Does anyone have more information about George His (1927-2021) and his Gordian III collection. Was there an auction catalogue which might be useful as a reference?
Sorry everybody for the information dump, but here goes:
George His = George Noel His (San Antonio, TX; 1927-2021)
[Just so I'm not totally devoid of coins, here's another ex-G.H.
Sestertius (from a
Triton VI group lot), and the one I've showed before]
CNG 69 photo (also used on
Wildwinds), from a sale of
his Roman Imperials generally:
BIOGRAPHICALBritish Museum Bio:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG171928Died 12 April 2021, obituary published 25 April by
San Antonio Express-News [reproduced by MYSA (My
San Antonio) / Legacy.com
[LINK])], summary/excerpts:
Family background: parents professionals in the arts, grandfather a Congressman & pastor to John D. Rockefeller. Geologist and mineral collector since age 9. Frequent traveler:
“all over Mexico, Europe, Russia and other countries. And through the years, his good friend, Daniel Kruger, and George developed an interest in researching and collecting ancient coins. They traveled together to numismatic conventions throughout the United States.”
“…on the Board of the San Antonio Museum Assoc., … Vice Chairman of the Board of the San Antonio Art Institute, Treasurer and later President of the South Texas Geological Society, a Fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society in London, England, and other organizations.” [my emphasis]
COLLECTION / PUBLICATION & DISPOSITIONHis collection was important to published studies of
Gordian III, but never appeared all together in one sale or publication. It was broken up in a few
CNG sales (some electronic records don't mention
his name because they were standalone sections of ex-G.H. under one heading, such as
CNG 69, Lots 1375-1501 [the pdf is NOT available online, unfortunately], but if you
search cng's archive for "George
His Collection" they will
still appear in results there, not in
ACSearch).
At least five major sales (annotated/cited in WW Esty Catalogs [LINK], Forum Important Sales [LINK], Classical Economies Sale Catalogs), possibly in addition to some smaller offerings:CNG Triton V (16 January 2002): (Esty: “including 23
rare Gordian III from the George
His collection”);
CNG MBS 60 (22 May 2002): George
His Collection of
Gordian III (Esty: “
Gordian III (29)”);
Triton VI (14 Jan 2003): George
His Collection of
Gordian III;
CNG MBS 69 (8 July 2005): George
His collection (Lots 1375-1501,
Sestertii & Group Lots), “126 RI AE (the George
His collection)” [WW Esty Catalogs
corr. (date)];
Gemini IV (8 Jan 2008): [at least some, if not all, ex-CNG or
Triton] (WW Esty
Catalogs: “including 31 lots of
Gordian III ex George
His collection”);
American Numismatic Society: Donated coins to
ANS collection, including several
Sestertii, but not named in
MANTIS. (Reportedly also incl. these two
denarii,
per CNG records:
ANS 1998.8.1
[LINK],
ANS 1998.8.2
[LINK] (both also cited in
Michaux [2017: p. 17, nos. 5a, 6a]).)
I have not been able to check
Michaux's book on
Gordian III yet, but many of
his coins are included. Multiple of
his coins noted in
Michaux’s (2017)
BCEN article on
Gordian III denarii (at least 4: 4a, 5a [now
ANS 1998.8.1], 6a [now
ANS 1998.8.2], 10b)
[LINK]. Many of
his coins appear on the
Wildwinds Gordian III page and elsewhere.
ET CETERAPosted advertisements to various periodicals seeking
rare Gordian III's.
World Coin News (25 Aug 1987, p 62): “GOT ANY
rare Gordian III Imperial silver or bronze? Collector wants to purchase them. Contact: George
His […]”
Posted ads to
The Celator, such as: “BOOK WANTED, Specialist Collector would like to purchase copy of
Monnaies Coloniales D’Antioche De Pisidie by Aleksandra
Krzyzanowska, Warsaw 1970. Write or phone: George
His, [REDACTED] Milam Bldg.,
San Antonio, Texas 78205 -(210) 472-[REDACTED]” (Feb 2000, 14 (2), p. 60 & March 2002, 16 (3), p. 60, same ad).
Letters to
The Celator: Sept 1992, 6 (9), p. 42;
Dec 1998, 12 (12), p. 4 (sounding cantankerous complaining about phone v. mail bidding!); WSG said of G.
His, “Now that’s a
man of action!” (Apr 1992, 6 (4), p. 2) for bringing a new subscriber to pay in cash at the
ANA Mid-Winter COINvention in Dallas.