Here's me presenting a photo of the Cup to Xeno Muller after he won the men's Olympic single scull race in Atlanta in 1996.
Updated January 23, 1999
Here's the latest:
I've refrained from posting updates in hopes of an amicable settlement with the present holder of the Cup, I. Switt, but that seems unlikely. They won round one when the court dismissed our claim on administrative reasons. We've appealed to Superior Court and still believe we have a good case and chance of getting the Cup back.
I. Switt apparently does, too. They expressed interest in donating the Cup back to us and taking a tax write-off. We agreed to try to establish the value of the Cup. We contacted Don Fennimore, Senior Curator of Medals, at Winterthur Museum in Wilmington, Delaware. Don could offer his expert opinion on the artistic value of the Cup and, more importantly, Winterthur's lab could test the metallurgical content of the Cup.
I. Switt agreed to this course of action, but when Don contacted them to make arrangement to pick up the Cup, they refused to allow it to leave their premises. That pretty much defeated the purpose, but Don graciously traveled to Philadelphia and examined the Cup there. He determined the Cup had been made by Bailey Banks and Biddle, bit was unable to determine if it was truly gold or what it's carat value might be.
We then contacted another trophy expert who agreed to examine the Cup. She too went to the store where she was allowed to look at the Cup but again not allowed to take the Cup away for testing. She stated a simple assay could be done on-site if the owners chose.She thinks (but is not 100% positive) the Cup is truly Gold and has a value of between $10,000 and 20,000.
After all this, it's my own opinion the store is still furious the the news originally broke in the Philadelphia Inquirer with a front page article and will do anything to drag this whole mess out. I imagine they purchased the Cup in good faith, but, legally, because it was stolen merchandise, they have no rights to it.
Updated September 14, 1996
One of the mysteries about the Gold Cup since Joan Scholl found it has been her report that Don Spero's name was engraved on the Cup. My research in 1993 hadn't found any mention of Don Spero and I was surprised to hear his name in connection with the Cup. When did he win a challenge race? He had never won at the Olympics.
Last weekend I went to Washington, D.C. to see the Eakins exhibit at the National Gallery. Margo Schuster introduced to Don Spero. Don tells me he beat Ivanov in the World championships in Bled, Yugoslavia in 1996. Later that year, the Schuylkill Navy invited him to Philadelphia and presented him with the Phila. Challenge Cup at the annual awards banquet. This is also surprising and seems not in keeping with the traditions of the Cup. The challenge was a very formal process: Letters had to be written to the committee requesting a match race and then the champion had to be advised of the challenge. Don Spero doesn't remember any challenge being issued. Also, it would be unusual for the challenge to take place as part of another regatta, even the world championships.
Mr. Spero followed up our conversation by looking through his scrap books and sending me copies of the program for the award banquet and a newspaper clipping. The letter written to Don by the Schuylkill Navy, inviting him to the banquet, was written by then Commodore Bill Robinhold. So, my next step will be to contact Bill, who still lives in the Philadelphia area and occasionally makes an appearance at local rowing functions.
Updated August 31
The Philadelphia Challenge Cup, emblematic of world supremacy in the mens single sculls and missing for over 35 years, was found in an antique store in Philadelphia in July. The Cup is 18 inches tall and solid gold and was first awarded to John B. Kelly in 1922 in recognition of his victory in the 1920 Olympics in Brussels. Other winners include W. E. Garrett Gilmore (Bachelors Barge Club), Paul V. Costello (Vesper Boat Club), Jack Beresford (England), H. R. Pearce (Australia), Charles Campbell (Winnipeg B.C., Canada), Gustav Schafer (Germany), Joseph W. Burk (Penn A.C.), Mervyn T. Wood (Australia), Vladimir Ivanov (U.S.S.R), and Don Spero (USA).
It disappeared around 1960 under mysterious circumstances. The antique store owner says they bought it in an estate sale over 25 years ago.
I first heard the story of the Gold Cup in 1993 and decided to try to find it. I spent several weeks researching at the Philadelphia Library and the Independence Seaport Museum where the archives of the Schuylkill Navy are stored. I looked thru old newspapers and talked to people who were involved with the Cup in the late 1950's and early 1960's and intended to write a magazine article. I wrote the attached narrative and distributed it by way of saying "This is what I know about the Gold Cup; what can you add or correct?"
In September 1993, I was the dockmaster at the US Masters Nationals in Vancouver, Washington. I took several copies of the narrative with me and passed it around. One of the people I met at that regatta was Joan Scholl, a USRA official from California. Joan told me she got her own start in rowing at Vesper Boat Club in Philadelphia and I gave her a copy of the narrative. Three years later, in July, 1996, Joan was back in Philadelphia to visit her husband's family, went downtown for an errand and went into one antique store on a whim. She told the clerk she collects rowing medals and asked if they had any. They did not, the clerk said, but they did have an old rowing trophy she might be interested in. The clerk showed Joan the Philadelphia Challenge Cup.
Several hours later, Joan called me and told me the news. An hour later, I called Bob Suter, a lawyer and USRA official. We were concerned the Cup might "disappear" if the antique store owners became aware of our claim to ownership and filed suit to reclaim the Cup.
The Cup was found just 2 weeks before the Atlanta Olympics. Tom Dowd called me and said Mort Muldowney, from Penn AC, was the guy who used to make the "handsomely framed pictures" of the Cup given to the winners. Tom offered to contact Mort and see if he could make a new one and get it to me in Atlanta. After 35 years, Mort still has all the materials on hand. Tom brought the plaque with him to Atlanta and passed it to me. I was a dockmaster at the Olympics, and after Xeno Muller won the men's single sculls, I was able to present Xeno with a plaque, about 24" high by 15" wide, with a picture of the the Gold Cup and a bronze plate inscribed: "Winner, Men's Single Sculls, 1996 Atlanta Olympics".
Once the lawsuit was filed, the news media picked up on the story. An article appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on the front page on Sunday, August 25.
We are now negotiating with the antique store to regain possession of the Cup. They apparently bought it from Freeman, a venerable auctioneer house in Philadelphia. Freeman bought it at an estate sale. The burning question now is "Whose estate?" The antique store is being cooperative though they were very angry to first hear of our claim from a reporter. They have committed not to sell the Cup until the claim is resolved.
Once we regain possession of the Cup, we intend to have a big award dinner and bring Xeno Muller to Philadelphia and formally present him with the Philadelphia Challenge Cup. And then take it back from him and make sure its securely stored. One thought is to have a replica made and display the replica in the trophy case at #4 Boathouse Row, the headquarters of the Schuylkill Navy.
Check back to this site regularly for updates on our progress in reclaiming the Philadelphia Challenge Cup.