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Posted By: Bob Lemke

At the old paper money show in Memphis in the late 1970s I had the opportunity to handle original, genuine $5,000 and $10,000 notes. They were in a display case on the show floor, which was being used to exhibit some of the treasures from the currency collection of Amon Carter, Jr. At the time I was working on compiling the Standard Catalog of U.S. Paper Money, and needed photos of the high-denomination notes. I asked Amon if I could borrow them for a bit to take to our (Krause) booth in the lobby to shoot them. Without taking the cigarfrom his mouth, he reached into the case and tossed me the notes. I'm not even sure he knew who I was at the time. Over the years I spent a good deal of bar time with Amon at the Memphis shows; he could spin yarns for hours about the Texas Rangers players(he was part-owner of the team), about his father's attempts to form the Continental Baseball League in the early 1960s, and about his time in German POW camps in WWII. Superficially he was the epitome, almost a caricature, of a Texas billionaire, but when you got to know him, he was like your favorite (rich) uncle. If he had ever decided to turn his love of baseball and his collector instincts to the baseball card/memorabilia field it would have been awesome to watch the collection he would have built.