Who the heck was Grover C. Criswell ?

[dadams]

Picked a couple of these up recently. Don't know much about Col. Criswell, but would love to know if any of you knew the guy - he seems quite the character.

 

 

 

--Obit:

 

Grover C. Criswell Jr. died April 8 following a heart attack. He was 65.

 

Ed Reiter - April 14, 1999

 

Grover C. Criswell Jr. of Fort McCoy, Fla., one of the nation's best-known numismatists, died April 8 following a heart attack. He was 65.

 

Criswell had served on the Board of Governors of the American Numismatic Association for a total of 22 years, including a two-year term as president from 1977 to 1979. He was a familiar and colorful figure at national and regional coin shows for much of his adult life before poor health limited his travel in recent years.

 

Criswell was an expert on Confederate paper money, and wrote several books on the subject. He was a dealer in this material, as well, for many years -- and his personal collection was among the most extensive ever formed, causing him to be dubbed "the richest man in the world ... in Confederate money."

 

He was a Yankee by birth, hailing from Chicago, where his father operated a candy company. But he transplanted his roots to Dixie after attending The Citadel, a military school in Charleston, S.C. Following graduation from The Citadel in 1951, he attended Stetson School of Law in Florida.

 

In 1959, at the age of 25, he was elected mayor of St. Petersburg Beach, Fla., making him one of the youngest men in the nation at that time to hold the office of mayor in a city whose population exceeded 10,000. He later sought election unsuccessfully to the U.S. House of Representatives and -- though never appointed -- reportedly came up for consideration twice as director of the U.S. Mint.

 

In 1972, Criswell launched Bank Note Reporter, a paper money journal published today as a monthly newspaper by Krause Publications. In addition to serving as an ANA official, he was a founder of the Society of Paper Money Collectors, a founder and president of Florida United Numismatists and an active member of numerous other coin clubs and societies, including the prestigious Rittenhouse Society.

 

Criswell is survived by his wife, Dolly, who accompanied him to coin events on a regular basis for many years. Their son, Grover C. Criswell III, predeceased him.

 

Memorial services were held April 11, with interment April 12 in Charleston, where Grover Criswell III also is buried.

 

--

 

and

 

The Richest Man in Confederate Money

[wheat'swheats]

Wrote the book Confederate and Southern states Currency. The "T" numbers used to ID confederate currency were developed by Grover. Grover would also write you a check and hope that you would keep it for the autograph and not cash it. I knew Grover quite well

[CaptHenway]

Knew him well. Quite a character.

[johnny9434]

thats interesting on how we remember someone

[CaptHenway]

Grover was the Half- President, along with fellow Half- President Jack Veffer, of the Society of Bearded Numismatists, of which I was a member. I remember the meeting at the 1979 ANA convention in St. Louis. Grover and Jack, wearing swimsuits, initiated the SOB of the Year for that year in the fountain in the lobby of the convention hotel, after which we retired to his suite to drink.

 

Fortunately, when I received the SOB of the Year a few years later, the ceremony was a bit less spectacular.

[dadams]

CaptHenway,

 

That's exactly the sort of story I wanted to hear! Presumably you have/had a beard and aren't a true SOB

 

Did you receive your SOB Medal and what was your title?

 

I think I might have liked to meet Criswell.

[wheat'swheats]

Grover once wrote me a check for $10 and told me he would cash it in confederate which he did to everyone. I told him ok but I did not want a $10 bill, I wanted 3 $2 bills and 4 $1 bills. Grover balked at this because at the time a $10 was selling for about $ 2.50 -$3.00 and the $2 and $1 were selling for about $12.50 ea. Grover Balked and gave me a U.S $10 bill. Another time Grover owed me for some bonds he got from me at the Atlanta GNA show. After waiting 3 months and many phone calls I drove to Fort Mc Coy and knocked on Grover's door got my money "cash". Grover would always pay but it was difficult to get him to remember to send the check.

[DaveG]

In addition to his books on Confederate and Southern States currency and Confederate Bonds, Mr. Criswell also reprinted at least one book on southern banking history.

 

I have a paperback copy of A Banking History of Louisiana by Stephen Caldwell, a professor at Louisiana State University that was originally published in 1935 by LSU Press and reprinted by Criswell's Publications in 1977.

 

Reprinting books that are only tangentially related to numismatics is pretty unusual for a coin dealer and I (for one) really appreciate it.

 

I wonder if he reprinted any other books?

[DWLange]

I bought a number of CSA and Southern States notes from Grover in the 70s. By the time I finally sold them they were worth what I'd paid...

 

[dadams]

. . .

I wonder if he reprinted any other books?

 

Dave,

 

I found one other book, besides his own and the one you mentioned, that he reprinted:

 

Hastings, Helen King. Florida Flatwoods. Citra, Fla. : Criswell's Publications, 1976, ©1959. WorldCat

 

Good luck finding this one though as it seems only 11 copies were produced as a Limited Edition. Helen must have been a friend or neighbor.

[CaptHenway]

CaptHenway,

 

That's exactly the sort of story I wanted to hear! Presumably you have/had a beard and aren't a true SOB

 

Did you receive your SOB Medal and what was your title?

 

I think I might have liked to meet Criswell.

 

I do have my SOB medal, which I still wear to ANA conventions. My title was "Beard Grader."

[CaptHenway]

https://www.facebook.com/SOBNumismatists

[dadams]

I do have my SOB medal, which I still wear to ANA conventions. My title was "Beard Grader."

https://www.facebook.com/SOBNumismatists

 

I was reading a bit about your group at The E-Sylum here and here and learned about the Medal and the titles you guys were given.

 

I think it's pretty cool to have it still going.

 

Thanks for sharing with me (thumbs u

[dadams]

. . .

Grover would also write you a check and hope that you would keep it for the autograph and not cash it. I knew Grover quite well

I guess he'd love to know a sap like me, who never knew him, bought a couple of his checks

 

Grover once wrote me a check for $10 and told me he would cash it in confederate which he did to everyone. I told him ok but I did not want a $10 bill, I wanted 3 $2 bills and 4 $1 bills. Grover balked at this because at the time a $10 was selling for about $ 2.50 -$3.00 and the $2 and $1 were selling for about $12.50 ea. Grover Balked and gave me a U.S $10 bill. Another time Grover owed me for some bonds he got from me at the Atlanta GNA show. After waiting 3 months and many phone calls I drove to Fort Mc Coy and knocked on Grover's door got my money "cash". Grover would always pay but it was difficult to get him to remember to send the check.

In the article I read he owed Coin World something like 274 dollars for advertising and paid with 274 one-dollar checks. That'd kinda be like paying your 100 dollar bill with 10,000 cents

[wheat'swheats]

. . .

Grover would also write you a check and hope that you would keep it for the autograph and not cash it. I knew Grover quite well

I guess he'd love to know a sap like me, who never knew him, bought a couple of his checks

 

Grover once wrote me a check for $10 and told me he would cash it in confederate which he did to everyone. I told him ok but I did not want a $10 bill, I wanted 3 $2 bills and 4 $1 bills. Grover balked at this because at the time a $10 was selling for about $ 2.50 -$3.00 and the $2 and $1 were selling for about $12.50 ea. Grover Balked and gave me a U.S $10 bill. Another time Grover owed me for some bonds he got from me at the Atlanta GNA show. After waiting 3 months and many phone calls I drove to Fort Mc Coy and knocked on Grover's door got my money "cash". Grover would always pay but it was difficult to get him to remember to send the check.

In the article I read he owed Coin World something like 274 dollars for advertising and paid with 274 one-dollar checks. That'd kinda be like paying your 100 dollar bill with 10,000 cents

That was worse. He knew that some of the checks would be kept as a curiosity , and never get cashed giving him a discount on the debt. I think it was the late 1950's or very early 60's and Grover appeared on either what's my line or I've got a secret I can't remember which and his secret was that he was the richest man in the world in Confederate currency. Grover never missed a chance at publicity and free advertising for his business. On one occasion Dolly was running his table at the Atlanta show. Grover had a really nice type 15 for sale. I asked Dolly how much and she said $300 I immediately bought the note and left the show. This was a $1500 note and I knew that Dolly was making a mistake. My friends Claud Murphy, and Paul Garland told me that evening at dinner how absolutely beside himself that Grover was and was asking everyone if they knew who bought the note and no one would admit to knowing. The next day I went back to the show and saw that Grover was not quite himself. After a few minutes of the gang enjoying Grover's suffering I went over to his table and asked him if he wanted to buy some Confederate notes and when he asked to see them the Type 15 was on the very top. Grover turned white as a sheet. At this point I sold him the note back for $300 to Grover's relief. This was the only time I ever saw Grover loose on a deal ,and it took Dolly to make it happen. Dolly priced no more notes at that show

[coinman_23885]

. . .

Grover would also write you a check and hope that you would keep it for the autograph and not cash it. I knew Grover quite well

I guess he'd love to know a sap like me, who never knew him, bought a couple of his checks

 

Grover once wrote me a check for $10 and told me he would cash it in confederate which he did to everyone. I told him ok but I did not want a $10 bill, I wanted 3 $2 bills and 4 $1 bills. Grover balked at this because at the time a $10 was selling for about $ 2.50 -$3.00 and the $2 and $1 were selling for about $12.50 ea. Grover Balked and gave me a U.S $10 bill. Another time Grover owed me for some bonds he got from me at the Atlanta GNA show. After waiting 3 months and many phone calls I drove to Fort Mc Coy and knocked on Grover's door got my money "cash". Grover would always pay but it was difficult to get him to remember to send the check.

In the article I read he owed Coin World something like 274 dollars for advertising and paid with 274 one-dollar checks. That'd kinda be like paying your 100 dollar bill with 10,000 cents.

That was worse. He knew that some of the checks would be kept as a curiosity , and never get cashed giving him a discount on the debt. I think it was the late 1950's or very early 60's and Grover appeared on either what's my line or I've got a secret I can't remember which and his secret was that he was the richest man in the world in Confederate currency. Grover never missed a chance at publicity and free advertising for his business. On one occasion Dolly was running his table at the Atlanta show. Grover had a really nice type 15 for sale. I asked Dolly how much and she said $300 I immediately bought the note and left the show. This was a $1500 note and I knew that Dolly was making a mistake. My friends Claud Murphy, and Paul Garland told me that evening at dinner how absolutely beside himself that Grover was and was asking everyone if they knew who bought the note and no one would admit to knowing. The next day I went back to the show and saw that Grover was not quite himself. After a few minutes of the gang enjoying Grover's suffering I went over to his table and asked him if he wanted to buy some Confederate notes and when he asked to see them the Type 15 was on the very top. Grover turned white as a sheet. At this point I sold him the note back for $300 to Grover's relief. This was the only time I ever saw Grover loose on a deal ,and it took Dolly to make it happen. Dolly priced no more notes at that show

 

That was a nice gesture. It also looks like you had the chance to have a bit of fun with him.

[CaptHenway]

Dolly was a nice lady.

 

THe story reminds me of a story I heard when I was still living in the west suburbs of Detroit. The owner of the coin shop in Westland Mall was obliged to give a job to either his sister or his sister-in-law. She knew nothing about coins. One day while he was making the bank run a young man was in the shop looking around. He saw a Hawaiian commemorative half marked "495" and thought it looked nice. He gave the lady a five dollar bill and she gave him a nickel change.

 

Kid got home and looked it up in the Redbook and realized that something was wrong. Went back to the coin shop and returned it. The owner thanked him and gave him $50 store credit for his honesty.

[wheat'swheats]

Dolly was indeed a nice lady and just goes to prove the old adage "There is a lid for every pot". A little Grover went a long way in public. He would embarrass the heii out of you at dinner especially after a few cocktails when his volume controls broke.