DR. HENDERSON AND WILLIAM ASHBROOK

Another nice group of articles in the latest Asylum, Volume 32, Number 4. Of particular interest to me was David Fanning's "Off the Shelf" article about "The Sales of J.M. Henderson".

I was introduced to Henderson upon reading the diaries of William Ashbrook, the Congressman from Ohio who was instrumental in securing the ANA's Federal Charter.

Both were members of the Ohio State Numismatic Society as early as 1907, from what I can glean from the diaries, and became fast numismatic friends.

Saturday, August 8, 1908
Ran over to Columbus this afternoon to see Dr. Henderson about an auction of old coins.

Saturday, Sunday, November 28-29, 1908
Dr. Henderson came home with me... we looked at my coins tonight. He is a coin crank, but a mighty good fellow. Spent the entire day (Sunday) with Dr Henderson and my coins. I am figuring on having a coin sale to sell my duplicates.

I was surprised that Henderson hadn't organized an auction before 1932, as shown in David's article. Clearly, there was some interest there much earlier, as he repeatedly mentored Ashbrook in regard to buying and selling coins.

Thursday, June 3, 1909
We (Henderson and Ashbrook) came to attend a coin sale by Henry Chapman. My first coin sale. Took dinner with Zerbe, president of ANA. Dr. Henderson is a candidate to succeed Zerbe.

Friday, June 4, 1909
Henderson took me to all of the curio shops in the city. (Philadelphia) Attended the coin sale from 1 to 6 pm. Hudson Chapman invited us for dinner. He has a wonderful collection of Greek coins.

Saturday, Sunday, September 25-26, 1909
Dr. Henderson and his wife came over on the evening train and we worked on my coins until midnight. (Sunday) The Doctor spent most of the day with me, shaping up my coins for the auction.

Thursday, Friday, October 28-29, 1909
Went to Columbus this morning to attend the meeting of the Ohio State Numismatic Association. (Friday) We had our great coin sale today...we sold 745 lots...two thirds of the coins sold were mine, and I am rid of most of my duplicates and at a very nice profit.

Monday, November 6, 1911
Received word today that I had been elected on the Board of Governors of the ANA and Henderson was re-elected its President.

Wednesday, November 29, 1911
Dr. Henderson had lunch with me at the Neil House.

This entry is interesting, as according to Fanning's article, the Neil House was the site of Henderson's first auction some twenty years later. That auction was in conjunction with the Ohio State Numismatic Society, as were several of his other auctions. It seems that in the twenty years between the time Henderson was ANA president and his first auction with the OSNS, that he might have had some connection, albeit undocumented, with the yearly Ohio auctions.

There are nearly two dozen references to Henderson in Ashbrooks diaries between the years 1907 and 1916. Ashbrook's interest in coins deteriorated after that, but Henderson's zeal for numismatics continued.

For more information on the Numismatic Bibliomania Society, see:
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