At a recent coin show I purchased a coin that I have had an interest in for quite some time. Although I am not interested in having a whole collection of these coins, I have long been interested in having just on piece of Samurai Money. At the show a dealer who I know and trust had a 2 Bu from the Meiji era. The coin was nice and came with an interesting provenance. With the coin was an old, tattered 2 x 2 envelop. On the front was typed the word “Japan”. On the reverse was “B. Max Mehl, Numismatist” For those of you that don’t know who B. Max Mehl is here is some info… B. Max Mehl was born November 5, 1884 in Lodz, Russia (now part of Poland). He Moved to the United States in April of 1895 with his parents and four siblings, three brothers and a sister. Mehl Worked as a shoe salesman until his interest in coins led him to become a coin dealer. Mehl ran his first ad in the numismatist in the December issue of 1903 at the age of 20. His ads ran monthly until the July issue in 1966, a total of 707 issues. He also advertised in such mainstream media as Colliers Magazine. Mehl is credited with bringing the “hobby of kings” to the average person. His ads in mainstream media were seen by millions that would never have seen a copy of The Numismatist” What probably made B.Max Mehl famous more than anything else were his ads run throughout the depression stating “will pay $50 for a nickel of 1913 with Liberty Head, not Buffalo.” Mehl knew exactly where the 5 coins were and that there were only five but his objective to sell his coin catalogs that were mentioned in the same ads. Mehl claims he spent a million dollars on this campaign. When PCGS created their Coinfacts Dealer Hall of Fame in 2010 was one of the first six to be honored. Richard
That's very interesting. These have been a long interest of mine as well but have never actually purchased one.
Mehl was quite a marketing man. I heard half the mail at his post office, at any given time, was addressed to him.
Cool pedigree, and nice toning on the coin, no doubt from the old Mehl envelope. I've got one of these in my "Eclectic Box" collection, as it happens. They're such fun little coins. Japan (Meiji Era): silver and gold Nibu-Kin (2 bu), ca. 1868-1869 (PCGS AU55; population 89 with 28 higher as of 3/15/2018.) I previously had another one in a PCGS XF45 holder.
