1. B. Max¹ Mehl was born in Lithuania 1884. B. died September 28, 1957 at age 73.

He married Ethyl Rosen date unknown. Ethyl died July 1956 at age unknown. When Ethyl was age unknown and B. Max Mehl was age 33 they became the parents of Danna Mehl October 4, 1917 in Fort Worth, TX.

When B. was age 33 and Ethyl Rosen was age unknown they became the parents of Danna Mehl October 4, 1917 in Fort Worth, TX. Chicago - January 8, 1933. Listeners to radio station WMAQ hear a program brought to them by B. Max Mehl, proprietor of the largest numismatic establishment in America. The same day, twenty million readers of Hearst newspapers open their Sunday issues to find a full-page, fourcolor advertisement about rare coins - again from "that coin man" from Fort Worth, Texas. Who was this man who brought old and rare coins to the attention of the nation?

A numismatist he wasn't. In the world of scholarly research absorbed with die varieties, mintage figures, and the study of archival data, B. Max Mehl had no place. It can be said, however, that his contribution to the hobby was as great as any of his contemporaries, and with a career that spanned fifty years, that included a good many people.

B. Max Mehl was probably the greatest promoter of coins who ever lived. During the early 1930s, Mehl's response to the deep economic depression that gripped the country was an avalanche of national advertising that captivated the imagination of millions. In his heyday, he spent an average of $100,000 per year on advertising. (Remember that a new car cost around $600 and a three-figure coin was a major rarity.) From the Saturday Evening Post to the airwaves on more than fifty of the nation's leading Mutual Broadcasting stations, Mehl bombarded Americans with information about the potential fortunes they might already have, and provided them with their first exposure to the world of rare coins.

B. Max Mehl was born in Lithuania in 1884. At the age of nine he immigrated to America and a year later began collecting cigar bands, stamps, and coins. In 1903 Mehl joined the fledgling ANA as member No. 522. (He would later be awarded an honorary membership.) His first publication, the Hub Coin Book, appeared in 1904, and by 1906, Mehl had begun what would soon be the largest numismatic establishment in the world.

From his headquarters in Fort Worth came a flood of mail-bid auctions, a monthly numismatic magazine, the Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia, and some of the most spectacular public auction catalogs ever issued. Numerous flyers and pamphlets kept both established and potential customers interested and involved in the numismatic market. Mehl's major auctions included the Ten Eyck Sale (1922), The Dunham Sale (1941), as well as the holdings of Grinnell, Atwater, King Farouk of Egypt, C.W. Green, and many others. The Mehl Numismatic Monthly enjoyed an eleven-year run from 1908 through 1919 and contained numismatic articles, news events, and of course, listings from Mehl's extensive inventory. While the Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia was hardly a fountainhead of numismatic information, it was both available and inexpensive, and it helped further the course of numismatic awareness and knowledge throughout the first third of the century.

Mehl's career reached a peak in the '30s and early '40s. His advertising was pervasive within the numismatic arena and far-reaching outside of it. Many of his advertisements, in fact, were devoted to boasting of his extensive budget and imaginative marketing. His purchase of the Waldo Newcomer Collection in the early '30s for the incredible sum of $250,000 provided an inventory second to none, and Mehl spent more than a decade dispersing the riches from this acquisition.

Since his death in 1957, Mehl's contribution to the hobby has sometimes been criticized as having been too "commercial." His epitaph as the "P.T. Barnum of the coin business" implies a dual impact on the field, and his detractors often cite weakness in research and a less than total adherence to probity in his business dealings. While Mehl was certainly no paragon of virtue, it seems unlikely that he was fundamentally unscrupulous. He was in the business for more than fifty years and dealt with a great many people - inevitably, some were less than totally satisfied.

We remember B. Max Mehl today for his accomplishments. He awakened millions of Americans to the history and potential profit of rare coins, and for that we must thank him.

B. Max Mehl and Ethyl Rosen had the following child:

2 i. Danna² Mehl was born in Fort Worth, TX October 4, 1917. Danna died March 7, 2008 in Fort Worth, TX, at age 90. When Danna was age 20 and Louis J. Levy was age 23 they became the parents of Roslyn Levy January 30, 1938 in Chicago, Cook Co, IL. When Danna was age 28 and Louis J. Levy was age 31 they became the parents of Louis J. Levy Jr. July 6, 1946 in Fort Worth, TX. When Danna was age 29 and Louis J. Levy was age 33 they became the parents of Max Mehl Levy September 5, 1947 in Fort Worth, TX.

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