Essays In Appreciation


Margo Russell is the retired Editor of Coin World, the weekly coin newspaper published by Amos Press in Sidney, Ohio. She served as a member of the Council of the American Numismatic Society and is the author of an introductory guide to coin collecting geared to youths.




Harry W. Bass Jr. Consummate Numismatist

Margo Russell



The die designed for his life shattered at first strike.
The divine Mint Master nodded knowingly.
Just as he planned, there would be but one
Harry Wesley Bass, Jr. on earth

Harry W. Bass, Jr., consummate numismatist, president of the world-famous American Numismatic Society from 1978 to 1984, would dismiss with an impatient wave of his hand the term, legendary, to describe his life and his impact on numismatics. Only legends to interest him were those appearing on the classic coinage he collected and studied with microscopic intensity.

The numismatic legacy of Harry Bass is awesome: He's the one man to first build an innovative World Wide Web numismatic research bridge from ancient Greece to the electronic era, and into next millennium. It is the great good fortune of the American Numismatic Society that he focused on its numismatic collection and library, and filtered through the Society, his numismatic innovations as a pioneer and a numismatic visionary in the computer world.

As early as the 1950's he recognized the importance of this new electronic tool. Later there was stirring in the numismatic community to put it to use; but he was first to effectively use the Internet World Wide Web, to provide and exchange numismatic information for Everyman.

Then, typically Harry Bass, he provided not only the vision and brain power but generous financial support to move the programs ahead. In addition to the American Numismatic Society resources, he enlisted the cooperation of the broader numismatic community to add to the scope of a unique research bank. He worked on this project until his death April 4, 1998. He left too soon -- he had promises to keep! He blazed through life at the speed of email, his favorite method of communication -- almost daily with Leslie A. Elam, ANS executive director, or members of the ANS staff.

Harry Bass goes down in numismatic history for many of his accomplishments, but high on the list for American collectors is his role in founding the ANS' Coinage of the Americas Conference (COAC) a popular Society numismatic education program. Harry Bass had the greatest of respect for ANS' reputation as the best classicistic research center in the numismatic world, and supported it in every way, but by establishing COAC in 1984, he fulfilled a promise to himself when he assumed the ANS presidency. He vowed he would find a way to focus the Society to a greater degree on American numismatics. He did! COAC is now in its second decade! It might have been Harry's proudest day as a collector when, in 1989, his U.S. federal gold collection was the nucleus for the sixth annual COAC. One of Harry Bass' great talents was to recognize talent. So it was a great day when he enlisted Ed Deane as his right hand collaborator during the last years of his life. Ed Deane, who continues to administer the Bass Services program, delivered a brilliant, perceptive eulogy during memorial services for Harry in Dallas April 6, the text of which is found in this book of memories. Ed, who has a rare gift for words, included in his eulogy a recap of the 1991 establishment of the Harry W. Bass, Jr. Research Foundation, how it is to keep intact in perpetuity the Bass rare United States numismatic collection for education and scholarly research.

He related how Harry's Numismatic Indexes Project (NIP) drawing from ANS and major periodicals was developed as an online reference resource for researchers. These are just two of the Bass contributions to numismatics.* Fortunately, he lived to see another of his electronic era dreams come true. Half a million coins from the Society's collection are mounted on its Website -- and great strides are being made to offer access to the world-famous ANS library.

I met Harry Bass in Houston the summer of 1978, during the American Numismatic Association convention. He walked up after I had given, as editor of Coin World, what I'd hoped was a challenging talk on the "Greening of Numismatics." As an ANS Fellow, I knew of him, of course, as first vice president of the American Numismatic Society and slated to succeed Samuel R. Milbank as president. I knew, of his special interest in the Society's library. But we had never met.

As a journalist of the Fast Track Appraisal school, my first impression of Harry Bass was that of an intense man with the look of an eagle. It probably was the numismatic setting and my sometimes too vivid imagination, but he seemed to have a soaring, swirling aura, hinting at the strong symbolism of every eagle I'd ever seen, especially on coinage! His intelligence flashed like lightning, followed by charisma and enthusiasm. It was in that atmosphere of coins, coin people and coin organizations that we talked at length, as though we had known each other forever (a common trait of coin collectors). I remember we spoke with optimism about our hopes and dreams for the future of numismatics.

It was a pleasant surprise in March, 1979, when Harry Bass phoned to arrange a whirlwind visit to Sidney, Ohio, and Coin World. By now he was president of the American Numismatic Society, and we all thought, what a great honor! He was coming to meet Amos Press' publishing scion, J. Oliver Amos, founder of Coin World, his son, John Amos, Coin World publisher, and our talented staff. Harry's visit and tour of the API state-of-the-art facility was all too short, but he impressed everyone with that Bass dynamism and his curiosity about printing processes. (Harry's insatiable curiosity about everything seemed at times to border on naivete, but it was his clever way, his impatient game, to learn the whole story in a hurry!)

I had no idea I was the target of his visit! He had come to invite me to join the ANS Council, It seems there was discussion about a replacement for the only woman ever to serve on the Council -- the inestimable, indomitable numismatist, Emory May Norweb, who had just resigned. One of the factors in the invitation, I learned, was Mrs. Norweb's endorsement, She and her husband, Ambassador R. Henry Norweb, also an ANS Councillor, had been especially supportive of Coin World because of their previous Cleveland Plain Dealer ties and respect for newspaper people. They often telephoned story suggestions to me. (So did another great Texan, the Fort Worth publisher-numismatist Amon Carter Jr.)

At the time Coin World had a strict policy -- no member of its staff could seek or hold an elective numismatic office -- among many of J. Oliver Amos' ethics decrees to avoid any semblance of conflict of interest. However, it was considered the ANS Council invitation an appointment and, rightfully, prestige for Coin World. And who could say "no" to Harry Bass? Now both major numismatic newspapers are represented on the Council with the appointment of Clifford Mishler, president of Krause Publications, which produces Numismatic News.

Even before my acceptance in 1979 was announced I received a congratulatory letter from Emory May Norweb which echoed Harry Bass' charge to me: I was to bring to the Council my "Knowledge, experience, a flexible mind and unwavering belief in the possibilities of the ANS." By 1998 the Society has two more women on the Council, Dr. Martha Carter and Dr. Ellen Reeder -- with all of the above attributes and many, many more.

Under the inspired leadership of Harry Bass, many ANS "possibilities" came about. And I believed in every one! By example, he brought out the best in the staff and the Council, although sometimes when we would share a cab to the airport, forceful, energetic, perfectionist, patrician, disciplined, complicated Harry would express frustration that even more wasn't accomplished. He wanted at least 140% over goal! He set high standards for himself -- and expected others to follow. A times he seemed mildly uncomfortable as he presided over ANS affairs, or from the lectern, only because he was restless at the pace. There were other times, though, when Texas-courtly gave way to Texas sharp! I've known him to rail, even rant, against waste, waste of time as well as material.

Harry Bass moved through life with power -- yet he took time to be generous and thoughtful, to share with grace his affluence as well as his knowledge. He contributed thousands upon thousands of dollars to ANS, and supported other numismatic organizations as well.

Apart from his philanthropy, Harry was well known for his hospitality-sharing at every opportunity his good life with his friends. For example, he made his lovely home in Acapulco available to my family for a vacation. He shared the house so often he had a printed list of guest responsibilities. During Harry's visit to Coin World he was certain John Amos was an athlete and a skier. Promptly he invited John to come to Vail and ski as his guest.

He arranged for -- and accompanied -- Rose Chan Houston, the Society's associate curator of Far Eastern coins, on a trip to China to see her family when it wasn't easy to go there. He came home from Venice with exquisite, heavy, deep wine-colored Murano glass Athenian owls as gifts for Council. He saw to it that every detail was perfect when he hosted a dinner theater party for the Council and staff in New York, but he was restless in his seat when the musical slowed.

Of course, Harry's idea of a really good party was the Society's 125th celebration in September, 1983, which brought scholars from all over the world to the Society's New York museum.

His Dallas friends were invited to meet his numismatic friends when he hosted an ANS reception in that city. He made sure visiting Council and staff were housed in style and comfort when they came to Dallas. I heard Harry urge Chief Curator Bill Metcalf to drive his collector car for fun.

Everyone was delighted when Harry's beautiful wife, Doris, accompanied him to New York, to meet the Council and staff. As the Society's First Lady her graciousness and interest in its mission was evident. She supported Harry at every turn, and this was even more apparent during numismatic visits to the Bass home in Dallas.

Doris Bass, known for her interior design panache and her exquisite taste, blended the decor, the artistic with the numismatic. Throughout their home there was accommodation for Harry's computers, books, papers, knives, quilts, all of his collections except the coins, of course. They were always in a bank vault. And then there was his sanctum sanctorum where he retreated to dream up new projects and new ways to achieve them. This could be any of the 24 hours in a day. Doris' decorator touch was not so evident there!

I think of Doris and Harry Bass as a literary couple, a duo who shared a romance with words, Harry, forever reading, reading; Doris, writing, writing. She is a skilled wordsmith in her own right, producing professional, polished prose. But what delighted me, Harry insisted upon including adjectives in his coin records -- something I am convinced should always be included.
Coin World editor Beth Deisher supplied me with a print-out index of the nearly 100 Coin World news stories relating to Harry Bass over the years. As I reviewed it I realized anew, his Vail entrepreneurship aside, he was a numismatic Mountain Man because of his lofty contributions to 20th century American numismatics. He was a Millennium Man. His accomplishments will affect numismatics significantly during the next century. Harry Bass showed the way!

Over the past months it was hard not to clutter up his serious email with my chatter, so I refrained, although all of us had growing concern about his health. Nevertheless, he continued to send me email if it involved important numismatic progress. The Society, too, continued to benefit from his counsel and wisdom at Council meetings and workshops via phone link-up. I saw the respect on the faces of my fellow Councillors as they listened to his advice and contributions in a strong voice.
Harry Bass, the numismatist, the Methodist, the Republican, the business leader, the entrepreneur, the family man, to paraphrase the Bible, did not suffer fools gladly -- and he was very, very wise!

Rest now, Harry..

*Harry Bass received excellent cooperation from numismatic publishers when he began NIP. An example, I recall, when Harry contacted Coin World publisher, Ann Marie Aldrich, who gave permission to index Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine, a discontinued Amos Press publication. NIP made this information readily available. Other periodicals on NIP: The Numismatist. Numismatic Review. and Coll't Collectors journal. Scholars will also find ANS'American Journal of Numismatics, Museum Notes, the COAC Series, Numismatic Notes and Monographs and ANS Proceedings.