This week I was intrigued by an ad in The Orlando Sentinel for September 10, 1953. It invitedme to and to meet William E. Sneed. I was somewhat skeptical that his collection may not havebeen the world's largest. I also suspect his status as a wasextravagant self-promotion.

Since the event had been over for seventy years, I had to be content reading about Mr. Sneed. Iwas able to find plenty of newspaper articles about him.

William Francis Sneed, Jr. was born in Florida on December 5, 1912.

In 1931, William Francis Sneed, Sr. and Mary Elizabeth Morgan Sneed opened the WilmaryHotel in Lakeland, Florida. I didn't find documentation but I suspect they named the hotel afterthemselves. William died in 1945. Mary died in 1963.

A large ad in the December 3, 1944, issue of The Tampa Tribune announced the formal openingof the W. F. Sneed, Jr. Chemical Laboratories in Lakeland, Florida. They produced janitorialsupplies. They also sold a soap product called Sneed's Krystal Klear.

In 1946, William F. Sneed, Jr. was engaged to Janet Walker. On June 22, The Tampa Timesreported,

In June of 1953, William F. Sneed, Jr. joined the ANA as member 21221. In 1954, The LakelandCoin Club joined the ANA as member 22200. William F. Sneed, Jr. was listed as secretary.

Sneed showed up in a July 22, 1953, article.

Other sources say that the McDermott 1913 nickel was on loan forthe display.

On November 24, 1953, the Tampa Bay Times reported that he had found a treasure worth$625,000 near the mouth of the Suwannee River. This was in a barnacle crusted metal chest thatcontained The story of the sensational find was repeated in many newspapers around the country.

On November 25, 1953, the Tampa Tribune reported that Sneed was now saying the report of thediscovery was misinterpreted. He had about thirty coins of little value.

In 1956 he reported that he found a 1943 cent struck on a dime planchet. Also in 1956 hereported having a two-headed dime.

Sneed frequently set up his world-famous coin collection in a local bank, placed a large ad in thenewspaper and invited the public to bring in coins to be evaluated. He also offered to buy coinsfrom the public.

In 1956 Sneed exhibited his famous collection of rare coins at the West Palm Beach FederalSavings and Loan Association. He advertised there were approximately 5.000 coins in thecollection. This would have been somewhat smaller than the world's largest.

In 1957, he advertised that he was He was charter member No. 3of the Retail Coin Dealers Association.

Sneed ran frequent ads in Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine between 1953 and 1969. He had lessfrequent ads in Coin World in the late 60's. He offered predictions on the future of the coinmarket and reports of fakes being offered.

He reported there was a break-in at his office three times within 30 days in 1968. He did notmention loss of inventory, but business records were scattered about the floor.

In 1969, he reported that he had a possible 1943 copper penny and had sent it to New York forauthentication. He reported that there are only four known copper pennies in existence. The topiccame up again in 1967. He was quoted in The Tampa Tribune for February 9, 1967.

From time to time 1943 copper cents have been found, but when tested turned out tobe nothing more than 1943 that had been copper plated.

The Wilmary Hotel evolved into an apartment house for elderly residents who received mealswith their room. After 40 years, the hotel was considered and demolished in 1971.

In 1974, Sneed was offered an 1804 dollar that he determined was fake. He told the story to thepress. the local numismatist explained.

He told this story in 1974, twelve years after publication of The Fantastic 1804 Dollar. If he wasone of the foremost authorities on numismatics, he had fallen a little bit behind with his reading.Sneed died on September 24, 1979.

I am unclear about his legitimate place in numismatic history. It appears that he was never afull-time dealer. He did business more by mail rather than at coin shows and did not conduct auctions or write for publication. He has little reason to be remembered.

If he was half asimportant as he claimed, he would still have been an important Florida dealer.