Max Mehl, Numismatist

There are some characters who really work at being bigger than life. Such a man was Max Mehl. More than 110 years ago, coin dealing as a full time profession, was relatively new in the United States. Max Mehl was a young man of immigrant background who found himself in Texas in 1896.

Sixty-eight year old B. Max Mehl in his office in the 57th year of his coin business.
Sixty-eight year old B. Max Mehl in his office in the 57th year of his coin business.

Texas in those days was still a rough and tumble outback of American Civilization which had been a part of the federal union for only 50 years. The Civil War had only ended 30 years before, and there were still a lot of people around who actually “Remembered the Alamo.” In fact, that well-known massacre of the Texan War of Independence had only taken place about 60 years before. Texas was still a new and raw country in 1896.

Texas was a big land of big dreams of wealth and place. Max Mehl also embraced a big vision of being the most important coin dealer in the United States. Max was a natural promoter of his business and of himself. On the back cover of his No. 81 Price List of United States and Foreign Coins and Paper Money, Max depicted, “The Entrance to the New Offices of B. Max Mehl – The Largest and Finest Appointed Exclusive Numismatic Offices in the World.”

On the front cover, he bragged that the capital of his firm was $500,000 and resources were $750,000. In 2007, that isn’t very much money, but in 1952, $1,000,200 was quite a fortune. At that time, Mehl had been a “Numismatist” doing business for 57 years.

A January 1931 advertisement of Max Mehl of the Depression era.
A January 1931 advertisement of Max Mehl of the Depression era.

Max Mehl’s 82st price list issued in 1952 showing the B. Max Mehl Building in the lower left corner of the front cover.
Max Mehl’s 82st price list issued in 1952 showing the B. Max Mehl Building in the lower left corner of the front cover.

Proud of his rapid rage to riches rise to numismatic glory, Max liked to treat the readers of his catalogs to a glimpse of his well-appointed private office.
Proud of his rapid rage to riches rise to numismatic glory, Max liked to treat the readers of his catalogs to a glimpse of his well-appointed private office.

Max Mehl’s The Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia of 1955.
Max Mehl’s The Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia of 1955.

Max began his business in 1895 when he was 11 years old. Grover Cleveland was president of the United States. Hawaii was an independent republic, and emperors sat on the thrones of Germany, Russia, Austria, and Turkey, and private ownership on a massive scale of automobiles, flight, and coast to coast electrical power reaching almost all the people of this nation was still in the future. The horse and buggy, trolley, stagecoach, and train were still the dominant modes of transportation, yet Max Mehl was to build a numismatic empire which would reach all over the nation from coast to coast in just a few years.

He began his coin business in a corner of his bedroom and grew his firm until it occupied the entire B. Max Mehl Building in Fort Worth, Texas. It makes the mouth water to look over the offerings in his old ads. Born in 1884, Max was only 11 years old when he began dealing in coins. In 1903, he applied for membership in the American Numismatic Association. His membership was approved, and he placed his first national advertisements in The Numismatist in December of that year. His name would be placed before the public in thousands of ads for the next fifty-four years.

Max began regular employment as a child. Eventually he secured a job in the shoe trade, but he was determined on entering the coin business full time. By 1904, when he was only 20, he was selling California 50 dollar gold slugs for $145 and $155, Clark Gruber and Company, ten and five dollar gold coins for $20 and $18.50, proof trade dollars for $1.25, uncirculated 1875 twenty cent pieces for forty cents and a proof 1877 twenty cent pieces for $3.50 and a 1877 proof twenty cent piece for $3! Wouldn’t you like to hop into a time machine with a 1,000 common dated Morgan dollars to take a trip off to fort worth to do a few deals with good Old Max? I know that I would.

Max brought national attention to such rare coins as the 1804 dollar and the 1913 Liberty or “V” nickel in his ads. Even non-coin collectors began to know about these very rare coins through max and his offers in the national media to buy them.

In 1916, Max moved into a modern three-story office building in Fort Worth, which cost him the huge fortune of $25,000 exclusive of the land on which it stood. He called the building, with all due modesty, “The B. Max Mehl Building.” Max also exploited advertising as no dealer ever had before.

He began national campaigns by spending $5,000 to $10,000 a year on ads in all sorts of newspapers and pulp magazines. When radio became big in the 1920s and 1930s, Max took to the airways to grow his business and popularize the hobby. He used his building, portraits of himself, shots of his office, and photographs of his employees working in his building to impress people reading his ads, catalogs, and mailings.

Max held successful auction sales even in the dark days of the Great Depression. In one 1931 ad, Max proudly announced, So-Called “Hard Times,” So-Called “Depressed Conditions,” So-Called “Holiday Season” – Yet – More than $20,000 dollars was realized at my sale of Dec. 11th.” In this same ad Max bragged that he had, “The Largest Numismatic Establishment in America. Established Over 26 Years. Capital $250,000.00, Collectors purchased for cash up to any value or sold at auction on liberal terms and cash advanced without interest.”

Now can we call this optimism? Would we call this bragging? Or shall we call this genius? I opt for “genius.” All through the depression, Max did a very active business, sold great collections, and beamed optimism. His catalogs were issued in the hundreds of thousands and became reference books for many collectors.

In 1941, Max offered the William Forrester Dunham Collection in an active post-Depression economy. Collectors had money to lavish on their collections and did so. Although collectors at the upper end of the numismatic food chain always had money to spend, they would now have to spend a lot more of it to get the treasures they wanted. The published auction results from Max’s Dunham Auction were shocking for 1941. An 1822 gold half eagle sold for an astounding $11,575,00! Most Americans in 1941 would have to work five to seven years to earn so much money. An 1804 silver dollar fetched $4,250.00! It may not seem like much today when such a coin will fetch almost $10,000,000, but in 1941, $4,250 even for the rarest of all silver dollars was huge money and big national news.

Max soldiered on into the post-World War II era still proclaiming that he was master of, “The Largest and Finest Appointed Exclusive Numismatic Offices in the World” in the pages of his Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia, which he sold for the sum of one dollar. This little book was issued right up to Max’s death at the age of 73 in 1957.

As I thumb through my 1955 copy of the Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia, I drool just a bit wishing that I could go back in time and buy the coins offered with the financial resources I have today. in 1955, I was 11 years old and gathered most of my collection from change and the kindness of relatives. This was the story of most 11 year olds of my generation. I guess we were just not little Max Mehls.

There are some great shows coming up in late February, in March, and early April. I shall be at all of them. On February 25, I’ll be at Ernie Botte’s Westford Coin Show at the Westford Regency Inn in Westford, Mass. Show hours are 9 am to 3 p.m. The Westford Regency Inn is located on Rt. 110, right off Exit 32 from Rt. 495.

On Sunday, March 11, 2007, I’ll be at Ernie Botte’s Auburn Coin Show at the Elk’s Hall next to the Hampton Inn on Rt. 12 in Auburn, Mass. Just Exit the Massachusetts Turnpike at Exit 10 and proceed onto Rt. 12. Show hours are 9 am to 3 pm.

On Sunday, March 25, I’ll be back at Ernie Botte’s Westford Show. On Friday and Saturday, March 30 and 31, 2007, I’ll be at Ed Aleo’s Bay State Coin Show at the Radisson Hotel at 200 Stuart Street, Boston, Mass. Ed runs the best semi-annual show in New England and has since 1964. Show hours will be 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday and 10 am to 7 pm on Saturday. Ed’s Sunday show hours will be 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

On Sunday, April 1, 2007, I’ll be set up at the Mansfield Numismatic Society Show in Willimantic, Connecticut. The show will be held in the gymnasium of the Prospect Street School located at 233 Prospect Street at the corner of High St. in Willimantic, Connecticut. Show hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. This show is an exciting crowd pleaser and being back to back with Ed Aleo’s Bay State Show, it makes for a very exciting numismatic weekend.

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