Michael Hodder and Q. David Bowers
July 17, 1958
Dear Dick:
By way of following up our chat in New York I have gone over our schedule with my wife, and it looks very much as if we are thoroughly tied down here until we leave for Maine via New Yorkon the 29th. For this I am really sorry as it looks like a good opportunity. However, we will do the best we can in the way of getting up a list of specialties about standing interest.
That being the case we shall be speaking with you when in New York before you leave for the West Coast on the 3rd.
Best regards,
Hon. R. Henry Norweb
July 23, 1958
Dear Dick:
I have checked your notes with the ANA catalogue and I had already marked the various items you mentioned. I made comment on them as follows:
I believe I would prefer to have a strictly Uncirculated 1804 cent. The Washington patterns we can check in New York next week. Mrs. Norweb has the disme in copper as well as the 1848 half
cent restrike.
Lot 2053 is a puzzler-but it is something you and Mrs. Norweb will want to talk over in New York ....
Very sincerely yours,
Hon. R. Henry Norweb
November 3, 1958
Dear Dick:
I am just back from a few days in the duck marshes, and my wife has been telling me of the proposed arrangements of dealing with Brand. While away I had been mulling over the prospects, and frankly I'm not happy with the setup. For myself, I know full well that to make up my mind over the telephone as to the price and desirability of a list of coins is not going to work. I still feel that since you are going out for us you should look over the coins, preparing a list with your notes to submit to us. This of course would mean another trip to Chicago to pick up and pay for such as we may decide are needed.
This I do not believe would be a waste of time because you would be seeing just what the old man has. I realize that he is 90, eccentric, and has beautiful coins, but there is only a certain point to which a private collector will go to humor him. As you know full well, after all coins are our hobby, not our business.
My suggestion then is that you look upon the first trip as a sort of scouting expedition, yet one that would be on a businesslike basis, with payments within 48 hours of any coins selected from those put aside. The combination of what you may want for yourself plus our list should make the game worth the candle for all concerned.
I note that you will not be leaving Flushing until Thursday afternoon, so this letter should reach you in ample time .... Very sincerely,
Hon. R. Henry Norweb
April 14, 1959
Dear Dick:
Do you happen to know the background of the 1794 half cent you bought for us at the last sale? It would be interesting to know to whom it belonged and who was the last owner. What did you finally decide about the coloring of the coin?
Drop me a line at this office address at your convenience.
Very sincerely,
Hon. R. Henry Norweb
April 22, 1959
Dear Mr. Norweb:
Thank you for your letter of the 14th, and please excuse the delay in answering. Unfortunately, this letter was addressed to my old post office, which I still maintain [since relocating to Box 366 Albertson, Long Island, New York]. It wasn't until today that I was able to stop off and pick up this letter.
I do not have any pedigree of that 1794 half cent, other than the notation in the catalogue that it was from the Col. Green Collection. I should imagine that it is a well-pedigreed coin, and if you wish to send the coin to me, sometime in June, I will be happy to take it up to the American Numismatic Society and check through all the Chapman catalogues and try to find it.
I am sorry that you weren't happy with the two-escudos piece of Argentina. If you wish, you may return it to me, and I am certain that I can return it to Hans [Schulman]. If not, I feel certain that at that figure I can always sell it from my bourse table at one of the conventions.
I am leaving tomorrow for the Kansas City convention and will looking forward to a surprise visit from you. If not, at least I hope to see you at the New York convention.
Kindest regards, Sincerely,
Dick
John J. Pittman
John J. Pittman, a Rochester, New York numismatist, was active in numismatics beginning in the early 1940s. Later, he served for many years on the Board of Governors of the American Nu-mismatic Association and served a term as president.
Possessing an excellent technical and historical knowledge of Canadian and American numismatics (as well as numerous other fields), John J. Pittman was called upon frequently by the Norwebs to answer questions concerning items they had been offered. The letters in the Norweb file pertain primarily to Canadian coins, but there are a few scattered references to pieces in the United States series, some of which are quoted below.
October 29, 1953
Dear John:
A letter promises an advance copy of the Farouk Sale list.
Presumably you too are working in this direction, so that I would merely suggest that whenever either you or I receive our copy we plan to get in touch with each other, so as to make sure that the information is quickly available to us both.
Among the items my spies report as included in the list is the rare Canadian $20 gold piece.
With personal regards,
Hon. R. Henry Norweb