MORE ON THE HELFENSTEIN SALE PHOTO

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V20 2017 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 20, Number 27, July 2, 2017, Article 7

MORE ON THE HELFENSTEIN SALE PHOTO

Dan Hamelberg of Champaign, IL submitted these notes in response to Dave Wnuck's story on the famous Helfenstein sale photo. Thanks. -Editor

Regarding the Lester Merkin photo cover for the Helfenstein Sale, I have an original negative for the Large Cent cover which I believe is different from the one Charlie Davis used for his copies and the one used for the photo in the Champa part one sale, lot 409. The print in the Champa sale was 19 1/2 " by 15 1/2 ", and does not completely illustrate the 1798 Cent far right. Also, only a small part of the bracket on the left holding the magnifying glass is seen. The 20" by 24" photo produced by Charlie Davis has a wider image and does include more of the 1798 Cent on the right and the magnifying glass bracket on the left.

I produced a total of 15 - 8" by 10" photos of my negative and it illustrates the entire 1798 cent on the right and much more of the bracket on the left. If you still have photo #11 that I sent you in May of 1994, you can see the wider margins. The September, 1964 issue of Coins Magazine has the Merkin photo of the Helfenstein Sale on the cover. It appears to be taken from the soft cover Merkin sale catalog as the Hardcover catalog has a cropped photo that mostly hides the 1798 cent on the right and bracket on the left.

Additionally, I made 3 giant poster sized prints 24" by 30" from my negative. One was sold at the 1992 ANA at the NBS meeting for the benefit of the NBS. One was sold in 2008 at the ANS Gala for the benefit of the ANS. I retained one of the giant prints for my collection.

There are coin photos and then there are coin photos. Most are utilitarian and with today's cameras often look great though few of us have training in the photographic arts. But doing it well is still a high art. That this one photo is still being talked about and collected forty years on says a lot.

It is thanks to collectors like Dan and dealers like Charlie and their zeal for numismatic literature and ephemera that those negatives were spared the fate of being consigned to a dumpster, and collectors forty (or four hundred) years in the future will be able to share our delight in the image.

I still have that photo Dan sent. Because it's easier than digging it out and scanning it, below is an image of Charlie Davis' version of the print, with an inset showing how it is cropped for the color photo. -Editor

For more information, or to order, see:
Merkin: Color Photograph, 20x24", of the Louis Helfenstein Collection of Large Cents (https://www.vcoins.com/cn/stores/charles_davis/44/product/
merkin_color_photograph_20x24_of_the_louis_helfenstein
_collection_of_large_cents/106784/Default.aspx)

I wrote this Tuesday morning. I was up before everyone in the house, as usual. I took my glasses off to put in some eyedrops and was struck by this scene on my desk, so I took a picture. -Editor

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
THE HELFENSTEIN LARGE CENT SALE COVER PHOTO (http://www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n26a08.html)

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Wayne Homren, Editor

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

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