Commems Collection Classic: 1936 Long Island Ephemera

I came across this simple piece of ephemera for the Long Island Tercentenary half-dollar recently; it is an order acknowledgement form for five coins. Though the form itself is rather plain, there are multiple things we can learn from it.

From the date entered on the form - - " May 12, 1936 - - " it's known that this was most definitely a "pre-order" as the coins had not yet been struck by the US Mint. The coin was authorized by Congress just a month earlier in April; the US Mint struck the coins in August.

We also learn that the coins were sold via "Subscription" rather than a simple "Order" and that the selling price of the half-dollars was 1.00 plus postage.

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The "Subscription" number of "2208" for a May, 1936 order suggests that there was good early interest in the coin. I am not aware of the starting number used for the subscriptions (organizations have been known to use a higher starting number than "1" to give the appearance of prior activity) nor if the Long Island Committee adhered to a sequential numbering system for all incoming orders (though it is likely). It is known, however, that the Committee recorded sales of approximately 19,000 coins before the coins were delivered to them, so it is a near certainty that thousands of individual orders were received during the spring and summer of 1936.

From the outgoing address, it's known that the coin order was placed by Walter P. Nichols - - " this was the thing that most attracted me to this piece. Mr. Nichols, an avid coin collector and part-time vest-pocket coin dealer during the 1930s, was made "famous" (at least among collectors of classic US commemoratives) by Q. David Bowers. Mr. Bowers, while a principal at Bowers and Merena Galleries, Inc., compiled Mr. Nichol's mid-1930s coin-related correspondence into a book titled An Inside View of the Coin Hobby in the 1930s: The Walter P. Nichols File. It reproduces letters sent and received by Nichols to the various commemorative coin committees and/or distributors active at the time and provides a very interesting first-hand account of what it was like to be a commemorative collector during the height of the market. It is now out-of-print, but I would recommend that anyone interested in the subject seek out a copy via used book dealers!

Mr. Nichols was not just a collector and part-time dealer, however. He was also very active in the sponsoring Committee for the York County Maine Tercentenary half-dollar. He served as Secretary of the group and also managed the successful distribution of the coins.

The form presented here is the only piece of commemorative ephemera I currently have with a Walter P. Nichols "pedigree" and that makes it just a little more special to me.

Enjoy!


1936 Long Island Tercentenary Order Acknowledgement Form




1936 Long Island Tercentenary Half-Dollar: Obverse




1936 Long Island Tercentenary Half-Dollar: Reverse