Heritage Auctions

In This Issue:
• Baby Face Nelson Cash Hoard at FUN
• The Dodo Collection
• Currency Previous Prices and PMG Populations
• Around Heritage Auctions
• Is It Time To Sell?
• Current Auctions

January 7, 2020

Baby Face Nelson Cash Hoard at FUN

It was a most unusual time capsule — a trove of bills untouched since the darkest days of the Great Depression, mysteriously divided nearly equally between currency native to its southern Texas discovery and others from nearly one thousand miles away in Minnesota, with no bills from the various districts in between. The collection was introduced to the experts at Heritage with no hint of the intrigue that would surface, the text of the consignor's email reading simply, "We cleaned out the Lebman's Western Store bank box, where some banknotes from my grandfather have laid there since 1934, and we would like to bring in these banknotes for evaluation."

Fr. 2100-K* $50 1928 Federal Reserve Note. PMG Very Fine 20

The cash was stored from 1934 to the 1990s in the bank box for Hyman S. Lebman's business. Hymie Lebman was an accomplished tradesman from San Antonio, specializing in leather works and gunsmithing. His store operated for over six decades at 111 S. Flores, less than a mile from the famed Alamo Mission. His saddles, belts, and gun holsters are prized by collectors for their high quality and artistry. But the Lebman name carried a decidedly different association for federal law enforcement officials tracking Public Enemy Number One, the notorious gangster Baby Face Nelson.

During that Golden Age of gangsterdom that flourished in the decade leading up to the Second World War, Lebman's San Antonio hometown had gained a well-deserved reputation as an organized crime laundromat for stolen cash, its banks amenable to those transactions requiring a unique standard of discretion. Lebman, meanwhile, had come to the attention of those criminal enterprises as a man expert in the modification of firearms in an age when the infamous Thompson Machine Gun turned automatic weaponry into an essential tool of the trade.

The most famous, by far, of Mr. Lebman's personal creations, resides for eternity in the FBI Museum, a 1911 Colt .38 Special handgun modified with a forward grip, an extended magazine and, most importantly, fully-automatic firing capabilities. The weapon's serial number tracks its history through Lebman's shop to Nelson's hands and the rain of fire on federal officers raiding the Little Bohemia Lodge in northern Wisconsin in April 1934, one of the most notorious gun battles of the decade.

This paper trail to Lebman resulted in the shock of the gunsmith's life when federal agents raided his shop, as he professed ignorance to the identity of his client. Nonetheless, Lebman would be sentenced to five years in the Texas State Penitentiary for violations of the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934 and the Texas State Machine Gun Law, but these convictions were ultimately reversed on appeal.

Lebman's son Marvin granted an interview to Man At Arms magazine in 2009, saying of his father, "He told me many stories about the customers who he later found out were John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson. He thought they were charming, wealthy oil men who were interested in guns, and even invited them to his house for his wife to make them dinner when I was about 3 or 4. Our shop had a firing range in the basement, and when he was experimenting with a Model 1911 on full automatic, the 3rd or 4th round went off directly overhead, through the floor, and I was visiting above at the time. It scared him so much that he invented and installed a compensator on the muzzle to control the recoil."

Fr. 1951-I $5 1928A Federal Reserve Note. PMG Choice Uncirculated 63 EPQ

This weapons transaction in the waning days of November 1933 came just a month after Nelson and his gang famously held up the First National Bank of Brainerd, Minnesota on October 23rd, making off with some $32,000 in cash. After days on the lam — carousing and gambling among the underworld characters of Minneapolis-St. Paul, the robbers would flee the area,heading south to Texas with their ill-gotten gains, anxious to launder the cash and secure an arsenal for future crimes. It's hard not to imagine that the Minnesota bills in Lebman's lock box found their way to San Antonio by way of the Nelson gang's infamous southbound journey.

It is particularly intriguing that Lebman's hidden treasure was transported to the Heritage offices in a $1,000 bank bag from the Commercial National Bank of San Antonio, with many of the $100 denomination notes wrapped in bank straps bearing its name despite the fact that no notes issued by the bank appear in the hoard. That particular financial institution was well known to cops and robbers alike for its participation in the laundering of illicit, underworld cash.

In the same month that the Nelson and his gang were operating in San Antonio, the FBI came down on Z.D. Bonner, President of the Commercial National Bank and attorney John H. Cunningham. They were arrested on December 21, in connection with a brazen daytime mail robbery a year earlier. The December 6, 1932 robbery netted a Chicago gang $250,000, mostly in government bonds.

At the time of their arrest, Bonner and Cunningham were in possession of $75,000 worth of the bonds traced to the Chicago robbery, $47,100 of which was in bank boxes in the Commercial National Bank. During their trial, prosecutors brought evidence forward that even more United States Bonds from a large heist in New York were also washed through the San Antonio bank, and more from mail heists in Minneapolis. A total of five separate offences of embezzlement were brought against the pair.

In a summary of Bonner v. United States, the manner in which the bonds were embezzled is made clear, "Appellants agree that on March 1 Cunningham and Morrow came to the bank and before the first bond was delivered Bonner had the cashier make out a bank draft on a branch Federal Reserve Bank in San Antonio for $100,000, and that amount of money was delivered to Bonner by the cashier in the presence of Cunningham and Morrow. After this was done Bonner sent the bond over to the Federal Reserve and borrowed $100,000 on it. The other bonds were handled in practically the same way, except that the drafts on the Federal Reserve were for $92,500 each, although the full amount of $100,000 was borrowed on each. The cash proceeds of each draft were taken in $50 and $100 bills." They further elaborated on the operation, "During these several bond transactions, Bonner and Cunningham each placed in safety deposit boxes over $30,000 in $50 and $100 bills."

Fr. 1850-I $5 1929 Federal Reserve Bank Note. PMG Choice Very Fine 35 EPQ

The Chicago and Minneapolis robberies were later connected to Roger "Tommy" Touhy, who was using Bonner, Cunningham and the Commercial National Bank of San Antonio to help launder his cash and bonds. It was under Touhy's tutelage that Baby Face Nelson got his start. After a troublesome adolescence, Nelson was hired by Touhy to help guard liquor shipments in San Francisco.

As the heat of the San Antonio investigations intensified, Lebman supplied the Feds with whatever details he could, short of the existence of this far-flung cash hoard. Just before he was executed in Ohio in 1934, Harry Pierpont, who was said to be Dillinger's mentor, insisted that it was Lebman's testimony that had brought the gang down. On November 27, 1934, Baby Face Nelson was killed by federal agents in Langendorf Park, in what was dubbed the Battle of Barrington (Illinois).

The Cash
The approximately $16,000 in face value of cash presented here is central to a timeline of 20^th century criminal activity that changed the United States forever from firearms control to the repealing of prohibition. Our timeline of the bank box being locked up in late 1933 or early 1934 is supported by the notes themselves. Not a single note in the group was from series or banknote deliveries that could have fallen after 1934. Most cash hoards are nothing exciting, providing quantities of notes, rather than quality or rarity. That is not the case here.

The first ever offering of Fr. 2100-K* 1928 Dallas $50 is featured in our Platinum Night Session, Friday, January 10 at 5:00 PM CT. The first small size National Bank Note from Moore, Texas was also buried in this safety deposit box for the last eighty-five years. Scarce $100s are reported from Texas, a Type II from Dallas, and a Type I from Vermont. More notes are classified as scarce, and some are common in comparison to normal notes absent the pedigree. Each of the notes traced to Nelson will be offered without estimate, while the Hyman S. Lebman Cash Hoard is being offered with estimates aligned with unpedigreed notes. The premium for the story here is unknown, left to the market to price this historic offering. Additional Lebman notes are included in our Internet Sessions of this auction to conclude on Monday, January 13^th.

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The Dodo Collection

We are privileged to offer the Dodo collection, as part of our January 9 - 13 FUN World Paper Money Signature Auction, which includes nice early representations of uniface examples of the Indian, Zanzibar, and Mauritian Rupee.

Historically, these countries are closely linked through migration, colonial rule by Great Britain, and that their currencies were interlinked, and pegged to the Indian Rupee. Some notable lots include:

Zanzibar Government of Zanzibar 10 Rupees 1.1.1908 Pick 3 PMG Choice Fine 15. Zanzibar is always popular. Its currency issuance was very brief, and always in small numbers. Most advanced collections are large devoid of even a representation, regardless of its grade. The example on offer boasts the first 1908 date, and illustrates various stamps, notations, and markings on the back. It is our opinion that these annotations don't detract from the items' presentability, but rather adds to its historical content.

Zanzibar Government of Zanzibar 10 Rupees 1.1.1908 Pick 3 PMG Choice Fine 15

Mauritius Government of Mauritius 10 Rupees 7.8.1900 Pick 14 PMG Fine 12. This is an attractive, and rare early example of a variety that seldomly is offered. The example on offer is the only graded example on the PMG census, and bears an unlisted date. The Mauritian Rupee was established in 1877, and was on par at 1 : 1 to the Indian Rupee. Interestingly, these early Mauritian issues were the first currency printed by Thomas de la Rue.

Mauritius Government of Mauritius 10 Rupees 1.1.1927 Pick 17 PMG Choice Extremely Fine 45 EPQ. An impeccably preserved example of a higher denomination that bears a date that until now, has remained unconfirmed. This will be the only graded note for this variety that has received an EPQ status, and is by far the finest graded, with Very Fine 25 being its closest competition. This will surely make for a superb addition to any Mauritius collection.

Mauritius Government of Mauritius 5 Rupees 1.7.1924 Pick 16 PMG About Uncirculated 50 EPQ. Even though this variety appears from time to time, it is never in the superior AU condition seen on the holder of this example. It is quite unusual to find these larger type notes in higher grades than a Very Fine. The example on offer will be the highest graded on the PMG Population Report, and by far the best preserved we have sold. Completely original, and desirable as such.

Currency Previous Prices and PMG Populations

Heritage now shows previous prices and PMG populations for all individual World Currency lots on the item page.

The previous pricing information shows the most recent two sales from the same grading service as the current lot, plus the three next recent sales from any grading service. These sales may be for the item in any grade.

The population guide section shows the number of notes certified in the same grade as the current lot, the number of notes certified in higher grades, and the total number graded. Population information is only available for PMG.

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Around Heritage Auctions

Full-Scale Replica of Architect Paul Rudolph's Walker Guest House to be Sold by Heritage Auctions

A nearly exact, partially furnished, demountable replica of the Walker Guest House will be sold in situ in Palm Springs, California in conjunction with Palm Springs Modernism Week in Heritage Auctions' Online Design Auction, closing Feb. 25.

The Sarasota Architectural Foundation (SAF) commissioned this example of Paul Rudolph's Walker Guest House (also known as "Cannonball House") in response to the destruction of several structures designed by the architect. Originally built in 1952 in Sanibel, Florida, the present example was constructed from the original Rudolph plans, and initially installed on the grounds of The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art where it was open for tours from 2015 to 2017. Countless visitors have toured the interior and exterior of the 576-square-foot house to learn about Rudolph and discover the principles of the Sarasota School of Architecture movement. The structure was thoughtfully constructed with the intention to be portable, and in 2018, it was reinstalled in Palm Springs, where it was a feature of "Modernism Week," the city's biannual festival celebrating mid-century modern architecture and design.

"The SAF, whose mission is to educate about, advocate for and celebrate Sarasota's mid-century modern heritage, undertook this project as an educational initiative," SAF Chairman Dr. Christopher Wilson, Ph.D., said. "Recognizing that a majority of Sarasota School structures are private residences not normally accessible to the public, the SAF wanted to expose the forward-thinking principles of the 'Sarasota School' to a wider audience by constructing and exhibiting this replica."

The Walker Guest house was Rudolph's first design executed independently, and is considered among his most significant projects. Rudolph built numerous other influential residential buildings in the Sarasota, Florida region, including his so-called Umbrella House (1953) and Cocoon House (1950), designed with Ralph Twitchell. In 1997, Rudolph donated much of his archive to the Library of Congress, which helped establish the Library's Center for Architecture, Design, and Engineering. By ensuring that his work was publicly accessible, he acted to see that his work could be preserved even if the original structures were not."

The 24-by-24-foot structure features full-height, floor-to-ceiling glass walls and movable flaps that act as sun shades when raised and provide privacy when lowered. The flaps are controlled through the use of bright red counterweights on a rope rigging system, a process Rudolph learned during his time serving in the U.S. Navy. The cast weights resemble painted cannonballs, earning the structure the "Cannonball House" moniker. It will be offered at auction furnished with faithful reproductions of the original furniture Rudolph designed for the house, and will be on display during Palm Springs Modernism Week this February. The bidding will start at $10,000 - the same amount as the original 1950s budget.

The Walker Guest House replica will be a highlight of Heritage Auctions' February Design auction, which will include a diverse selection of modern and contemporary furniture, ceramics, glass and objects.

More information about Design Auctions

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Is it Time to Sell?

Consigning your currency to one of Heritage's numerous auctions is a rewarding experience. Whether you are a lifelong collector, new to the hobby, or the recipient of an inheritance, the decision to auction part or all of a collection is an important step. We can help you make that decision. Thanks to the care with which we handle your items, Heritage also ensures that it is a safe and worry-free experience.

Please contact one of our Currency Specialists today: