Q.David Bowers
On June 15, 1940, Mehl wrote from the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago (erroneously dating the letter May 15, 1940):
I am happy to advise you that after more than three years of negotiation I have finally secured the famous collection formed by the late William F. Dunham. This collection, as you probably know, includes every date of United States coinage, including the only pedigreed 1822 half eagle outside of the United States Mint Collection. Originally it was in the Harlan P. Smith Collection, from which Mr. Dunham secured it in 1906.
The collection also contains the Dexter 1804 dollar as well as all other rarities.
I don't mind telling you that when I first wrote you regarding the 1822 half eagle I referred to the specimen in the Brand Collection. This coin was originally held at $20,000. I was offered the exclusive sale for it at a net price of $13,000. I was not sure whether I cared to handle it for the reason that the coin is not in nearly as good a state of preservation as the Dunham specimen, also it does not have a pedigree.
The Dunham 1822 half eagle is practically Uncirculated. I feel that you should certainly have it in your great collection. And at this time I would dispose of it for $10,000. As far as rarity, I believe that you will agree with me that it can be classed as almost unique. Should you be interested, I shall be most happy to hear from you. I am leaving for home tonight.
On June 20, 1940, John Work Garrett wrote:
All that you say about the desirability of the 1822 half eagle is true, but as I have already written you, I am not in the market for it.
As B. Max Mehl did not sell the coin to Garrett, it was included in the 1941 auction sale of the Dunham Collection conducted by him. The purchaser was Amon Carter of Fort Worth, Texas. In the 1960s this coin was sold into the Josiah K. Lilly Collection, and, later it went with the Lilly Collection to the Smithsonian Institution, where it presently reposes together with the specimen earlier in the Mint Collection. The Brand specimen of the 1822 half eagle was sold into the Louis Eliasberg Collection where it resides today.
Correspondence with Waldo Newcomer Waldo Newcomer, a prominent collector in Garrett's own city of Baltimore, Maryland, formed one of the most outstanding collections of the United States coins ever assembled. It was subsequently sold by private offerings through Fort Worth, Texas, dealer B. Max Mehl in the early 1930s (see Mehl correspondence). Correspondence between both Robert Garrett and John Work Garrett, and Waldo Newcomer was conducted on several occasions.
On May 12, 1916, Robert Garrett wrote to Waldo Newcomer:
I must apologize for not answering your letter of April 4 sooner. My delay has been due first to the fact that I have been extremely busy with other matters and second because I had not formulated any definite plan of action; in fact I have not yet decided what I shall do finally but as a preliminary I plan to have a talk with S. H. Chapman, whose services have always been satisfactory, as a result of which I shall probably instruct him to complete my catalogue. I shall bear in mind your request concerning a copy of the catalogue when it is completed and shall see that one is sent to you.
John Work Garrett wrote to Waldo Newcomer on February 25, 1925:
I bought a Conway $5 piece a little while ago from Mr. Mehl, and in reply as to where it originally came from he tells me:
The Conway $5 piece you have, originally came from the Granberg Collection purchased first by Mr. Woodin and then ... by Mr. Newcomer from whom I purchased all the duplicates when he [acquired] the Granberg Pioneer Collection about 12 years or so ago. I like to keep the history of any rare pieces in my collection, and I should appreciate it very much if you could tell me whether this piece came from the Granberg Collection, or whether the one you kept is from that collection, and the names of any other collections that it has, as far as you know, been in.
To this, Waldo Newcomer replied on February 27, 1925:
Replying to your letter of the 25th, when I purchased the Granberg Collection I sold Mr. Mehl a Conway piece that was originally Granberg's, retaining one that I had purchased from Elder a number of years back. I have no further information regarding the history of the piece. Mr. Mehl is not quite correct in saying that he purchased all the duplicates of the Granberg Collection, as I sold quite a number of them through Adams, then selling the residue to Mehl, but he was perfectly honest in making the statement.
Correspondence with Wayte Raymond Wayte Raymond, born in 1886 in South Norwalk, Connecticut, became interested in coins while he was a bank teller. In 1912, after an unsuccessful attempt to form a partnership with B. Max Mehl, he established the United States Coin Company.
Conducting his own auctions in the early years, and later working with Anderson Galleries and Morgenthau & Co., he was responsible for cataloguing over 150 sales. Included were the numismatic holdings of Malcolm Jackson, F. W. Doughty, H. O. Granberg, William H. Woodin, George P. French, and Judson Brenner.
His penchant for writing did not stop with auction catalogues, however. He produced over 100 books and articles relating to all phases of the United States and world numismatics.
He joined J. W. Scott & Co. in 1934, where he began publishing the Coin Collector's Journal, which survived until the 1950s. Plot the same time he produced the Standard Catalogue of United States Coins, which in the years before Whitman Publishing Company's Guide Book of United States Coins came on the market was the standard periodic reference for United States coin pricing. The Standard Catalogue was published until 1958 and went through 18 editions. John J. Ford, Jr., the well known dealer who at one time was a protégé of Wayte Raymond, wrote a tribute to him, "Wayte Raymond: The Man and the Era, "which appeared in The Numismatist in 1957, one year after Raymond's death. Ford noted "It was the Raymond publications that gave the boost to numismatic interest in the United States."