Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates/B. Max Mehl/archive1

Blurb
B. Max Mehl (1884 – 1957) was a prominent coin dealer in the U.S. for over 50 years. He was born in the Russian Empire, in present-day Poland, but his family moved to Lithuania, and then to the U.S.; Mehl lived in Fort Worth for most of his life. He started selling coins as a teenager, and joined the American Numismatic Association aged 18. By 1910 he was one of the most prominent dealers in the U.S., his customers including Franklin D. Roosevelt and Churchill. He auctioned coins from the collections of prominent numismatists, and he was the first dealers to advertise in non-specialist publications, helping to broaden the hobby's appeal. To generate interest and sell his books, he offered to buy a 1913 Liberty Head nickel for $50, knowing there were none in circulation. His great auction sales were in the 1940s, but he later became less active, dying in 1957. He was elected to the Numismatic Hall of Fame in 1974, and the CoinFacts Dealer Hall of Fame in 2010.