Do Eric Newman Coins Deserve A Premium?

One of his boys started Mad magazine and the other makes salad dressings.

"Alfred Neuman" (not Newman) is not the same as Eric Newman (not R.I.P.) or Paul Newman (R.I.P.)

...a shlimazl, a maven, and a mensch!

Many of the Newman coins were quite worthy of the special attention they received from TPG's, but some were not.

I have two (a Bust half and a Barber dime) and both have superior eye appeal in their grades, but that is not the case for all of them.

Therefore, my answer would be "it depends on the coin" -- that's a good answer, really, no matter what the label says...

Eric Newman, who is now 106 years old, is the most important living numismatist. He's the only living man who has owned all five 1913 Liberty nickels (at the same time!). His list of published works is too large for a forum post; he's won the Heath Literary Award for best article of the year in The Numismatist (the official publication of the ANA) fifteen times. An ANA Summer Seminar Series is named for him. His collection was (mostly) liquidated a few years ago, and brought north of $50 Million. See the link below:

https://www.NGCcoin.com/gallery/newman/

This is what he's doing with the money:

https://nnp.wustl.edu/

Fair warning: You could get lost at that site, and not be seen in public for weeks.

As far as I'm concerned, there are only three numismatists whose provenance is worth a premium from me: Louis Eliasberg, Jack Lee, and Eric Newman. I would consider it an honor to own a coin they once owned.

@paralyse: Thanks for sharing but can you explain what the characters on the envelope mean?

For example it says 'Fine'. Yet it's graded vf-35?

'$1.50 bex' stamped on the envelope?

The '1.25' hand written on the envelope?

I did not know who Eric Newman was, until I purchased this note. After reading a bit about him, I was quite impressed.

I have an 1872 Seated half dollar ex: Newman/Col. Green that I bought off ebay a few months after the first sale. The person who purchased it from the sale decided to sell it. I acquired it for about half or less of the auction sold price.

I think when the first sales took place there was a hype about the provenance and I think some thought they could buy and resell for more that they paid--it didn't work out for the person that I acquired the half from.

-MV

There are only a handful of people who have even come close to advancing the study of American numismatics in the way that Eric Newman has. His work covers everything from Continental dollars to obsolete currency and everything in between. The man is a legend. It also happens that he had an exquisite eye for coins and was active at a time when top rarities were available, and obtainable for what are now laughable prices. His storage methods also tended give coins a wonderful concentric toning pattern. Anyway, the combination of quality, rarity, and provenance is why so many Newman coins command premiums. It's some of the best material out there, much of it, once sold, may not reappear for a generation. Sure, there's some average stuff in there, and those coins might receive a small premium from collectors who could not otherwise afford one of his coins. But most of it is worth every penny that knowledgable collectors are willing to pay. That's my take -- from someone who's had the privilege of cataloging some of it.