SELECTIONS FROM Kolbe & Fanning’S SALE #142

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V19 2016 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 19, Number 23, June 5, 2016, Article 2

Maria Fanning forwarded this press release describing some of the fun stuff in Kolbe & Fanning’s June 24-25, 2016 sale. Thanks! -Editor

As announced last week, Kolbe & Fanning will be holding our 142nd sale of important numismatic literature on June 24 and 25, 2016. It is a two-part sale, with a live online component to the first 380 lots, and with the second part (over 600 lots) being a traditional mail-bid sale.

It’s natural, when promoting a sale, to focus on the higher-priced items: landmark rarities, exquisite bindings and so on. It occurs to us, though, that there are a number of items in this sale that are just plain fun: and since hobbies are supposed to be enjoyable (no matter how seriously we may take them), we thought we’d focus some attention on a few of these lots:

--Lot 72: a handwritten letter, signed, by Barclay V. Head, dated 1893 on British Museum notepaper. The letter cites a passage in his Historia Numorum, the first edition of which was published just six years before.

--Lot 93: a copy of Frederick S. Knobloch’s very scarce 1942 catalogue of the Bishop Bonaventure F. Broderick collection of ancient coins, inscribed to the author by Bishop Broderick.

--Lot 142: Félix Feuardent’s copy of Alphonse de Schodt’s 1879 listing of unpublished Roman coins, with handwritten inventories of additional unpublished coins from Heinrich Dressel and Ferdinande Szukits laid in.

--Lot 176: the third (and best) edition of Frederick Parke Weber’s famous Aspects of Death, a macabre compendium with a surprising amount of numismatic content, by one of the doctors treating Joseph Merrick, the “Elephant Man.”

--Lot 180: a copy of Johann Friedrich Wurm’s 1820 work on ancient metrology, with the binding’s spine backed in vellum musical manuscript and all page edges dyed blue (which, along with green edges, was a mostly 19th-century German fashion that we rather like).

--Lot 231: a possibly unique two-volume independent production comprising a plate key to Marsden’s Numismata Orientalia Illustrata.

--Lot 268: a complete run of American Numismatic Association membership cards from 1929 to 1947, all issued to M.A. Powills.

--Lot 284: a wonderful handwritten postcard from Edward Cogan to J.N.T. Levick, reporting on prices realized at Cogan’s Mar. 1-2, 1875 auction.

--Lot 293: a very large (51.5 by 40.5 by 6.5 cm) bank register of the receiving teller of the First National Bank of Helena for 1890.

--Lot 300: a fantastic promotional piece for S.K. Harzfeld, printed on the blank verso of a National Bank Note Company sample.

--Lot 301: a subscription form sent to Dr. George Heath, founder of the American Numismatic Association, calling on him to renew his subscription for the 1894-95 volume of the American Journal of Numismatics.

--Lot 351: two handwritten letters from Wayte Raymond to John J. Pittman on the subject of proof coins.

And that’s just in Part I of the sale. Few of the above lots will be in the running for Star of the Show as far as prices realized goes, but they all get to the heart of why we collect: because it’s interesting and intellectually stimulating and just plain fun.

For more information on the sale, go to numislit.com, where a PDF of the entire catalogue can be downloaded and where you may connect to our custom online bidding platform for Part I of the sale. Printed catalogues have been mailed to established clients. Feel free to email David Fanning at df@numislit.com with any questions. We look forward to your participation.