The E-Sylum:  Volume 7, Number 5, February 1, 2004, Article 16

THE FIRST STACK'S FORD SALE CATALOGUE

  Steve Pellegrini writes: "I'm curious to know the PRL in the
  recent Fred Lake Sale for the Oct/'03 Stack's catalogue of
  Part I of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection.  I already know that
  my bid for it was unsuccessful. It seems this 3 month old
  catalogue has become, in the words of another Numis Dealer,
  "An instant rarity."  On going out in search of another copy I
  felt lucky to get a lead for an unpriced copy which turned out
  to be priced at around $100.  Too much? Sounds like it, but
  who knows?  I do know that this is a unique and uniquely
  important collection.  I believe this work will be of lasting
  value to not only to coin collectors but also to historians,
  curators, certainly to professional numismatists and dealers in
  US collectibles.

  [The Ford sale catalog was lot A40 in the Lake Books
  January 20th sale.  According to the prices realized on the
  web site, the lot brought $55  -Editor]

  Ford's love of history and research, his demanding
  connoisseurship, vast numismatic expertise, acquaintances &
  plain old being in the right place at the right time have resulted
  in something more than a great coin collection.  It is a vast
  organized repository of tangible connections with our history.
  Walter Breen used the phrase 'coiner's caviar' to describe the
  rarest and choicest survivors of our early copper coinage.
  But the word caviar, besides its images of exclusivity and
  superior quality may also convey the image of a densely
  bunched monochrome uniformity - to me the very definition
  of a certain type of 'pop top' US coin collecting. A style of
  collecting which results in a side-by-side repetition which
  wears on the eye and curiosity ? regardless of the beauty or
  rarity of the individual coins. Too often when viewing these
  complete collections of gem 'series sets', my eyes begin to see
  only a monotonous, uniform progression of matched coins
  marching across the page in dated lock step - first year of
  issue to the last. Ford's choices of coins, tokens and medals,
  on the other hand, stop the eyes short at every step. We can't
  help but ask, which came first, the story or the coin?  For each
  choice example is either a highlight of America's story or an
  illumination of some obscure nook of her story now rescued
  and conserved that we may consider and enjoy at our leisure.
  Each item, at the very least, hints at its history like a long buried
  signpost pushed up from the compost.  A history which must
  lay deeply buried indeed for Ford not to have been able to dig,
  worry or excavate it from its place in time's midden.

  I'm sure that Stack's will enjoy a rush of new yearly subscribers
  to their auction catalogues. A way, hopefully, to insure the next
  Stack's catalogued installment of the Ford Collection won't end
  up costing more than some of the items it features. That's my
  plan at least. One thing for sure is that I, like so many others,
  intend to have in my library a record of this treasure trove of our
  history.  We can safely assume that once sold nobody ever,
  anywhere will be able to duplicate the accomplishment of the
  John J. Ford, Jr. Collection."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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