Tettenhorst
Born in St.Louis, Missouri. Married to Marilyn. Harvard University (B.S., 1949) Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration (MBA, 1951).
R. Tettenhorst is a St. Louis collector best known for his half cent collection (the “Missouri Cabinet Collection”) sold by Goldberg’s in 2014. Tett is related to Eric P. Newman by marriage and both of their collecting careers followed similar arcs, being mentored as children by Burdette G. Johnson, a St. Louis dealer. After establishing professional careers, both built world-class collections. Tet worked his entire career at Edison Brothers Stores, a retail firm founded in 1922 by his father Irving and uncles Sam, Mark, Harry, and Simon. He began at Edison Brothers in 1953 after completing military service and rose to the rank for President in 1968, where he served until retiring in 1987. Edison Brothers was the largest retailer of women’s shoes in the United States, reaching $1 billion in sales in 1983.
Tett originally began by collecting large cents and, feeling he could not compete with top collectors in that field, began pursuing half cents. The Missouri Cabinet, containing pieces from Tett and the Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society , was the only collection containing every variety of circulation and proof strikes in the United States half cent series. The 2014 sale realized over $18 million, including a 1794 Cohen-7 half cent graded PCGS MS67 RB, which sold at $1.15 million. Many of the pieces came from other important half cent collections, including those of Philip M. Showers and Roger S. Cohen.
(See Bernard Alan Edison)
He used the name of his secretary, Rose Tettenhorst, to conduct his numismatic business.
Select a year
10 entries found for [year:1990]
19901854 Copper Nickel Pattern
A very large group of material related to the 1854 Copper-Nickel Pattern Half Cent. Tett spent many years collecting and researching this coin, culminating in an article published in Penny-Wise in 1990 and a presentation on the information at EAC in 1990. The items include:
1) Many historical articles, auction sales, and price lists related to this coin.
2) The x-ray spectra analysis of coins from 1975 and 1987.
3) The return of the Copper-Nickel Pattern to Stack’s in 1975 and their refund after the analysis showed it was not a Copper-Nickel coin.
4) Several handwritten followed by typed and annotated drafts of the Penny-Wise articles.
5) Correspondence about the articles with Harry Salyards, Dave Bowers, Roger Cohen and others.
6) The actual articles as published.
7) Several letters from EAC members discussing his article.
8) The talk given at the EAC Convention.
9) Information relating to the exhibit at the convention of the Copper-Nickel Pattern (labels for the cases, photos, etc).
1990Davy II Envelopes
R. Tettenhorst's Davy II coin envelopes collection. Date approximate.
1990Roger Cohen Large Cent Envelopes
R. Tettenhorst collection of Roger Cohen large cent envelopes. Date approximate.
1990Coin Envelopes Box 1
R. Tettenhorst's coin envelope collection, part one. Date approximate.
1990Coin Envelopes Box 3, Tettenhorst Collection
R. Tettenhorst's coin envelope collection, part three. Date is approximate.
(Note, "Box 2," although physically present in the Tettenhorst archives, consisted of the Roger Cohen envelopes, and is listed in the Roger Cohen Archives group at https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/541470).
1990Bob Grellman Jr. Correspondence, 1990 to 2010
Correspondence with Bob Grellman Jr. on the topic of half-cent.
1990William T. Jones Correspondence, 1990
A brief correspondence with William T. Jones on the topic of early half cents.
1990Mike Packard Correspondence, 1990 to 1998
Correspondence with Mike Packard on the topic of researching and presenting on half cents and their historical manufacture.
1990Gene Reale Correspondence, 1990 to 1994
Correspondence with Gene Reale discussing their coin collections and exchanging research.
1/1/1990Half Cent Varia
Three miscellaneous items from the R. Tettenhorst papers, including a photo guide for the Breen half cent encyclopedia, photocopies of half cent tokens from Gene Briag, and an apparent schema for a half cent database.
