Description:

Meyer Lansky
various, various
Meyer Lansky's Casino Investments Little Brown Book, Notes on Stocks…and Wine!
Relic
An amazing relic owned by "the Mob Accountant," a vinyl-bound 6-hole memo book with lined paper pages and tabbed alphabetical dividers, ca.1980s, with a few telling notes within. The pages within the book are 3.75 x 7.75 in., while the cover is 4.5 x 7 in. This humble notepad may have accompanied Lansky on many of his business ventures and used as notepaper, because it contains only 28 pages remain of the original 40 pages. Three pages are notated in Lansky's hand, including a number of stocks held by him. Very good to near fine condition.

The first two pages of notes, nestled under the "S" tab, are titled "Holding in V Stocks," and list the name and number of shares in 17 companies in which Lansky has invested, as well as the purchase price of the stocks. These include six companies involved in resorts and gambling such as Harrah's, Caesar's and Bally in Las Vegas, with several conglomerates such as "Resort Int.[ernational]," "Hilton Hotels Corp." and "Lexicon Resort Group," all of which are no doubt linked to Vegas as well. Interestingly, Lansky's holdings in most companies are rather small: for example, only 10 shares in Harrah's, 20 shares in Caesar's, and 40 in "Resort International." "The Lexicon Resort Corp.", on the other hand, is different: on September 15, 1960, Lansky purchased 3000 shares! Research has not turned up information about this particular group of hotels and perhaps this interest is worthy of further research.

Interspersed among Lansky's interests in the resort industry are energy companies, including "Western Oil Shale," "Magic Circle Energy Corp." and "Landmark Oil." Of course no portfolio would be complete with some unusual diversification, and Lansky also notes a small investment in "Knight Ridder," the newspaper giant.

Lansky's other pages of notes turns to the finer things in life, and under the "W" tab he lists four wines: Crown of Crowns by Lachenbach (which Lansky cites as "Longenback"), Bichot, Marquisat Beaujolais (which he misspells as "Beourjolois") and Almedan. Corporate gifts or to be purchased for private enjoyment we will never know, but the choices indicate that Lansky liked both white and red wines equally!

In the early 1930s, Lansky made the novel suggestion that Jewish and Italian mobs join forces rather than continue to act individually; the result was the ascendency of the organization that the press would come to call "Murder, Inc." Lansky's own particular notion was to syndicate gambling interests, and this naturally led him to Las Vegas. His major interest was in Bugsy Siegel's ill-fated Flamingo Hotel, which opened in style but floundered, losing money and resulting in the "elimination" of Siegel himself in 1947. It is well-known that Lansky nonetheless continued to have a sustained interest in Vegas hotels for the next 20 years; lesser known is that interest would extend to 20 years even after 1967. The notes in our date book indicate that he continued to invest in hotels into the 1980s, some 30+ years after his initial intrigue with the gambling industry.

Lansky revolutionized the illegal gambling industry by working smarter; the so-called "Mob's Accountant" applied a scientific method of risk-reward, and mitigated loss through payoffs and international money laundering.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE

  • Dimensions: 4.5" x 7"
  • Medium: Relic

Accepted Forms of Payment:

ACH, American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Money Order / Cashiers Check, Personal Check, Visa, Wire Transfer

Shipping

Unless otherwise indicated, we do our own in-house world-wide shipping!

Applicable shipping and handling charges will be added to the invoice. We offer several shipping options, and remain one of the few auction houses that proudly provides professional in-house shipping as an option to our clients. All items will ship with a signature required option, and full insurance. Most items are sent via Federal Express, with P. O. Box addresses being sent through USPS. We insure through Berkley Asset Protection with rates of $.70 per $100 of value, among the lowest insurance rates in the industry. Our shipping department cameras document every package, both outgoing and incoming, for maximum security. In addition, we compare our shipping and handling rates against those of other auction houses, to ensure that our charges are among the lowest in the trade.

Upon winning your item(s), you will receive an invoice with our in-house shipping and handling fees included. ***We will ship to the address as it appears on your invoice. If any changes to the shipping address need to be made, you must inform us immediately.***

International shipments: In order to comply with our insurance provider, all international shipments will be sent via Fed Ex and customs paperwork will show a value of $1.00. International buyers should contact our office directly with any questions regarding this policy.

Third-Party Shipping Option: If a third-party shipper is preferred, the buyer is responsible for contacting them directly to make shipping arrangements. For your convenience, we have provided some recommended shippers. For your protection, we will require a signed release from you, confirming your authorization for us to release your lots to your specified third-party. At that point, our responsibility and insurance coverage for your item(s) ceases. Items picked up by third-party shippers are required to pay Connecticut sales tax. Items requiring third-party shipping due to being oversized, fragile or bulky will be denoted in the item description.

Please see our full terms and conditions for names of suggested third-party shippers.

After payment has been made in full, University Archives will ship your purchase within 10 business days following receipt of full payment for item.

Please remember that the buyer is responsible for all shipping costs from University Archives' offices in Wilton, CT to the buyer's door. Please see full Terms and Conditions of Sale.

University Archives

You agree to pay a buyer's premium of 25% and any applicable taxes and shipping.

View full terms and conditions

Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000