The Norweb Collection - An American Legacy

Early in 1958 Mrs. Norweb resumed relations with New Netherlands and began purchasing coins from them once again. However, the rapprochement was short-lived. In September 1958 the great numismatist and collector EC.C. Boyd died. His collection, amassed over many years, contained outstanding colonial coins, some of which were on Mrs. Norweb's want list. As re-counted by Ford, Boyd's widow called on John Ford to appraise her late husband's collection, and between the months of April and June 1959 he worked on Boyd's collection. Believing that the collection would be available for sale, and wanting to put relations with Mrs. Norweb on a firmer footing than before, Ford mentioned the appraisal he was conducting to Mrs. Norweb. Together, they went over her want list and the inventories of her collection of colonials, and decided which coins in the Boyd Collection could fill gaps in the Norweb Collection. Ford promised Mrs. Norweb that he would try to get her as much of the Boyd Collection as she needed, assuming that Boyd's widow was going to sell the collection to New Netherlands.

However, Mrs. Boyd had learned much from her husband, and with her lawyer's advice decided that her husband's estate would be better served if the collection was sold off slowly, over a period of years, rather than all at once to a single buyer. Mrs. Boyd knew that selling the collection in a short space of time might flood the market. Accordingly, she decided not to sell at that time. Wanting to play fairly with both Mrs. Norweb and Mrs. Boyd, Ford told Mrs. Boyd that Mrs. Norweb would be interested in buying the bulk of Boyd's collection, in order to acquire the pieces she was particularly interested in. For some unstated reason, Mrs. Boyd determined that Mrs. Norweb was not to have the collection. This decision, combined with her lawyer's advice and her own sense of marketing her husband's collection, removed any possibility of Ford's fulfilling his earlier promise to Mrs. Norweb to get for her the coins she wanted from Boyd's estate.

When he tried to explain the turn of events to Mrs. Norweb, she became exceedingly angry at Ford, blaming him for denying her the opportunity of acquiring the colonial coins she needed and accusing him of making a secret deal with Mrs. Boyd for his own benefit. By the spring of 1960 Mrs. Norweb broke all relations with New Netherlands Coin Company, and did not refer publicly to either New Netherlands or John Ford again. In 1962, after the break, Ford located the finest known specimen of the original 1827 quarter and offered to put Ambassador Norweb in touch with the owner. He told Ambassador Norweb that he felt he owed it to Mrs. Norweb, as she had missed the chance of buying the piece New Netherlands sold in 1957. Ambassador Norweb, who did not feel as strongly opposed to Ford as his wife did, agreed to the deal, and the Norweb Collection finally acquired its specimen of the rarity. Thus ended one of the closest relationships ever formed between professional and client in the history of United States numismatics.

Donations To Posterity The American Numismatic Society

The Norweb family established a close relationship with the American Numismatic Society during the 1950s, one that is still maintained today by R. Henry Norweb, Jr. Ambassador Norweb was appointed to the Council of the ANS in 1960, and Mrs. Norweb received a similar appointment eight years later, in 1968. They both served with distinction until 1978, when advancing years and Mrs. Norweb's failing sight required their resignations. To honor their long and meritorious service, they were both appointed Honorary Life Councillors of the Society. To preserve the family tradition of service to the institution, their son, R. Henry Norweb, Jr., was appointed to the Council on their resignation, and he serves today in that capacity.

The Norwebs were among the most important benefactors to the collections of coins and medals conserved at the American Numismatic Society in New York City. Their contributions began in the 1950s. The pace of their donations to the Society increased during the 1960s and 1970s. By 1978, thanks to their gifts, some parts of the ANS collections had become the most extensive and important of any conserved by numismatic museums around the world.

Gifts given in different years were recorded in the Society's Annual Reports, and a quick glance through the reports for 1955 -1978 will reveal the enormous extent of their donations. The most important gifts were made over the 13 years from 1965 to 1978.

In 1965 the Norwebs donated several varieties of the Washington Before Boston medal (Julian MI-1), including a pewter shell of the unadopted obverse design and a bronze shell of the error date reverse, as well as a bronze specimen of the original, Paris Mint striking. Also given in this year was a United States 1794 silver dollar, and over 1,000 Canadian and English tokens.

In 1966 they donated the famous gold 1758 Capture of Louisburg medal, the identical specimen given to Admiral Edward Boscawen, who led the British forces that captured the French fortification on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Also given this year was a muling of an 18th century Middlesex penny (D&H 235/243) with an undated (1795) Washington Liberty and Security penny, along with 1,400 other British merchants' tokens of the 18th century, and 1,000 Canadian tokens.

In 1967 the Norwebs donated 92 Peruvian gold coins, together with numerous 17th-century English tokens and additional Canadian tokens. In 1968 they gave specimens of the very rare Uruguyan 1854 40 reales; and the famous 1717 twelve deniers of Perpignan, an important coin for the study of French American colonial numismatics.

The single most important donation, in terms of value, was given in 1969. This was the sixth known specimen of the 1787 Brasher doubloon, the piece discovered by workmen in Philadelphia in 1897 while working underground in a city street. First publicly sold by the Chapmans in their auction of the Allison Jackman Collection (1918), the later pedigree of the specimen includes Newcomer, Col. E.H.R. Green, B.G. Johnson, EC.C. Boyd, and the New Netherlands Coin Company. The Norwebs purchased the coin from John J. Ford, Jr., of New Netherlands. Only one other numismatic museum possesses a 1787 Brasher doubloon, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, where the Eckfeldt specimen is conserved.