Happy Father's Day in a Numismatic Way

[rbrown4]

Happy Father's Day to all Fathers out here. I thought I would begin a post for this occasion and I chose to post a coin from both my Father's birth day and mine. The 1917 FH SLQ is NGC MS 63 and the 1957 Lincoln is PF 66 RD (by the way this cent was a gift from Ant to me, thank you very much, very appropriate timing).

 

When you think of your Father tomorrow, think of his goodness and Love.

 

Rey

 

[bsshog40]

Happy Fathers day to you to Rey and all you other fathers out there!

[WoodenJefferson]

1924 Japanese Taisho 10 Sen (about the size of a US nickel)

 

My Dad made my life "Whole"

[Catbert]

My Dad died prematurely 10 years ago from lung cancer (mesothelioma) and had a slow, painful death. It was awful to see him suffer and it leaves a hole in my heart to this day. He also happened to introduce me to coin collecting when I was a kid. After 40 years away from the hobby, I returned to collecting about 8 monthes ago. After he died, I kept his college ring, but decided to sell it recently to purchase an Indian $5 gold piece since I figure that was a better way to remember him. Salute to you Dad!

 

 

[ldhair]

This Father's Day is going to be a sad one for me.

I lost my father a few months back and I actually wish it wasn't Fathers Day.

I received his coin collection yesterday but I just can't even look at it yet.

On a more happy note. Here is a beautiful coin.

 

 

 

[123cents]

Happy Father's Day to one and all. My father's health is not very good and I don't know how many more Father's Days I will have with him. I am certainly going to cherish the time I will spend with him tomorrow.

[rrantique]

Happy Father's Day everyone, lost my father to MS back in 1972, I was 22 and Dad was 52. Here is a coin from Dad's era and one from Mine.

 

[Oldtrader3]

My dad has been dead since July 3, 1988 but here is a coin from his and my birth year's,

[Jeffrey Cardona]

I lost my Dad back in 1991.

 

But this is what my girls got me today for Father's Day!

[rbrown4]

All very kind remembrances and thank yous to our Fathers. I miss mine dearly it has been almost 12 months since his passing.

 

God works in mysterious ways sometimes, I truly believe that. This afternoon about an hour ago I logged onto Ebay since there were a couple of Train Related train medals I have been watching. While doing a search of the seller's store I found a token for sale. It is a B. Max Mehl Good Luck Token, copper-round-31mm (circa: 1916-1957) (Note: there is also a white metal token that is almost identical, wording is the same, but obverse die is slightly different, the easiest difference to spot is the absence of the small leg to the left on the bottom of the "u" in the word "you" which is on the copper token).

 

I now own this token and the reason this is significant to me on this Father's day is that many of the coins in my Father's collection that I now have were purchased from B. Max Mehl.

 

For those that are not familiar with Mr. Mehl I would like to share some interesting history information I found on the web while searching for information on this token written by a Jerry Adams. Benjamin Max Mehl was born in 1884, and was a shoe clerk before entering the field of numismatics in 1903. He rose from a simple home office in 1903, to become one of America’s most famous coin dealer of the first half of the 20th century.

 

Mehl’s real claim to fame, was his promotions and advertising. He was one of the first coin dealers to recognize the possibilities of national advertising. He placed his first ad in the December 1903 issue of the Numismatist. In March of 1904, he issued the first of many coin booklets, which became a standard reference in this country before the first "red books." His 1904 booklet was entitled "Catalogue of Fine Selections of Choice United States Gold, Silver, and Copper Coins, Private and Territorial Gold, United States Fractional Currency, etc., etc."

 

In 1906, Mehl spent $12.50 on an ad in Colliers magazine. Also in 1906, he gave up the home office, and rented desk space in a downtown Fort Worth office. By 1907 he had his own office at 1309 Main Street. Mehl actually had two separate businesses, one was the Star Rare Coin Company, and the second was the Numismatic Bank of Texas. The Numismatic Bank of Texas sold copies of the Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia to the public for 50 cents per copy. So great was the response to Mehl’s advertising campaigns, that at one time mail addressed to him accounted for more than half of the incoming mail at the Fort Worth post office.

 

Mehl’s success led him to move his office to New York in 1912, but he stayed only a few weeks. He returned to Fort Worth, leased half a floor in a downtown building and with his staff of ten. More advertisements, more Star Coin Books followed. By 1916 Mehl hired local architect Wiley G. Clarkson to design his own office building. Work was soon completed on the "Max Mehl Building" at 1204 W. Magnolia, just south of downtown. The 3-story 15,000 square foot building was a big investment for Mehl, but gave him independence from landlords, and increased his net worth.

 

By 1924, Mehl’s advertising budget was up to $50,000 per year, which for the era, was an enormous amount! He eventually even branched out from printed advertisements, to radio spots. The advertising gimmic that Mehl is most often remembered for was offering the princely sum of $50 for any 1913 Liberty nickel sold to him. This was during the depths of the economic depression of the 1930’s, and it really started a lot of people looking at what pocket change they had. Mehl of course knew there were only five of these nickels and there was little chance he would loose money on any such deal, even if one was offered to him.

 

Over the years Mehl bought and sold coins of the common man, but some famous people were counted among his clients also, including Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Amon Carter. Among the famous coins to pass through his shop, was the 1804 dollar. One of the famous collections sold by Mehl, was that of William Forrester Dunham (1857-1936). His collection included an 1804 silver dollar, 1822 half eagle, 1802 half dime, the largest collection of encased postage stamps ever formed, and an extensive collection of Hard Times tokens. Mehl sold the collection on June 3, 1941 with a total of 4,169 lots bringing in $83,364.08!

 

"If you measure the legacy of a man, by the number of lives he touched, then B. Max Mehl was a great man. He did more to popularize the hobby of coin collecting in this country than any other person in this century! The Mehl building still stands on Magnolia Street as a monument to his ambition." (quoted by Jerry Adams)

 

The first sentence reflects how I think of my father every day and especially today. Happy Father's Day Dad.

 

I would also like to add and I hope he doesn't mind but as many of you know, a fellow member here is related to Mr. Mehl and obviously continues with the spirit and honesty that Mr. Mehl brought to our Hobby - Mark Feld

 

 

 

[bsshog40]

Pretty cool there Rey!!

[rrantique]

Great post Rey and congrats on the token. (thumbs u

[MarkFeld]

Nicely done and said, Rey. And thank you.