VOCABULARY TERMS: PEDIGREE, PROVENANCE

Pedigree. The record of previous owners of a valuable item. An item said to be “pedigreed” is one whose prior ownership is known, often a famous collector. Records of auction sales are the most useful in identifying a numismatic items’ pedigree. A term with similar meaning is PROVENANCE (q.v.).
CLASS 11.4

Provenance. A pedigree; the record of previous ownership of an artifact or numismatic item. A provenance is important only for the most valuable or rarest items and is highly regarded when an appraisal is made on the item. A search of auction catalogs, sales literature, trade publications and such is required to compile such a pedigree or provenance. When this information is found the item is said to be TRACEABLE.

Private treaty sales without publication of such transactions often provide stumbling blocks to compiling such prior list of owners, but research is conducted to learn who owned it, when each purchase or transaction was made, and how much was paid at each sale, a PRICE STUDY. When histories of rare items are written, provenance often plays an important role, as in the case of the book on the 14 known 1804 U.S. silver dollars by Eric P. Newman and Kenneth Bressett. The documented knowledge that a famous collector once owned an item adds greatly to its charm (and often its auction price!).

Note: this term is spelled correctly above and is not the “provenience” – which also means origin – that will appear on computer spellcheckers.
CLASS 11.4

Reference: {1962} Newman and Bressett.

Looking for the meaning of a numismatic word, or the description of a term?  Try the Newman Numismatic Portal's Numismatic Dictionary at: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/dictionary

Or if you would like a printed copy of the complete Encyclopedia, it is available. There are 1,854 terms, on 678 pages, in The Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Technology. Even running two a week would require more than 19 years to publish them all. If you would like an advance draft of this vital reference work it may be obtained from the author for your check of $50 sent postpaid. Dick Johnson, 139 Thompson Drive, Torrington, CT 06790.

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