Michael Hodder and Q. David Bowers
August 10, 1954
Dear John:
This is by way of inquiring about your plans for Cleveland in the hope that you may be coming on a day early, in which case let me know so that we can arrange for a pre-convention get together, perhaps also with Gaston [Dibello], if he is coming too.
It seems a long time since our paths crossed so briefly in Milwaukee, and there is much to catch up with. Presumably you will be staying at the Carter Hotel, but I have requested a guest card for you at the Union Club, which is very near the hotel and most convenient for a change of scene ....
Very sincerely,
Hon. R. Henry Norweb
September 7, 1954
My Dear Harry:
Thank you for your recent note telling me about the Nova Scotia cent 1861 and the Canada 1927 50-cent piece [a copy of which correspondence does not survive in the Norweb files].
I also enjoyed very much visiting with your wife and you in Cleveland [at the ANA Convention] and also with you in Toronto. It certainly was very kind of you to extend so much hospitality to me.
I shall look forward to seeing you again soon, perhaps in New York the week of the 20th.
Very sincerely,
John J. Pittman
October 6, 1954
Dear John:
Many thanks for your letter of the 30th [a copy of which does not survive in the Norweb files] ....
No word from Mike Kolman, and I am lying low as suggested.
My guess is that he is still taking some holiday.
As for Washington, we have accommodations from the Und through the 26th at the Mayflower. I shall be joining my wife Saturday night after flying down from Sandusky, where I expect to spend the morning duck shooting. If you like wild duck I will see that you get a pair sometime during the season.
Very sincerely,
Hon. R. Henry Norweb
October 7, 1954
Dear John:
This is sort of a postscript to my letter the other day .... As regards to the late double eagles, the latest one we had prior to Cairo was 1928, and that was soldered. It has long since been disposed of, but I am sure that you would not be interested in it. It was because we lacked so many of the late double eagles that we went after Farouk Lot 185.
My wife asked me to add that she will be in Washington on the 22nd around luncheon time and looks forward to seeing you that evening and at frequent intervals thereafter. I shall join her Saturday afternoon or evening ....
Very sincerely,
Hon. R. Henry Norweb
October 8, 1954
Dear Harry:
Thank you for your letter of October 6th and postscript of October 7th.... Please tell your wife I shall look forward to seeing her in Washington on the Und and the other days of the convention. I shall also look forward to seeing you at that time. I trust -that we shall find time for interesting conversations.
Thank you also for the information about the late date double eagles in the Farouk Lot 185. As mentioned to you in New York, I am really only interested in the dates 1929-1932 ....
I appreciated very much your offer of the wild duck and I shall look forward to receiving a pair sometime during the season. Very sincerely,
John
November 10, 1954
Dear John:
Your letter to Cleveland has been read to me over the phone.
We shall miss you at the sale, for such gatherings are not the same without you. Let me know at the above address if we can do anything for you at the sale, as you offered to do for us ....
I was arranging to have a member of the family to bring the ducks for delivery to you on Saturday, but now we will have to wait for another opportunity. I had thought about air express, but there seems to be a ban on interstate shipments of wild fowl.
We return home Monday-and then to the marshes where I already hear the geese calling.
Very sincerely,
Hon. R. Henry Norweb
November-15, 1954
My Dear John:
Just back from a morning at the office before going out again to the duck marshes with the hope of picking off a few strays the president may have missed.
You must have had a hunch about the sale. We did not get one of the items in which we were interested. Fair prices went out of the window, with the half cent 1796 specimen, for example, going at $3,000 to a "Miss Pokerface:' We called her that because she looked and acted like Helen Moody and added to the mystery of her preemptive bidding by paying in cash and disappearing with the loot in an ordinary market paper bag. I recognized her from the Big Cent Sale which you attended, and her tactics there were the same, but now with a repeat performance the mystery deepens. As regards to the 1870-S silver dollar, Kagin unfortunately was determined to get it at any price, and I dropped out at $4,000-double the Cairo specimen, but in my opinion worth it. [The reference in this paragraph is to Stack's Sale of the Anderson-Dupont Collection Sale.] ....
Very sincerely
Hon. R. Henry Norweb