If you were in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1960, you could have gone to the PiscataquaState Bank to view the coin collection of Oscar G. Schilke.The exhibition was promoted with a quarter-page display ad in The Portsmouth Herald for April26, 1960. Visitors were invited to see the collection, talk with Mr. Schilke and bring in coins andbills for a free appraisal.A 1952 ad in the Poughkeepsie Journal stated:

I noted the collection included not one half-dime but rather half-dimes of 1792. I had not beenaware that he had even one.

A 1953 ad in Newport Daily News indicated the collection included, I would have been impressed if they had just one, but having all thirty was truly amazing.

Similar ads in other papers indicated that he presented his exhibit more than a dozen times from1952 to 1960 in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, andVermont. Sometimes he was called a

At one banking exposition, he met a man who had discovered a vault in the floor of an oldBoston Customs House. The two went to Boston to break into the strongbox in the cement floor.They found a hoard of 1826 large cents and no other dates.

Schilke was not considered a coin dealer who sold to the public. Coins acquired at the bankingexpositions that he did not want for his collection were sold to local dealers.

Oscar Gottlieb Schilke was born on April 8, 1903, in West Cornwall, Connecticut, the son ofGottlieb Peter Schilke (1863-1951) and Helena Wildemann Schilke (1877-1948). He had anelectrical contracting business until he retired about 1957.

He married Olga L. Schlosser (1904-1978) and had a son and a daughter.

I'm not sure he was nationally famous, but he was very active in Connecticut and the NewEngland area. He frequently attended the regional coin shows and was the master-of-ceremoniesfor club dinners. He helped to form several of the coin clubs in the area.

The Waterbury Coin Club was formed in January 1935 with Oscar G. Schilke as foundingpresident. The club was disbanded in December 1937.

He joined the ANA (as Oscar S. Schilke) in January, 1937, as ANA member 5791. He attendedthe 1937 convention and was appointed the District Secretary for Connecticut. As the districtsecretary, he enrolled many new members for the ANA and helped to organize new clubs in thearea. In 1939 he was appointed district chairman for National Coin Week.

In 1938 he was a founding member of the Connecticut Numismatic Association, gatheringtogether the local coin clubs.

During 1940-41, he was the second president of the Fairfield County Numismatic Association.They honored him with a 1.25 inch medal.

In 1948 he was first president of the Naugatuck Valley Numismatic Association. He was honoredwith a 1.25 inch brass medal.

In 1950 he was founder of the Uncas Numismatic Association in eastern Connecticut. Schilkewas immediately given an honorary life membership.

He was president of the New York Numismatic Club for 1954-55. The club honored him withone of their 1.5 inch presidential medals by Karl H. Gruppe.

In 1955, he was one of the founders of the Metropolitan New York Numismatic Convention.Schilke financed the construction of the dealer and exhibit cases.

In his later years, he and his wife lived on Dodge Pond in Niantic, Connecticut. One wall of thehome had his extensive numismatic library that was later purchased by Hank Spangenberger.

Schilke wrote America's Foreign Coins with Raphael Solomon published in 1964 by Coin andCurrency Institute. It covers coins that had a legal tender status in the United States.

Schilke died following a heart attack at Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Niantic, Connecticut, onMay 23, 1965, and is buried at Grove Cemetery in Naugatuck.

An editorial (James C. Risk) in Numismatic Review described

Much of his collection was sold privately. I don't know who acquired his thirty pieces of silveror his 1792 half dimes.

Federal Brand Enterprises conducted an auction for the Blue Ridge Numismatic Associationconvention on August 5, 1965. Coins from Schilke were in the sale but not specificallyidentified. Parts of his collection of world coins were sold at auction by Lester Merkin in his saleof December 8, 1972.

Schilke got a good return on his investment in coins. One strategy was to buy coins from thepublic at the local bank at a price level where they could be resold to dealers at a profit.

In 2020 I was offered the opportunity to acquire a set of the Schilke medals issued by theFairfield County Numismatic Association in a plastic holder. There were a hundred pieces issuedin brass and are not frequently seen. Only five were struck in aluminum making it a scarcemedal. Two pieces were struck in silver. The gold medal is unique.

A number of coin clubs have honored a member with a unique gold medal. They seldom appearon the market. The Schilke gold medal for the New York Numismatic Club was sold at auctionby Heritage in 2016 for about $2000. It was later repatriated to the club.