Michael Hodder and Q. David Bowers
Robert Friedberg
Robert Friedberg, who managed Gimbel's Coin Department and, later, the Coin and Currency Institute (a manufacturer of coin albums and supplies, and a publisher of reference books), had a number of transactions with the Norwebs. The following letters are from the period. Certain letters were addressed to Richard D. Kenney, who worked for Robert Friedberg and who was a respected numismatist in his own right.
July 9, 1953
Dear Mr. Kenney:
As always, summer plans are subject to change without notice, and so it has been with us. Frequent visits to Washington have altered our arrangements to spend considerable time in New York. Happily also, my mother's condition has not worsened as the doctors had anticipated.
As matters stand now we shall not be spending much time in New York until the months of September and October. Meanwhile however, there is a chance that we shall both get to Dallas for a few days during the [ANA] convention.
Let us hear from you from time to time, keeping in mind our general interests ....
Very sincerely,
Hon. R. Henry Norweb
September 2, 1953
Dear Mr. Norweb:
Under separate cover we are sending you by registered mail a small collection of National Bank Notes of Ohio. Please look these over, and feel free to select whatever you wish, and upon your advice, we shall charge your account for the notes retained. The approval invoice is enclosed with the notes.
Kindest personal regards to Mrs. Norweb, I am
Very sincerely yours,
Robert Friedberg
September 10, 1953
Dear Mr. Friedberg:
The Ohio National Bank Notes, together with a small shipment of Newfoundland silver which I selected have arrived. However, the other Canadian coins that were on your desk have not put in an appearance-hence this letter. Also let me know if you got in your new Canadian material as expected.
We will go over the Ohio notes with the director of the Historical Society. I'm afraid there will be very slim pickings since very few of the selections pertain to the Western Reserve area-the most having been issued in the southern part of the state. At the same time may I remind you of your promise to send me the revised list of your own collection.
Hope you had a good holiday.
Yours sincerely,
Hon. R. Henry Norweb
September 23, 1953
Dear Mr. Friedberg:
I have the revised list in hand, and now we have spent long hours over it, regret to report that it does not arouse the same enthusiasm as did the original proposition. To have bought the outstanding Friedberg Collection intact is one thing, but to own the remnants is something else. Despite the additions, it has lost much of its original power and we would always hear echoes of "Yes, he bought the Friedberg Collection, but much of the cream had already been skimmed." While of course this would not be completely true, it is close enough to my thinking, to temper our interest.
Aside from the specimens related to the Western Reserve area, I am not a collector of currency. Perhaps I never will be-but for one moment a window opened on new horizons, and I was tempted.
With many thanks for your help and courtesies,
Yours sincerely,
Hon. R. Henry Norweb
April 11, 1955 Dear Bob:
You will remember that a few weeks ago you sent me some Proof dollars, of which I selected the 1850 example, sending my check for $300. Over the weekend we were going through the Proof early dollar series and found to our disappointment that this specimen, because of hairlines in the field, does not match others.in the series. For this reason, though it may seem out of the ordinary, I'm writing to ask if you would be good enough to arrange for the return of this coin for credit to my account with you.
Yours truly,
Hon. R. Henry Norweb
The next item in the file mentions the coin department in a Cleveland store managed by Robert Friedberg. At one time he controlled leased coin departments in many different department stores, primarily in the eastern part of the United States:
October 12, 1955
Dear Mr. Norweb.
It was certainly a pleasure visiting with you, I am very grateful that you were able to spend as much time as you did looking through our coins.
In accordance with our plan, we are sending you, under separate cover by registered mail, the- various coins you-selected .... At the same time we are sending a list of these coins to our Cleveland store and are instructing Mr. Geller who is in charge of our coin department there to charge them. to your account ....
I shall be looking forward to seeing you in Philadelphia. I hope that Mrs. Norweb's cold has left her, and that you will receive only good news from your son.
With kindest personal regards, I am,
Yours very sincerely,
Robert Friedberg
October 17, 1955
Dear Bob:
According to the basis of the arrangement made in New York and confirmed by your letter, I am returning to the Cleveland office a number of the coins selected when in New York.
Unfortunately the number of returns is surprisingly large, but there is an explanation. It seems that all my Canadian collection is underrated. For example, Very Fine should now be marked up to Extremely Fine. As you will note, most of the returned coins are in Extremely Fine condition, so that they offered no chance to improve what was already in the collection ....
The time was not all wasted however, for I am keeping some of the more expensive items, particularly in the Latin-American field, and will probably get around to ordering others when I have an opportunity to check the master box. As it is, I am off on a duck hunting expedition and this is the last coin letter I expect to write for some time.
I appreciated the opportunity to see the inner workings of your organization, and was impressed with the length and breadth of your stock.