The Rise and Fall of ‘Kingfish’ Huey Long
Editor’s Note: For nearly 70 years, the feature-rich pages of Coins magazine, Numismatic News’ venerable sister publication, have tracked the history, fun and the growth of this great hobby, while also attracting new collectors to pursue what was once deemed the “hobby of kings.” Dusting off these time-aged issues, from the early 1960s and beyond, each installment of “Past Times with Coins,” written by its former longtime editor, explores what nuggets of interest they contain.
It was a lambasting heard around the world – one that inspired the striking of a toilet seat-shaped medal that found its way to being on display at the American Numismatic Society and into the holdings of coin collectors and those who disliked 1930s politician Huey Long.
“Neither [boxers] [Gene] Tunney nor [Jack] Dempsey, nor even Primo Carnera, could have created such a nationwide furore over one simple punch as did the anonymous but not unsung hero who pasted Huey Long at the exclusive Sands Point Bath Club Saturday night,” recorded the Aug. 31, 1933, issue of the Times-Picayune (New Orleans).
The story of how one of the nation’s most controversial and loud-mouthed magazine.
