Mrs. Norweb’s Roosevelt Dimes Set, Ex: Norweb Sale Part I (Bowers and Merena, 10/1987, lot 684)

Mrs. Norweb’s Roosevelt Dimes Set, Ex: Norweb Sale Part I (Bowers and Merena, 10/1987, lot 684). On a coolness scale of 1 to 10 this Roosevelt dime collection rates a 26, the original Roosevelt dime collection of Emery May Holden (Mrs. R. Henry) Norweb (1896–1984), as last publicly offered in Bowers and Merena’s October 1987 sale of Part I of their vast holdings. We bought this set a few years ago at a small show in Knoxville, Tennessee. The seller was a gentleman personally known to us who bought it directly from the Norweb Collection auction in 1987 when he was living in Palo Alto, California, and the set comes with documentation to support the chain of provenance (a letter from me identifying the seller, plus the original invoice and receipt made out to the original purchaser). This set is proof positive that Mrs. Norweb was, quite simply, the ultimate collector. The dimes in the set fit in every detail with the original lot description in the 1987 sale (see photo of the relevant catalog page). Most of the coins are untoned or lightly gold-toned, with the heaviest toning (by far) on the 1958-P and -D dimes and the 1962. The 1965 dime, apparently an SMS coin, is in a separate flip at the back, and the Bowers and Merena cataloger neglected to mention that the later (1968-S to 1980-S) dimes are, of course, proofs as well. We always wanted a complete Roosevelt dime collection without picking out every piece ourselves, and when the seller brought this to our table in Knoxville, we could not refuse; Mrs. Norweb had done all the work for us. One can scarcely imagine a more historic acquisition than this neat little set. One can imagine Mrs. Norweb, well into her 80s, plunking BU and proof Roosevelt dimes into her generic Dansco “Dimes” album (also original), apparently up until shortly before her death.