NEWMAN PORTAL DIGITIZES APFELBAUM RARE COIN COURSE

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V19 2016 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 19, Number 36, September 4, 2016, Article 11

NEWMAN PORTAL DIGITIZES APFELBAUM RARE COIN COURSE

The latest addition to the Newman Numismatic Portal is an audio archive of numismatic lectures assembled and promoted in 1978 by dealer Stanley Apfelbaum. Project Coordinator Len Augsburger provided the following report. -Editor

In 1978, the attorney and telemarketer Stanley Apfelbaum created the Institute of Numismatic and Philatelic Studies at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York. In addition to live classes, Apfelbuam created a home study version of the course that consisted of 20 cassette tapes and a syllabus. With the permission of Adelphi University, these tapes have been digitzed by the Newman Portal and include speakers such as Harry Forman, Walter Breen, Herbert Melnick, John J. Ford, Jr., and Apfelbaum himself. David Alexander summed up the course in a revealing article published by Coin Week on January 13, 2016:

“A number of prominent numismatists, FCI [First Coinvestors Inc.] staffers and hobbyists flocked to take the courses offered, taught by such professionals as Walter Breen and Anthony Swiatek. Breen appeared in flip-flops, tie-dyed shirts and his usual unwashed shorts. Registrants received an elaborate certificate of participation that was impressive to gaze upon. Unfortunately, it soon became obvious that a primary (but unspoken) purpose of courses and certificates was to certify FCI telemarketing salesmen as qualified numismatists!”

The tapes portray a different time, when investing in rare coins captured a much great mindshare of the hobby than it does today. The spoken voice reveals more character than the written word, and listening to Melnick, et al, one is transported back in time to another era when millions of households had made a few dollars for themselves simply by saving silver coins. The idea of making even more money was understandable and attractive, and Apfelbaum did his best to leverage a susceptible public.

Note: this group of cassettes was stored in variable conditions for a great period of time, and audio quality varies. The John J. Ford, Jr. tapes in particular are difficult to understand. The Newman Portal will gladly digitize another set if a reader is willing to loan them.

I lent my set of the study course to NNP for this effort. I had listened to some of the tapes back when I acquired the set, but like most of us, I don't have a cassette tape player around the house anymore. It's great to get these digitized and made available on the web. At least the digital files won't further degrade like the physical tapes. If anyone else has a set of these, please let us know - we'll want to upgrade these recordings to the finest available versions.

Thanks to our library partners at Washington University in St. Louis and their counterparts at Adelphi University for making this digital archive possible. -Editor

Link to audio recordings of the Institute of Numismatic and Philatelic Studies:
https://archive.org/details/newmannumismatic?and%5B%5D=mediatype%3A%22audio%22&sort=-date&and%5b%5d=Adelphi

Link to Coin Week article by David Alexander on Stanley Apfelbaum:
http://www.coinweek.com/education/numismatic-history-stanley-apfelbaum-coin-telemarketing/

Wayne Homren, Editor

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

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