Joel Orosz writes:

As noted previously in The E-Sylum, Kleeberg and Prof.T. V. Buttrey, Jr. maintain a website about western gold barsand Mexican gold bars. On the site Kleeberg has publishedhis viewpoint on Ford and the gold bars. With permissionI've excerpted a couple sections from his most recent piecementioning the dearth of Ford's published writing on numismatics,which Dick Johnson and others have lamented.

Kleeberg writes: "Yet his career resulted in him beingremembered not for the work he did, but for his notorioushabit of hoarding information and never publishing it;"

"From Olga Raymond he bought the rights to Wayte Raymond'spublications. Unfortunately, since Ford had a phobia aboutpublishing, this resulted in the deep sixing of many usefulnumismatic series, such as the Standard Catalogue and theCoin Collector's Journal."

"Ford's coin collection and his library were auctionedbeginning in 2003. Collectors were astonished. Here werecoins, paper money, books, and research papers that theyhad not seen for half a century. Many researchers were deeplyangered by Ford's dog in the manger attitude, which had hiddenaway from them items that were vital for their research."

[Aside from his auction cataloging, Ford published relativelyfew articles and nothing of book length, with the exceptionof his 1967 report to a committee of the Professional NumismatistsGuild investigating allegations of false USAOG coins; "TheFranklin Hoard of United States Assay Office of Gold Coins:An Answer to Eric P. Newman." Ford tightly controlled thedistribution of these, making originals very rare today(although photocopies have been made over the years).

I can't speak for other research efforts, but when I wasinvolved in the research that came together in Fred Reed'sbook on U.S. Encased Postage Stamps, Ford made availablean inventory of his collection and contributed information onhow EPS could be altered or switched. Certainly, from otheraccounts I've heard or read Ford was selective about whatinformation he would disclose and to whom. Just as certainly,no one is ever obligated to share their information with others.

I'm sure our readers have thoughts on the subject. It mustbe frustrating to work on a research project knowing thatinformation that would be useful is not being made available.-Editor]

To read the complete original E-Sylum article, see:JOHN J. FORD, JR. - INFORMATION HOARDER?(coinbooks.org/esylum_v08n31a11.html)

"Briefly, JJF is one of the most important, most influentialfigures in American numismatics. It is an irony that John hasnot been inducted into the ANA Hall of Fame, nor did heappear on the list of "Numismatists of the Century" compiledby COINage magazine, from a survey conducted a few yearsback. While the COINage survey is history, I herewith nominateJJF to the ANA Board of Directors for inclusion in the Hallof Fame. And yet, JJF has had his share of controversy. The"situation" concerning certain Western ingots and assay bars isstill a matter of study and debate�and must be mentioned here,lest readers overlook the main thrust of this article and wonderwhy I didn't mention it. So there! John might be but a footnotein numismatics today, had he not miraculously walked awayfrom an airplane crash in the late 1940s.

Returning to the "most influential" part, JJF single-handedlyrevolutionized the techniques of American coin catalogues�introducing, with the help of Walter Breen, many commentsabout history, mintage techniques, numismatic tradition, andmore. If you are in the slightest doubt of this, take a NewNetherlands catalogue from, say, 1955, and compare it withthe catalogues of anyone else. There is no comparison inreadability or the transmitting of information."

"In the 1950s, basic information about rare coins was difficultto locate easily, apart from what might be found in the currentedition of the Guide Book. Building a library of old books(there were not many new ones) was not an option, it was anecessity for anyone interested in gaining knowledge andexpertise. Most dealers were not interested in such things,which provided great advantages for those who were."

"John was a virtual walking encyclopedia of numismaticknowledge. It would be very difficult to mention anything inthe American or Canadian series for which he did not haveinformation."

"I made it a point to attend most of the New Netherlands salesin New York City in the mid-1950s. At one particular eventthere was a marvelous collection of Hard Times tokens,anchored by multiple examples of the rare variety known asLow-1, with the portrait of Andrew Jackson. John Ford wasafter some of these for his own account, and so was DonaldMiller, the latter also being a fine friend of mine, and an attorneyfrom Indiana, Pennsylvania.

This particular sale was held high on the penthouse terrace of aNew York City hotel, in which there were meeting rooms andalso a bar, a setting ideal for a wedding reception or some otherevent. Don had a few drinks too many, and while passing a$500 bill around to the bar patrons to whet their interest andcuriosity, found to his consternation that it had disappeared�nowhere in sight, no one knew where it was. To this day it isprobably still missing.

Miller was after one of the rarer sub-varieties of Low-1, aswas Ford. I don't remember all the details, but whateverhappened, the two became involved in a vicious argument andshouting match on the open terrace outside of the bar. Millergrabbed Ford and pushed him against a low wall at the sideof the terrace, with the street visible many floors below. Agreat struggle took place, and it seemed that Ford was aboutto be thrown to eternity, when a bunch of bystanders, includingme, rushed to the scene and pulled Miller away, in effect savingFord. If Ford had nine lives and used one up in the airplaneaccident, a second was used here! Luckily, calmness soonprevailed and the auction continued as planned. "

To read the complete original E-Sylum article, see:Q. DAVID BOWERS ON JOHN J. FORD(coinbooks.org/esylum_v08n29a07.html)