On July 12, 1979, fire broke out at the five-star Corona de Aragon Hotel in Zaragoza, Aragon,Spain. The three hundred guests included the widow of General Franco and high-rankingmilitary officers. That is well-documented fact. Many details remain uncertain and controversial.

An official government source stated that the fire started accidentally with an explosion intwenty litres of cooking oil in a pastry machine in the cafe. Two opposition groups claimedresponsibility and terrorism was also suspected.

The official death toll was more than eighty but there was speculation that some who died laterwere not counted. Most of the victims were Spanish citizens. The one American victim wasRobert Bashlow of New York.

In one of his columns in The Numismatist, Bowers included a letter from Hans M. F. Shulman.

There has been misinformation published after the death of Bashlow. There was speculation thatBashlow faked his death to escape debt or to distance himself from scandal. This is highlyunlikely considering the public scrutiny that followed the hotel fire.

In his memories of Bashlow, Q. David Bowers reported that Bashlow died in Portugal. That wasincorrect.

Russell Rulau wrote in Numismatic News for February 16, 1999, This was also incorrect.

In attempting to write the stories of Bashlow, there were questions I could not answer.

The Newman Numismatic Portal has hundreds of citations for Bashlow and his activities of 1961to 1963. Most relate to the second restrike Confederate cent. There is almost nothing foractivities after 1965 and I could not find a published obituary. [Numismatic News published hisobituary on July 28, 1979.]

Most numismatic writing is for readers who are interested in the luster of the hobby. Few want toread about the flaws that may be lurking beneath the surface. An informed numismatist will wantto know about those flaws.

Many of us can tell tales of a mentor in numismatics. In this article I mentioned Doctor WilliamH. Sheldon who was a mentor to Walter Breen who in turn was a mentor to Robert Bashlow andLynn Glaser. These were two older men who made great contributions to the hobby and twoyoung men with potential to do the same.

In each case there were flaws in their character that appeared after their luster had tarnished. Ifthere was a balance sheet showing plusses (assets) and minuses (liabilities), which side wouldhave the larger balance?I never met Robert Bashlow. I would be interested to hear from E-Sylum readers who can tellmore about him.

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
ROBERT BASHLOW, PART ONE(https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n18a15.html)
ROBERT BASHLOW, PART TWO(https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n19a16.html)
ROBERT BASHLOW, PART THREE(https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n20a13.html)