The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 43, October 9, 2005, Article 13

THE STACK'S JOHN J. FORD CATALOGUES

Tom DeLorey writes: "The Stack's John J. Ford Catalogue
Part XII is, indeed, incredible! Congratulations, once again,
to the Stack's and their excellent cataloguers.

Was I the only one bemused by the fact that this catalogue,
featuring Massachusetts silver, should happen to be numbered
XII in the series? That is, after all, how the denomination is
expressed on the Shillings. No doubt this is nothing more than
a remarkable coincidence?

If not, can we perhaps expect the long-awaited and (some say)
ill-starred Western Assay Bar collection to appear as
Catalogue # XIII???"

[I did notice the XII numbering and wondered if it was
intentional. Definitely amusing either way.

I'm probably not the only one wondering just how many sales
there will be before the Ford collection is completely dispersed.
I asked someone at Stack's when I called about the hardbound
set I've been assembling, and was told (and I'm paraphrasing
here) "we're not sure - they keep finding more stuff."

Certainly the Assay Bars and the famed Nova Constellatio
silver pattern set have yet to cross the block. What else is
in the wings? -Editor]

David Gladfelter writes: "The entire series (12 thus far) of
Ford collection catalogs produced by Stack's, not only the
latest catalog of Ford's Massachusetts silver, deserves to
be cited as setting a new standard in numismatic cataloguing.
The thoroughness of the research (including pedigree, just
now beginning to receive anything like serious appreciation
in cataloguing), the quality of the photographs, the liberal use
of historical background information, the design and layout,
the written descriptions including contributions by guest
catalogers and essay writers such as George Fuld, Bruce
Hagen, Scott Rubin and Michael Hodder, in addition to
Stack's in-house staff, all make for a world class presentation
of what some would call the finest U. S. numismatic collection
of all time (despite the comment I heard that Ford didn't have
any national bank notes).

Stacks's had to be coaxed into producing special hardbound
library editions of these catalogs, and The E-Sylum took the
lead in convincing Stack's that there would be a market for such
hardbounds. Stack's responded with sturdily-bound special
editions (signature-sewn, not side-sewn or perfect-bound)
in sufficient quantities that anyone who wants them can order
them. And guess what? They're even pretty to look at, with
lettered and blind-stamped matching front covers and marbled-style
endpapers. So whether your Ford bids are successful or not,
you have great information on the coins, tokens, medals and
paper of interest to you. These standards are being maintained
in Stack's regular auction catalogs.

I think John Ford would have been pleased that advances in
numismatic cataloguing didn't stop with his work on New
Netherlands's 60th sale (in John Adams's opinion, the best
catalog to date when he published United States Numismatic
Literature, Volume II)."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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