B. Max Mehl was a pioneer of modern coin collecting in the U.S. His magazine ads popularized coin collecting across the span of the 20th Century and prompted hundreds of thousands of Americans, kids and adults alike, to scour loose change and their local banks in search of valuable numismatic treasures. Max began his business in a corner of his bedroom in 1895 at the age of 11! Grover Cleveland was President of the United States; and the horse and buggy, trolley, stagecoach were still the primary modes of transportation, yet Max Mehl was to build a numismatic empire which would reach from coast to coast in just a few years. In 1903, when he turned 19, he applied for and recieved membership in the American Numismatic Association; and he placed his first national advertisements in The Numismatist in December of that year. In 1904 he published the first of a series of coin price booklets, which he distributed widely by mail order for 50 cents a copy through his magazine ads. The first series was known as "Catalogue of Fine Selections of Choice United States, Gold, Silver and Copper Coins", the second series of his coin price booklets was called "Star Rare Coin Book", and later shortened to the "Star Coin Book". It has been reported by several sources that in the early 1900's more than half of the incoming mail to Fort Worth went to Mehl. His draw from his ads was exceptional, as no other dealer was so resourceful at the time. By 1916 he had a new building erected in downtown Fort Worth and named it the "Max Mehl Building." A drawing of it can be seen on the cover of the booklet above. It still stands today. By 1924, Mehl's annual advertising budget grew to $50,000 — an unheard of amount even for major retailers of the time. About 10 years later, during the Great Depression, Mehl ran thousands of nationwide ads -- advertising $50 to anyone that could find and send to him a 1913 Liberty Head Nickel (even though they were never released into circulation and finding one was for all intents and purposes impossible). This sparked a national treasure hunt for the nickel that was worth $50, a huge sum of money during the Depression. Cable cars and tramways in big cities would often run behind schedule during this era because the conductor was too busy checking all the nickels they collected in fares. Mehl never got one from the ads, but many years later bought one for a bit over $10,000. In 1941, Mehl sold the collection of fabled collector William Dunham for $83,364 — a staggering amount for the time. It included several rarities of U.S. coinage including the 1804 silver dollar, 1822 $5 gold piece, and the 1802 half dime. These three key coins alone would bring well over $3.5 million today. In his later years, Mehl moved to Southern California and operated his business from Beverly Hills. His fame in the field is largely due to his spreading the gospel of numismatics, especially to kids and the common man, as most of the dealers of his day were geared towards wealthy clients who were patrons of the arts. Mehl is considered by most to be the primary reason coin collecting became so popular in the U.S. from the 1930's through the 1960's and provided the fertile ground and wide base of collectors that has allowed this great hobby to flourish today.
I wanted to post this little bio of a great man in numismatics because I just bought a coin which was sold by B. Max Mehl sometime in the middle of the last century. I am guessing the 1940's or 1950's. The seller still had the original Mehl envelope. This coin came from an original group of Max Mehl Commemoratives that was recently sold into the market place with their original envelopes. I can see how this coin toned so intensely having been stored in paper for so long. I bought this for $225, which I would have paid for it just for the really striking pink and gold toning. Sort of a cool bit of history.
Thanks for the great thread WL. I've read a few things about Mehl over the years, but your post presents some facts that I didn't know. He always reminds me of Dave Bowers who has a similar career in numismatics and has contributed so much to our great hobby. Both men are giants in the hobby. I have a couple of old Star Catalogs of his and enjoy looking through them here and there. I love your Texas Half too...gorgeous toning. Bruce
WL, You have an appreciation and flair for the story behind the coin that makes this hobby so worthwhile to me. Thanks for sharing all this!
cpm9ball, thanks! i had no idea Mark Feld is related to him ... very cool (their names sort of rhyme (Mehl vs. Feld) funny). BRandM, thanks, yes those old star catalogs are really something else with the crazy low prices. I have to research Dave Bowers. gboulton, you hit the nail on the head. it's the history and the stories that I find so interesting as well.
What a great report WL. You are fortunate to have found an item such as this with this kind of sales provenance. It makes me wonder if there is any Guttag sales material out there since they've been in the numismatic news as of late.
That is a great story and I am always happy to learn something new.. Great toned commem there as well and a great price. I would have bought that one myself for the price..~ Beautiful...
I know very little about the Guttag brothers, Julius and Henry, other than they were large collectors of Latin American coins and apparently US Commemoratives in the 1920s and 1930s.
A quick Google on Julius turned up this info on his 4500+ collection of Civil War Tokens. http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v09n49a16.html Chris
Thanks for the post on Max Mehl. I have my degree in History and love this sort of detailed insight into our culture; specifically those things that apply to my beloved hobby. Posts like your's brings meaning to the coins and adds character, depth and justification to the hobby (art):thumb:.
Mehl brought the hobby to the masses and we owe him a great debt. While I've "always" been interested in coins my parents did see a phamphlet suggesting it was wise to interest your children in a hobby and coins were specifically mentioned. Perhaps if not for Mehl I wouldn't be a collector either since my parents encouraged me at a young age.
Very cool! Very interesting. Awesome coin. Thanks for posting this thread. I would love to own a coin like that in it's original envelope from Max.
