"The Ultimate Short Snorter" and The Short Snorter Project
The Short Snorter Project
In the spring of 2003, I stopped in to visit a gentleman named George Grimm who owns a dairy farm in Arlington,
Washington, where I worked in the summers during my high school years. George invited me to come in and visit for a
while. While sitting at the kitchen table I noticed a model of a PB2Y Coronado airplane on the counter and there was a
periodical about war stories on the kitchen table. I asked him if he was in WWII and he said he was in the Navy and flew
the PB2Y Coronado during the war. I had no idea....he never said anything about the war when I worked on the farm....and
we sat down for breakfast everyday after milking and feeding the cows.
While thumbing through the periodical I noticed a picture of Admiral Chester Nimitz. I mentioned to George that my
brother-in-law's father was on his communications staff in Pearl Harbor. He said, "wait a minute" and left the room
returning with a large scrapbook that he set down on the table in front of me. He turned to a section that had photos of
Nimitz getting out of a car at a quay, looking out the window of the cockpit, disembarking into a launch and riding across
"the bay" which turns out to be Tokyo Bay. The date is August 29, 1945, and George Grimm has just flown Fleet Admiral
Chester W. Nimitz and his flag party to Japan for the surrender of the Japanese! (Read more at the PB2Y Coronado web
site...)
Still in shock, I looked up at George and asked him, “Do you have any short snorters?” George said, "How do you know
about those?" I replied, (rather proudly) "I'm a numismatist and read about it in the Numismatist last fall." George said,
"Hmmm... wait a second" and again walked out of the room. He returned with a roll of banknotes taped together and
spread them out on the table in front of me.
“The Ultimate Short Snorter”
1. USA 1 dollar Silver Certificate - his flight instructor (Art J. Bell) from first solo at Boeing field on 11-7-41 while
belonging to a flying club, "Falcon Flyers". On reverse was pilots and passengers from squadron VR-2 when began flying
PB2Y Coronado to South Pacific.
2. USA 1 dollar Silver Certificate "HAWAII" overprint - Misc pilots/passengers and Marine Major Joe Foss (Congressional
Medal-of-Honor), whom they flew back to U.S. from Manus in Admiralty Islands.
3. Dutch East Indies 1 gulden - does not remember the names but there was a Marine General with Colonel aide.
4. Japan 5 yen - Admiral Spruance (Cdr 5th Fleet, promoted to CINCPACFLT) and another Vice-Admiral. On reverse
Admiral John Towers, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, plus others.
5. Japan 50 sen - Vice Admiral DeWitt Clinton Ramsey plus others
6. Philippine 1 peso - Vice Admiral J.L. Kauffman, Rear Admiral Stackton, plus others.
7. Australia 10 shillings - Fleet Admiral C.W. Nimitz (Chief of Naval Ops), Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, Rear Admiral
Tomlinson, Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, Marine Brig Gen, J.H. Fellows, plus others.
8. Japan 10 yen - unidentified Vice Admiral plus others
9. China 10000 yuan - various members of congress touring major Western Pacific island groups after war. Lt. Gen.
Chien Shih Tu (Chinese Nationalist Army, signed in English and Chinese), Gen. Wedemeyer (US Army Commander China
Theatre), Chang Ting-Noh (4 star rank), Adm Cooke (Cdr US 7th Fleet).
10. England 10 shillings - 2 Rear Admirals with staff flown from Wash DC to the UK.
We talked for hours and George loaned me his type-written memoirs to read. Absolutely fascinating and very well
written, it covers pre-WWII until his discharge with additional memories of a trip George and his wife and 2 boys took
down to California in 1960 where they stopped in to pay Admiral Nimitz a visit at his home after he retired. Hopefully,
someday he, or his son, will publish his memoirs.
Ever since then, whenever I go to a coin show or shop I keep my eyes out for short snorters. Several of the local coin
shops are watching for them. It is sad to see people part with these because they do not understand the history behind
their existence. I am attempting to do something about that and launched this web site The Short Snorter Project.
A local paper, The Everett Herald, published a story about George Grimm in 2005. Click here to read the article...
Click here to go back to the Home Page...
Washington, where I worked in the summers during my high school years. George invited me to come in and visit for a
while. While sitting at the kitchen table I noticed a model of a PB2Y Coronado airplane on the counter and there was a
periodical about war stories on the kitchen table. I asked him if he was in WWII and he said he was in the Navy and flew
the PB2Y Coronado during the war. I had no idea....he never said anything about the war when I worked on the farm....and
we sat down for breakfast everyday after milking and feeding the cows.
While thumbing through the periodical I noticed a picture of Admiral Chester Nimitz. I mentioned to George that my
brother-in-law's father was on his communications staff in Pearl Harbor. He said, "wait a minute" and left the room
returning with a large scrapbook that he set down on the table in front of me. He turned to a section that had photos of
Nimitz getting out of a car at a quay, looking out the window of the cockpit, disembarking into a launch and riding across
"the bay" which turns out to be Tokyo Bay. The date is August 29, 1945, and George Grimm has just flown Fleet Admiral
Chester W. Nimitz and his flag party to Japan for the surrender of the Japanese! (Read more at the PB2Y Coronado web
site...)
Still in shock, I looked up at George and asked him, “Do you have any short snorters?” George said, "How do you know
about those?" I replied, (rather proudly) "I'm a numismatist and read about it in the Numismatist last fall." George said,
"Hmmm... wait a second" and again walked out of the room. He returned with a roll of banknotes taped together and
spread them out on the table in front of me.
“The Ultimate Short Snorter”
1. USA 1 dollar Silver Certificate - his flight instructor (Art J. Bell) from first solo at Boeing field on 11-7-41 while
belonging to a flying club, "Falcon Flyers". On reverse was pilots and passengers from squadron VR-2 when began flying
PB2Y Coronado to South Pacific.
2. USA 1 dollar Silver Certificate "HAWAII" overprint - Misc pilots/passengers and Marine Major Joe Foss (Congressional
Medal-of-Honor), whom they flew back to U.S. from Manus in Admiralty Islands.
3. Dutch East Indies 1 gulden - does not remember the names but there was a Marine General with Colonel aide.
4. Japan 5 yen - Admiral Spruance (Cdr 5th Fleet, promoted to CINCPACFLT) and another Vice-Admiral. On reverse
Admiral John Towers, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, plus others.
5. Japan 50 sen - Vice Admiral DeWitt Clinton Ramsey plus others
6. Philippine 1 peso - Vice Admiral J.L. Kauffman, Rear Admiral Stackton, plus others.
7. Australia 10 shillings - Fleet Admiral C.W. Nimitz (Chief of Naval Ops), Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, Rear Admiral
Tomlinson, Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, Marine Brig Gen, J.H. Fellows, plus others.
8. Japan 10 yen - unidentified Vice Admiral plus others
9. China 10000 yuan - various members of congress touring major Western Pacific island groups after war. Lt. Gen.
Chien Shih Tu (Chinese Nationalist Army, signed in English and Chinese), Gen. Wedemeyer (US Army Commander China
Theatre), Chang Ting-Noh (4 star rank), Adm Cooke (Cdr US 7th Fleet).
10. England 10 shillings - 2 Rear Admirals with staff flown from Wash DC to the UK.
We talked for hours and George loaned me his type-written memoirs to read. Absolutely fascinating and very well
written, it covers pre-WWII until his discharge with additional memories of a trip George and his wife and 2 boys took
down to California in 1960 where they stopped in to pay Admiral Nimitz a visit at his home after he retired. Hopefully,
someday he, or his son, will publish his memoirs.
Ever since then, whenever I go to a coin show or shop I keep my eyes out for short snorters. Several of the local coin
shops are watching for them. It is sad to see people part with these because they do not understand the history behind
their existence. I am attempting to do something about that and launched this web site The Short Snorter Project.
A local paper, The Everett Herald, published a story about George Grimm in 2005. Click here to read the article...
Click here to go back to the Home Page...