Essays In Appreciation


Edmund Deane is Project Manager of the Harry Bass Foundation in Dallas, Texas.



A Tribute to a Great Numismatist

Ed Deane

Harry Bass was one of the most interesting, remarkable, unique and complex individuals I have ever known.

Extraordinary in his own varied life, he touched others in many different walks of life. People upon first meeting him personally were sometimes surprised by his booming voice, his quick and subtle wit, and his wide range of interests and expertise in so many of them. He had a very direct manner in dealing with things, and then letting you know when he was done with that subject, and moving on to something else. Everyone who knew Harry personally will have their own stories of their experiences with him; he was not a man you soon forget. I only knew him the last eight years of his life, but in his employ I did have the opportunity to work with him on a daily basis in working on the projects of the Harry Bass Foundation during that time. And I want to give tribute to what I came to know of the man, as during those years we became "the best of friends."

Harry had a very high personal moral code. He was what I would call a "Boy Scout" - he was exceedingly honest, forthright, principled and personally loyal. He held himself to the same high standards of all those he had working with him.

He was exceedingly honest, not only in his Sense of right and wrong, but also in his desire to call a spade a spade" - he did not like "sugar-coated" things, or the use of euphemisms - he much Preferred the plain unvarnished truth, warts and all.

He was intensely loyal to those people, causes and ideas that he cared about; he was never "lukewarm" in his judgments. When he considered, deliberated and then embarked on a project, he had already taken into account all that could go wrong as well as right. And once begun, he continued to press forward in spite of any obstacle that might present itself. The unexpected problems that were always appearing over the horizon to complicate matters of progress never discouraged or defeated him - the difficulties only made him more determined to work things through, to seek out and expeditiously bring about the solution.

Leadership went with many of the roles he played throughout his life; he took it in stride, and made the tough executive decisions he needed to make. Harry never shied away from the proper use of power, though he was always careful to use it judiciously. As an executive and a decision-maker, he always wanted to have ALL the facts before him, so he often waited until the last strategic moment before making the required decision. He knew the "buck stopped here." And once he made his decision, there was no second-guessing its correctness - he had clearly in mind all his reasons for his choice, and he was willing to back it up.

He was a careful guardian and good manager of all that he had been blessed with in life - his time, energies, financial resources, intellect, and his creative genius. Because of his failing health in later years, he knew he didn't have forever to get things done. So he managed to keep very focused on those things that mattered greatly to him.

Harry had a unique sense of history and of his own place in it. More than almost anyone I know, he possessed the ability to relate to and interact with the Past, Present and Future, all at the same time.

He loved the Past; he felt that people could learn much from the past - much that they miss in today's transient and hurried life style. He had a great appreciation for old things and their quality of workmanship, whether of mind or muscle. And he collected things from the past - from oriental rugs, knives, and objects of art, rare books to numismatics. He loved the interesting and unusual. He wanted whatever he collected to be the most complete, the best collection that could be done, in order to built "world-class" reference collections, whatever the area of interest.

But more than just loving and collecting them, he wanted to know about them - ALL about them. And so beyond his formal education, he taught himself throughout his lifetime - he educated himself about all sorts of things, and so became recognized as an authority in several fields.

Harry loved books; he had "numismatic bibliomania" in the worst way. He was forever looking for the newest, the oldest, the most obscure, the most controversial books of every form and description. Though I computerized a database of over 10,000 numismatic books, pamphlets and catalogs before he died, I have yet to complete the full database project, because he has probably another 5,000-6,000 books (some rare or ancient, some not) on other subjects which I have yet to get to. In addition to numismatics, he had a particular interest in the Civil War period, and the early twentieth century, the classics, Greek and Roman history, contemporary culture, politics, and the list goes on and on. Harry was; a voracious reader, and often "consumed" two or three books in a night (as well as three daily newspapers, weekly and monthly magazines, etc.). When others were sleeping, he was often reading or working at the computer as a result of his reading.

Harry's dream for his library collection (as in all other areas) was to build a "reference library" concerning those things he had a particular interest in. He wanted to assemble in his own home the most complete library available, with the best from the past and present. But more than just collect it, he wanted the information - the knowledge, the insight and judgment in his head that this information could bring.

Harry was always very much in touch with the present, and with his many investments and business dealings, and he examined them daily, both in their broadest scope and in their smallest detail. But business interests alone were not enough to occupy all of his creative energies.

He had a voracious appetite for new information; he subscribed to numerous magazines, three daily papers, and constantly read books on a wide variety of interests. There were no bounds to his intellectual inquiry, for he was equally adapt at seeing the "big picture" and the "smallest detail."

He loved words and the many nuances of the English language. He always kept a dictionary at arms length, even when he was on oxygen in a hospital bed at home. He was bored by all but the most difficult crossword puzzles in the New York Times. He loved to discuss the meaning and nuances of words, and whether he was using the correct word in just the right way. He knew the rules of punctuation, grammar and such - he would critique and edit most of the things he received from others, always highlighting things with his famous "pink pen" highlighter. You always knew what Harry had been reading, because more than half of the information was now highlighted in pink!

Harry had a Passion for Life, and he wanted to live it to the fullest. You could see it in his many interests through the decades of his life: his leadership in Republican politics, his athletic interests (he was an avid golfer, hunter, and skier in his younger days), and his many trips around the globe, and his wide variety of business interests through the years.

He found many ways to engage his ever-inquisitive mind, and his insatiable quest for knowledge. He Would often work through the night because he was engrossed and swept up in some project he was working on. At regional computer shows, he would be 20-30 years the senior of most others there but that never slowed him down from asking questions and finding out what he wanted to know.

He was very task oriented - from one day to the next. most of the time, he would totally revise my plans for the new day's work. I would arrive ready to pursue yesterday's project, yet halfway expecting fie would have a new and different plan for the day, having been up through the night noodling" new alternatives.

Harry was passionate about the future. In his lifetime he set in motion a number of projects that stretch well into the next century, long after he knew that he would be gone from this earth. But he believed in them so much that he made sure that they would come to pass by concept, organization and funding, even if he Would not personally get to see them to their completion.

The creation of the Harry Bass Foundation was part of this dream, to make it possible for future generations to study and enjoy the fruits of his labors, and to share his numismatic work around the world through its publication on the Internet.

He determined several years ago that he would leave a lasting legacy to the world of numismatics, and the Internet World Wide Web would provide the vehicle to share that wealth of information, not only of his own work and study on his U.S. Federal gold coin collection, but through his continuing relationship with the American Numismatic Society, to cooperate in making their vast resources available. That dream is rapidly becoming a reality.

Harry was a Renaissance man. In the sense of "rebirth," "revival." He saw things in a new way, and he was continually giving birth to new, cuttingedge ideas.

He had his own timeline. It mattered not whether it matched anyone else's sense of timing or not. It was almost as if he had a sixth sense about the time that he had left to accomplish things of importance to him. He carefully measured and monitored his own energies, resources and support and gave fully to the task at hand.

He loved a challenge, particularly if it had never been done before. It could not be too big or too complex, if he deemed it worthwhile. He chose to put his considerable energies, financial resources and personal efforts into carefully chosen projects where he could make a decisive difference, not only for his own lifetime, but for succeeding generations.

Harry had been fascinated with computers for two decades, having worked with them to organize his own collections in database form as soon as they were commercially available in the early 1980s. As Computers became more powerful, his vision of their potential empowered his own work in numismatics. In December of 1991 he created the Harry Bass Foundation (HBRF) to hold together in perpetuity his reference collection of U.S. 'Federal Gold coinage, which he had perfected over 30 plus years, and to make it available in the future for numismatic study and research. As the Internet emerged in the last few years, he envisioned sharing his collection with numismatists around the world via the World Wide Web. Although he had already Placed over 800 items of gold coins, patterns and U.S. Large-Size currency in the Research Foundation since 1991, upon his death the remainder of his magnificent collection has also become part of the HBRF holdings. He envisioned all of these thousands of items not only described, but also pictured on the Web, for numismatists everywhere. (And this will happen as soon as we can complete a project of this magnitude, which may be several years.)

In addition to the concept of his own reference collection, Harry wanted to encompass ALL numismatic information to be "Intemet-available," if not in "full-text" version (an impossible task, between its scope and copyright restrictions), then at least in "searchable-index" version. To this end, he first set out to create an index of significant numismatic periodicals over the last 100 plus years, which the Research Foundation calls "NIP" for "Numismatic Indexes Project," and currently includes over 76,000 entries in a searchable listing of 15 of the important numismatic periodicals published in English since the Civil War. Though we can't provide full text of these periodicals, this for the first time ever does allow collectors and numismatists to know what has been written in the last century about their particular interests.

Broadening that concept to an international numismatic level, Harry then launched (and personally paid for) "Phase Two" - to electronically index the complete text of Numismatic Literature, which the American Numismatic Society has published since 1947 of all numismatic publications around the world, with full text citations and abstracts in most cases. The sheer volume of this series in semiannual bound issues made it very difficult to find the resources, even when you knew that something had to be written on a particular numismatic subject.

Though not yet finished, (a project of scanning, correcting and mounting 139 issues of some 600 pages in each issue), under the sponsorship of HBRF, we hope to complete this entry of "NumLit" and presentation on the Web about the turn of the new century. Our work is being posted as each issue is completed, and currently more than the last decade (as well as some of the early years) is available to search at http://search.hbrf.org/resmenu.htm.

Harry was 10-20 years ahead of his time. For the last several years he was constantly thinking and visioning about the twenty-first century, seeing the possibilities in just-emerging technologies and ideas. The dissemination of information by computers on the World Wide Web fascinated him, and he wanted to utilize the potential of the Web for numismatic education, since this new avenue had never before been possible on a worldwide scale.

As one of the ex-presidents of the American Numismatic Society in New York City, though he could no longer travel, he still remained on their Council until his death to provide his leadership input by conference phone hookup.

One of his dreams for the ANS was to "reconceive the ANS for the next century," giving the whole world access to its treasure of resources via the Internet and in touch with members and curators through email. He not only conceived it and convinced the Council of its wisdom and validity, but also supplied the hardware, the software, the manpower and the funding to make it happen.

Almost single-handedly, Harry has provided the host site for the ANS Internet presence, and created the Web interface for the presentation and search capability of the ANS databases of the ANS Coin Cabinet, representing over a half-million coin entries, for the world to benefit by.

His latest effort was the conception, planning and execution (and funding) the ANS Library Project: having the entire card catalog of the ANS Library entered into electronic form for the first time ever. Until now, there has been no way for persons around the world to know everything that had been written on a given numismatic subject. Later this year (probably by September) the entire ANS Library card file of some 140,000 entries will be electronically available for searching via the Internet- He believed deeply in having this information available for numismatists everywhere "from this time forth"; in fact, he was examining the "first returns" of the card input on Friday, April 3, in his hospital bed the day before he died. And he was giving instructions to the last, having trained me to carry on his wishes after he was gone. He was a faithful steward of all that was entrusted to him.

And so his dreams and life's work will be carried forward into the coming century through the Harry Bass Foundation, which is dedicated to serving numismatics around the world in the years to come. In this one man's lifetime, he has been able to envision and bring together all of the significant resources of numismatic study and research of centuries, as well as to create a world class U.S. Federal Gold reference collection for study and research, for the benefit of all numismatists everywhere from this time forward. He will be remembered as one of the great numismatists of this century. As I said in the beginning, Harry Bass was truly a remarkable man; I am honored to also call him my friend.