HERB SCHINGOETHE Public Deposited
The E-Sylum: Volume 8, Number 13, March 27, 2005, Article 4
HERB SCHINGOETHE
John and Nancy Wilson, of Ocala, FL write: "On March 18,
2005 Herb Schingoethe, a famous Illinois collector passed
away at the age of 86. His wife Martha passed away in
January, 2004. The Schingoethes were the most famous
collectors of every states obsolete notes. Their collection
consisted of over 30,000 obsolete bank notes. Besides
obsolete notes, they were avid collectors of college currency,
depression scrip from 1933 and panic notes that were issued
in the 1890s and early 1900s. In 1993, "College Currency -
Money for Business Training" was released. The majority of
notes in this wonderful reference are in the Schingoethe
collection. Edited by Neil Shafer, Herb and Martha
Schingoethe also have their name on this numismatic reference.Herb and Martha were two wonderful collectors who we have
had the pleasure of knowing for close to 20 years. Very few
collectors past or present pursued obsolete notes, depression
scrip or panic notes with the passion of Herb and Martha
(H & M). We have many catalogs with the H & M initials
besides lots that they added to their collections over the years.
We attended many sales over the years that H & M were also
in attendance at. When the time came for the lot to sell that
we needed, we hoped H & M already had an example in their
collection. They never went after duplicates even if the price
was very cheap and they paid a lot more for their item. If they
didn't have it, we always came out on the losing end.Their passion, love, enthusiasm and determination to add
collections or single numismatic items (mentioned above) to
their collections will be deeply missed in our great hobby.
Sometime down the road a reference of Illinois obsolete
notes will be published in their memory by the New York
R. M. Smythe & Co. firm. Part Two of the R. M. Smythe
sale of the Herb and Martha Schingoethe Obsolete Currency
Collection sold on March 23, 2005. We were fortunate to
get a few notes out of the Schingoethe collection from Part
One held last Fall in Strasburg, PA.We will miss their smiling faces that lit up a room when they
walked in. They were well loved by the many hundreds of
dealers and collectors who knew them. Everyone considered
Herb and Martha part of their family. We pass on our prayers
and condolences to their family. These two icons in our hobby
are now gone but their memory will be with us forever. Rest
in peace Herb and Martha, and you are now together for
eternity."[A web search found some tidbits of information about
the Schingoethes and their other collecting interests:"After George "died of a heart attack — too young," as Martha
put it, she made the acquaintance, through her brother John, of
a local farm manager, square dance caller and collector. Herb
Schingoethe had also lost his first spouse.When Herb and Martha were married in 1975, they embarked
together on a new phase of their lives, pooling their interests in
travel and collecting to form an adventure that continued right
up to the time of Martha's final illness in 2003-2004.In his years as a ranch manager in Colorado, Herb already
had begun serious collecting of Native American art and
artifacts, especially from the Southwest culture area. Martha
caught the collecting bug in a very big way, developing a
particular passion for silver and turquoise jewelry, fine
Southwest pottery, Native American rugs, and contemporary
Native American sculpture. All of these collecting interests
are represented in the Schingoethe collection."To read the full article, see: Full Story
To read the R. M. Smythe press release on the sale of the
Schingoethe obsolete paper money collection, see:
Full Story- 2005-03-27
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