STACKS-BOWERS NOVEMBER 2012 BALTIMORE AUCTION LOTS

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V15 2012 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 15, Number 45, October 28, 2012, Article 15

Here are some random lots in the upcoming Stacks-Bowers November 2012 Baltimore Auction that caught my eye. -Editor

Lot 50: John Paul Jones Naval Medal Obv: JOANNI PAVLO JONES CLASSIS PRAEFECTO. COMITIA AMERICANA. (THE AMERICAN CONGRESS TO JOHN PAUL JONES, COMMANDER OF THE FLEET) with bust to right. Rev: HOSTIVM NAVIBVS CAPTIS AVT FVGATIS (THE VESSELS OF THE ENEMY CAPTURED OR PUT TO FLIGHT) above scene of naval battle. AD ORAM SCOTIAE XXIII.SEPT.M.DCCXXVIIII (AT THE SHORE OF SCOTLAND, SEPTEMBER 23, 1779) in exergue. Engraved by Augustin Dupre, in Paris. This medal reveals an exquisite design , with amazingly fine details of the warships on the reverse, especially the central ship with its multiple masts and sails. The surfaces are reflective and the motifs are reproduced in high relief, with razor-sharp definition. Rich copper-tan patina increases the enticing visual quality of the piece. A scarce, highly desirable specimen of the first naval medal authorized by Congress (originally struck in gold).

Lot 105: "Long Live The King" Engraved Button 36mm. Original shank. This highly elusive George Washington Inaugural related button exhibits bold central obverse details exceeding that of the finest offered at auction, the Cobb Collection sold by us (Stack’s) in our 2003 Americana Sale, lot 1326, which brought $14,950. The bright silver obverse retains most of its original “silvering” or “tinning” with some dark copper present where the silver has rubbed off, mostly at the peripheries. The plain back side has an even natural brown patina, and the original shank is intact, though pushed down flat. It is likely among the finest extant of this rare and seminal type that is collected along with and as part of the Washington Inaugural Button field. The design type has been described as related to George III’s 1789 recovery from his bout with porphyria, though this legend and its message could have also come from an earlier decade. Two such buttons are reported to have been found in America, one in Brooklyn and another in Maine. The size and legend of this button type could easily have inspired the design and style for the 1789 Washington Inaugural buttons bearing the legend “Long Live the President,” and these Long Live the King buttons are avidly collected by Washington Inaugural button collectors as such.

Lot 6869: End Of Pain / Knave Halfpenny Conder Token A Gem-quality example of this popular Thomas Paine issue, the obverse design with the inscription END OF PAIN around a man hanging from a gallows, with a church to the right. Otherwise medium brown surfaces reveal glints of original pinkish red luster in the protected areas around a few of the devices as the token rotates under a light. British-born Paine was a political activity and revolutionary who became one of the founding fathers of the United States.

Lot 4281: BEP Presentation Book. The Presidents Of The United States

Octavo, nearly square format. 22.0cm by 17.5cm by 1.5cm. Full, brown morocco with deep polishing. Gilt front and back edge bordering and interior pattern. Intricate cover titles in three lines with additional BEGINNING/ 1789 /WASHINGTON and to the right CLOSING /1889 /CLEVELAND. Gilt titled: PRESIDENTS /OF THE/ UNITED /STATES on spine. Five raised spine bands with pattern compartments. Inside covers red marbled paper, leather turned inwards straight. 24 intaglio India paper proof vignettes on original gilt edged cards by the BEP, some titled, some not. Includes all 22 of the Presidential portraits from Washington to Grover Cleveland. The frontis has additional Washington vignette in classical Roman style and title page vignette of the Treasury Building. The first we have seen with this binding and cover titles.

Lot 4327: New York City. Mendum’s Family Wine Emporium Obsolete Notes. New York, New York City. Mendum’s Family Wine Emporium, Related. Issuer Of Encased Postage Stamps. Four Colorful Small Scrip Tickets, Circa 1862, Issued For Mendum’s Branch, Wine And Ale Vaults, 55 William Street, Corner Pine. Wm. Davis, Proprietor.