RESEARCHING THE COIN COLLECTOR

After a little more than three weeks into my research project regarding K. O. Cunningham mail bid sales in The Coin Collector, I finally hit pay dirt. Not a big bonanza, mind you, but a sufficiently sizable vein.

With the helpful cooperation of Hang Nguyen, Ph.D., reference librarian at the State Historical Society of Iowa, I now have PDF copies of three of the five K. O. Cunningham sales for which I have searched.

Hang Nguyen followed the leads I sent and browsed through issues of The Coin Collector on microfilm at the Iowa library. Hang scanned the three K. O. Cunningham mail-bid advertisements found, including the cover pages for each issue, and emailed them to me.

Surprisingly, even though the microfilm roll in the Historical Society's library includes the issues of The Coin Collector that should display the two missing K. O. Cunningham mail bid sales, Hang could not find them. These are, as per Gengerke's listing (pg. 149, 2009 edition), issues dated March 20, 1957 (for a mail bid sale ending April 12, 1957), and February 20, 1958 (ending date March 10, 1958).

Akio Lis at the ANA library also assisted me in searching for the requested The Coin Collector issues. He found a hard copy of the same issue I have attached in this email (July 20, 1958). The ANA's library doesn't have any of the other four issues in question.

I also want to acknowledge Len Augsburger for sending (6/22/21) a tip about the State Historical Society of Iowa.

I had no idea what to expect to see in K. O. Cunningham's mail bid sales when I launched my search. He came to my attention many years ago while browsing old Reno, NV, newspapers. During the 1950s, dating to early 1954, he was apparently the go-to source for newspaper reporters in the area seeking information about CC coins. From what I have discovered, he owned a desirable set of CC Morgan silver dollars, as well as an impressive representation of CC type coins. I don't think he owned any major rarities with the CC mintmark. He did, however, lust after an 1876-CC twenty-cent piece. He told a reporter that if one surfaced it would cost around $2,500!

Cunningham's primary occupation was a dealer in a casino. One can only imagine the conversations about CC coins (and collectible coins in general) that occurred among casino dealers in the 1950s who daily handled stacks of Morgan silver dollars.

In Cunningham's mail bid sale in the July 20, 1958, The Coin Collector, the 1871-CC Liberty Seated dollar in XF condition at the top of the list certainly stands out. Other than that, his sale is very sparse insofar as CC coins are concerned. He lists only several CC Morgan silver dollars, and that's it. At least these are the three rarest dates in this series.

This journey of discovery regarding K. O. Cunningham in The Coin Collector has proven rewarding. The rewards would increase further if I could find Prices Realized for Cunningham's mail bid sales. (That seems like a fool's errand!)

My file on Cunningham continues to expand. I enjoy learning about obscure figures with connections to Carson City coins, especially if they were considered experts in this field during their lifetimes—even if only within an isolated part of the country.

Thanks again for publishing my research requests to E-sylum readers.

Rusty adds:

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: JUNE 20, 2021 : Query: The Coin Collector (https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n25a08.html)
MORE ON THE COIN COLLECTOR (https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n26a15.html)

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