| Description |
Eric P. Newman Correspondence Files: ANA Certification Service (ANACS)Over 900 pages, primarily consisting of original letters to Eric P. Newman from ANACS personnel and ANA members concerned with ANACS, as well as copies of Newman's own side of the correspondence (1965-1987). Much of the material here present concerns specific items submitted to ANACS for authentication and/or grading, including certification documents for coins examined on behalf of ANACS by Newman. Notable materials here present include: letters regarding the appointment of Eric P. Newman to the predecessor entity, the Bureau of Numismatic Identification and Authentication (BONI); correspondence in which Newman attempts to resign from the Bureau because of the ongoing PNG investigation of the U.S.A.O.G. $20 gold controversy with fellow Bureau member John J. Ford, Jr.; an interesting group of materials in which Newman discusses the authentication program for stamps managed jointly by the Philatelic Foundation and the American Philatelic Society, and how a study of this program by the ANA could be helpful as it works to establish a similar program for coins; an issue of the ANACS Consultant Newsletter, a publication distributed to the very small number of authenticators; and a 1980 letter from Newman, accompanied by four enlarged photographs of a submitted 1853 U.S.A.O.G. $20 piece which Newman concludes "has been deliberately altered to such an extent that we cannot tell whether it is genuine or false." The establishment of an authentication bureau by the American Numismatic Association is something that took years to develop and often involved delicate diplomacy between various parties. While the earliest correspondence here present dates from Sept. 21, 1965 (Matt Rothert's invitation to Newman to join the new BONI Committee), the earliest authentication report submitted by Newman to the ANA (for a 1793 large cent) is dated Nov. 21, 1972--over seven years later. Some of the letters in the present lot remain sensitive after over 40 years; others are amusing in retrospect. To Charles Hoskins's 1972 inquiry as to whether Newman had "any experience in authenticating U.S. private gold coins," Newman responds: "I put in two years studying all U.S. Assay Office, Blake, Parsons, etc. and testified before the arbitration in the Garland vs. Ryan matter. Is this enough experience on the private gold phonies?" Once the service was fully established, however, it began operating at a busy pace, with hundreds of pages of this lot consisting of highly detailed reports written by Newman on the coins submitted for his examination. Condition is generally fine or nearly so. A fascinating group of material. Estimate $5,000. Ex: Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society.
Heritage Auctions 11/2018 (Newman XI), lot15112 (realized $384).
Heritage link: http://www.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=1283&lotIdNo=11246 |
