Letters in Appreciation

REMEMBERING HARRY W. BASS, JR.

Harry W. Bass, Jr. was a great numismatist and scholar, and loved U.S. Gold coins. He enjoyed studying the multiple die varieties of the early coins and had the largest collection of U, S. Gold die states and varieties ever assembled.

He enjoyed visiting the Stack family whenever he was in New York. He spent hours studying our inventory as well as our photo library. We had the only photographic collection of the Colonel E.H.R. Green Collection of U.S. 2.50, 5.00 and 10.00 gold. He used the photographs to study and enhance his knowledge of those series.

Harry was a good friend and client. He also gave Stack's the opportunity to be one of his agents at the Louis Eliasberg Gold Coin Sale held in New York in 1982. Harry was sure that if he bid himself, others not as knowledgeable as he, would use his bidding as a "crutch" to bid against him. He didn't want to create his own competition.

Harry asked me to represent him at the sale and gave me a list of special lot numbers he wanted me to bid on. I asked him for his limits, and he said, "Just watch me." We made up a special signal. He wore his jacket and had a handkerchief in his breast pocket. Whenever we came to a lot he wanted, he would signal by touching the handkerchief in his pocket. When he removed his hand, I was to stop bidding. I could only bid when he was touching the handkerchief

I war. not sitting near him. He sat in the first row and I positioned myself 5 rows behind him with a good view of the handkerchief in his pocket. The plan worked perfectly the first part of the sale, and I acquired for him a goodly number of coins.

The tense moment arrived when the unique 1870 'S' $3.00 Gold was offered for sale and I knew from my list he wanted to bid on it. When the bidding opened at about $120,000. and started to advance towards $200,000., Harry did not move. He waited. As the bidding approached $300,000., he moved his hand to the handkerchief and held on to it. I began bidding and continued in $25,000. increments till it reached $425,000., and suddenly his hand dropped, and the bidding continued to $500,000. Once again Harry's hand returned to the handkerchief and dropped after I bid $575,000. for him. Suddenly a bid came at $600,000, and the room gasped. Harry didn't move. The auctioneer was calling for "anymore" and just as the gavel was about to drop, Harry's hand returned to the handkerchief and I immediately bid $625,000 and won the coin. The applause that followed showed the excitement we all felt in the room. Stack's was given the credit of acquisition, and it was only later that year Harry revealed he was the buyer.

As I mentioned before, Harry and the Stack family had a great relationship. Whenever he came to New York he always would stay at the Hotel Salisbury, which is immediately adjacent to our 57th Street offices, so he visited us quite often. In fact, when he was working at the American Nurnismatic Society years ago, on a pet project he had, developing a computer inventory of the Society's coins, he would spend months in New York. The Society closed each day at 4:00 P.M. Harry would take a cab over to our offices, sit and talk numismatics with one of the Stack's, till our closing each evening at 5:30 P.M. These casual conversations only helped develop our warm friendship and greater understanding of Harry's love for his collection and collectors.

When we heard he wasn't well over the past few years, we inquired often about his health and spoke to him whenever we could on the phone, just friend to friend.

We will miss him greatly but the numismatic knowledge he assembled and shared with all will always be his legacy for our hobby.

With sincere remembrance of a dear friend,


Harvey G. Stack