Michael Hodder and Q. David Bowers
Peter Mougey's collection of half dollars was among the finest assembled at the time, and Albert Holden was interested in acquiring several varieties for his collection. Emery May did the basic numismatic and pricing research, as usual. Lot 652 of the Mougey Sale was an example of the rare 1878-S, of which only 12,000 were originally minted. Emery May correctly noted next to the lot that the 1878-S was the rarest San Francisco Mint half dollar (although 5,000 were coined in 1873 without arrows on the obverse, none is known to survive).
Lot 664 was an 1874-CC half dollar, which Elder catalogued as being rare. It was graded as Uncirculated. Emery May crossed out Elder's word rare, substituting her own "scarse" sic; her spelling was rather poor and didn't get much better until she was in her 30s). While the mintage figures for the 1874 Carson City half dollar would tend to support her calling the issue scarce rather than rare (59,000 struck), she neglected to take into account the grade of the coin. A strictly Uncirculated 1874-CC half dollar is a rare coin: the 1988 edition of the Guidebook of United States Coins values an EF-40 1874-CC half at $900, but suggests a value of $4,000 for an MS-60 specimen. Only years of numismatic experience can teach this sort of lesson about mintages and rarity. Emery May's inexperience, and her father's also, led them to an incorrect conclusion in this case.
Lots 776 and 777 of the Mougey Sale were a pair of Carson City quarter dollars, dated 1870 and 1872, respectively. Emery May's notes next to the 1870-CC read "ex. rare". In this case, she was absolutely correct. Only 8,340 pieces were struck, and the current Guidebook values the date at $1,000 in Good-4, up to $4,750 in EF-40" it is unpriced above that grade, meaning that it is extremely rare above EF-45 condition. Thomas Elder's catalogue description indicated the grade of Mougey's piece as Extremely Fine, so Emery May's comment was correct. Interestingly, Elder did not mention anything about the date being rare, so here Emery May improved upon his description. Her notes next to lot 777, the 1872-CC quarter, say that it is extremely rare, too. Elder catalogued it as rare, also. Its catalogue grade was Very Good. A quick look into the current Guidebook shows the date valued there at $225 in VG-8, but $1,800 in EF-40.
Lot 913 of the Mougey sale was an 1838-O half dime graded as Uncirculated. Elder catalogued it as " ... a little tarnished:', which means that today we would have called it nicely toned! Standards of beauty in coins change over the years. Emery May's comment next to this lot reads: "See if coin is small 0, ours is large 0" Later authors, such as Daniel Valentine and Don Taxay, do not list different size mintmarks for the 1838-O half dime, so her question was a sophisticated one.
Lot 923 was an 1853-O half dime, together with an 1854-O.
Elder catalogued the first as Uncirculated, the second as Very Good and rare. Against the 1853-0 Emery May's note asked asked the logical question: "arrows or no arrows?" As the variety with no arrows at date is valued much higher than. the with arrows variety in the current Guidebook, the question she asked was a good one. Elder should have made the distinction in his cataloguing of the lot.
To take just one more example from the Mougey Sale of 1910, to illustrate Emery May's early sophistication, consider the quarter eagle in lot 1144. Thomas Elder's description reads as follows: "1796. Bust of Liberty to right, with cap. Heraldic eagle. Planchet marks across the obverse rim, otherwise a brilliant Uncirculated specimen with Proof surface. Very rare. Plate;' This is a very workmanlike description of the coin, and in all respects save one it could stand in one of today's auction catalogues. The only flaw in Elder's description was noticed immediately, as Emery May's note reads: "Stars or no stars?". Anyone with a plated copy of the Mougey Sale catalogue could look at the plate and see for himself whether the variety was the more popular, and so more expensive one, without stars on the obverse. Emery May was working with the unplated version of the catalogue, however, as were many other collectors. Elder's description should have made it clear to all readers what variety the lot contained. It was not a difficult oversight to notice, but it does show us that 13 year old Emery May read her catalogues very carefully and took her role as her father's collaborator with his coin collection very seriously.
The Middle Years (1914-1934)
The collaboration between father and daughter drew to a close towards the end of 1912. Albert Holden had returned from a business trip to Alaska in September of that year, knowing he was dying of cancer. His last coin purchases were made shortly afterward. Between December 1912 and his death in May 1913, no new coins appear to have been permanently added to the collection. Albert did receive some coins, and at least one entire collection of coins, through the mail on an approval basis. However, his health was not good enough to allow him the luxury of inspecting these shipments. Some of these approval shipments from different dealers were returned before his death, but we know of at least one which was not, a collection of over 150 Connecticut coppers, some of which were originally from Dr. Thomas Hall's personal collection.
Emery May did not see all the coins sent to her father on approval during these final months. The collection of Connecticut coppers, for example, was found in Albert's house after his death; his executors purchased the collection, sight unseen, paying the seller his asking price (not recorded). Without even opening the parcel that contained the coins, the executors stored it away with the rest of Albert's collection in a Cleveland bank vault. Much later, around 1935, Emery May Norweb rediscovered the collection and set to work cataloguing it, with the help of her children! This was the first time she had seen these particular coins. We only know the story in this kind of detail because Mrs. Norweb recorded it in her own inventory ledgers, which she started after 1937.
Emery May was placed in the guardianship of her aunt and uncle after her father's death, and she lived with them in their house in Bratenahl, which was near her old home. Albert's coin collection Was transferred to a bank vault for safekeeping, where it remained undisturbed for many years. From the records that survive from this period, it appears that Emery May did not work on the collection. As a minor child, she may not have had access to it. From late in May 1913 until sometime in 1933 the collection lay dormant, neither added to by new purchases nor consolidated by sales of duplicates, of which there were many even in 1913.
Emery May did not forget the collection, nor did she abandon the hobby, however. Her father's obituary was published in The Numismatist in March 1914. Two months later, on the first anniversary of his death, Emery May applied to the American Numismatic Association for her own membership. Her application was dated May IS, 1914. On it, she listed her occupation as "housewife", which was stretching the truth a little since she did not marry Henry Norweb until 1917 and had not even met him in 1914! Since she was a minor in 1914, she may have felt that calling herself a housewife was a way of avoiding any problems about her age. When her application was approved, she received membership number 1762.