimore Hotel (with "700 rooms, 700 baths, a radio in every room" according to the letterhead) to negotiate the terms for sale of the colonials:
Following your kind suggestion, I have carefully analyzed the colonial section of the Newcomer Collection with the idea of your obtaining the specimens that you desire at a minimum cost. I believe you will find the following analysis attractive and one which will prove satisfactory and profitable. Promptly upon my return from my visit to you this morning I added up on a machine the total of the colonial collection. I find the total is $52,569.
Mehl proposed that Garrett buy the colonial section at a 15% discount or $44,684. This would have provided Garrett with many duplicates which Mehl proposed to sell on a commission basis. On October 26, 1931, Garrett wrote to Mehl who by that time had returned to Ft. Worth, Texas:
I have gone over all the coins you left with me very carefully and have selected the ones that I want to purchase, of which I enclose the cards. You will see from them that the total as far as the colonial pieces are concerned, is $8,081.25.
I have not yet made up my mind in regard to the three territorial pieces that you left with me, but I expect to take one of them at any rate. I enclose a check to your order for $10,000 as a preliminary payment and shall be glad to hear just what percent, if any, you consider necessary to add to the colonial purchases. We can settle this matter by correspondence, or, preferably by conversation, if and when you come East before I leave about the middle of December for Rome.
I am sending you by express today the coins that I do not want to keep and I have insured them for $40,000. I am also sending under separate cover the cards for those coins. I am sorry that it was not possible under the unusual circumstances to come to a different arrangement about the pieces that I Want, but I explained the whole matter very frankly from my side as you did from yours.
The coins sent you are all of those you left with me with the exception of (1) those on the enclosed cards, (2) the three gold pieces, and (3) the Brasher doubloon which you took away in your pocket.
On October 26, 1931, B. Max Mehl, who was staying at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City wrote about the three territorial gold pieces which he had included with the colonials:
In conversation with some prominent collectors here, my acquisition of the Newcomer Collection created quite a sensation as the collection contains so many rarities which come on the market probably only once or twice in a lifetime.
I am particularly anxious to make a good and prompt showing with results for Mr. Newcomer. [This seems to indicate that Mehl may have purchased the Newcomer Collection for sale on a commission basis or with extended payments.] For that reason I would now be prepared to sell a goodly portion of pieces much lower than they would command a little later on. I have in mind the three great territorial rarities I left with you.
With your knowledge of rarities I shall not say anything about the Kohler $50 gold piece.
However, I feel certain that in the not too distant future this unique rarity will be valued at more than the total amount I priced the three coins I left with you,
Of the Massachusetts & California $5 gold piece there are only three specimens known, including the one in the United States Mint Collection. Since the coinage of this piece, over 80 years ago, only one heretofore unknown specimen came to light, the one in the Lawrence Sale, which was discovered and sold about two years ago. Dr. Lawrence paid $5,000 for it, and when his collection was sold at auction the same coin brought $7,900. The Templeton Reid $10 gold is certainly as rare as the Massachusetts & California $5. Not a single specimen of the Templeton Reid $10 has ever been offered at auction. To the best of my knowledge, only three specimens are known to exist. There ate at least six specimens known of the Templeton Reid $5, the last of which, a slightly mutilated piece, sold for over $4,000, and I understand that another specimen was held sometime ago for $7,500. Surely the $10 coin is worth a great deal more. After the above analysis I feel that the three rarities would be fairly priced at $25,000. Don't you think, Mr. Garrett, that my price of $21,000 is most fair and consistent with the value of the coins?
However, as mentioned above, I am anxious to make a prompt and favorable showing to Mr. Newcomer, and if you think the amount you suggested, that of $20,000 is sufficient, I will abide by your opinion and accept that amount for them now.
I am positive that the ownership of these three great coins and their addition to your wonderful collection will prove a most gratifying source of possession to you. I am leaving for home this afternoon and shall be glad to hear from you at your earliest convenience. In the meantime, I want to thank you for the courtesies you so kindly extended me while in Baltimore: It Was a genuine pleasure to see you, again.
During the following month, 13. Max Mehl made several proposals to John Work Garrett, offering him combinations of colonial and territorial gold pieces, with varying discounts and trade-in allowances. The $50 Kohler piece, valued at $10,000 in the transaction, was the subject of numerous comments. Mehl wrote to Garrett on November 4, 1931:
When we consider that more than 20 years ago the 1877 $50 gold piece sold for $10,000 I believe you will agree with me that my evaluation of the Kohler unique $50 gold piece is fair and equitable. It is to my mind, not only the rarest but by far the most interesting, historically and numismatically, of any coin of our territorial issues.
In Mehl's letter of November 12, 1931, he reminds Garrett: there is only one Kohler $50 slug. This coin has always been considered not only the rarest and most valuable, but also the most interesting historically of all the territorial coins. It was always thought out of reach of collectors for all time when it was in the collection of the Society of California Pioneers.