The Norweb Collection - An American Legacy

Much about a collector can be told from the contents of his library, especially his degree of sophistication in the hobby. Unfortunately, most of Bert's own library was dispersed between 1913, the year of his death, and the 1930s, when his daughter, Mrs. Norweb, resumed collecting coins. From what remains, however, and the scattered references to titles since lost, we can tell that Bert was advanced for his time, exhibiting a degree of numismatic sophistication uncommon in the early 1900s.

A brief listing of the books that survive from his time can be found in the exhibit listing Bert's library, which accompanies this text. Among colonial coins books Bert Holden owned were references by Crosby and Maris, but not by Hall. Among federal issues, Bert concentrated on books about large cents, including Crosby on the 1793 cents, Maris on the 1794 cents, Gilbert and Elder on the cents of 1796, and Frossard on large cents and half cents of 1793-1857. He also owned a copy of Haseltine's Type Table and Newlin's work on the early date half dimes. All in all, it was a respectable library for the time, and a very complete one too, as there were few other references available then.

The last piece of correspondence in Bert's file at Harvard is a telegram to Professor Wolff dated May 19, 1913, informing Wolff of the funeral arrangements made for Bert. It was signed A.W. Kuechle, who had been one of Bert's sponsors for membership in the American Numismatic Association five years earlier. Bert's obituary was published in Thy Numismatist for March 1914.

The Family Man

Bert's driving ambition was to succeed in whatever he tried his hand at, and in the shortest possible time. He made no allowances for failure, for himself or for anyone connected with him, and the high standards for achievement he set himself he applied equally to his associates and his family. Yet, he could be charming when he wanted to, and despite being a harsh taskmaster he was deeply loved by his family.

Albert Holden's granddaughter Jeanne, now Mother Mary Joseph, O.C.D., provided the following story of Bert's courtship and marriage, which was in the form of a letter to her from a great aunt, one of Bert Holden's sisters. Mother Mary Joseph kindly read relevant portions of the communication to the authors in an interview. It illustrates two sides of Bert's personality, the one that drove him to get what he wanted and the other that could temper his ambition with charm. The Katherine referred to was Emery May's mother, Jeanne's grandmother (modern family practice spells her name Katharine).

The third Katherine, always called Kate, was short, about the height of your mother [i.e., Mrs. Norweb]. She was not as pretty as her two older sisters. Her face was very intelligent. She wore glasses from the time she was a young girl. As I remember, all the young men from near and far were in love with her. Kate went to Salt Lake City to visit an aunt. At that time Kate was engaged to a young man from Pennsylvania. Kate met your grandfather [Albert Holden]. Apparently, it was a case of love at first sight on both sides. The young man from Pennsylvania was sent off and your grandmother was married in the spring at Davis, West Virginia. For some time they lived in Salt Lake City. Those were the happiest years of her life.