THE NUMISMATIC EDUCATION OF DAVID T. ALEXANDER

I have spent the last 40 years as a professional auction cataloger for several prominent firms. As a young collector in the 1950’s, however, I had little knowledge of numismatic auctions, how and why they worked, and I was not alone. As a staff writer for Coin World from 1974 to 1981 I became very familiar with the finished product: the many U.S. and world auction catalogs that crossed my desk each week.

Of course, these catalogs were an important part of the story but in themselves provided little insight into the philosophy and hands-on work of catalog preparation. As most ordinary readers, I had no concept of how a newspaper like Coin World or an auction catalog on my desk came to be. Like many readers, I casually assumed that the elves brought publications to us the readers.

Hands-on experience revealed a whole world that was only dimly perceived from the outside. Auctions had been a basic part of the world of American numismatics since coin collecting blossomed in the years before the Civil War. A catalog of some kind has been fundamental to every sale ever held, good or bad, great or small, in print or electronic form ever since.

At the very least, a successful catalog had to reveal to the reader just what was in the sale. Of course, a simple typed list could do that much, and many of the earliest catalogs were little more than that. Early on, however, perceptive dealers became aware that careful descriptions of each lot written by a knowledgeable cataloger were vital to attract readers’ interest and persuade them to bid on the lot described.

In the modern world, a carefully crafted catalog was an important advertising tool, showing potential consignors how qualified the issuing firm was to handle THEIR treasured collections. Such high quality catalogs were also vital in tracing the pedigree of rare coins, thereby adding to their appeal by linking the successful bidders to the historic past and reinforcing pride of ownership.

I received my Bachelor of Science degree in 1961 and Master of Arts in history from the University of Miami in 1962, followed by a fellowship in African Studies at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). I found the ideology there offensive but thoroughly enjoyed the booming numismatic world of Southern California, meeting future presidents of the American Numismatic Association (ANA), the founders of the Token and Medal Society* (TAMS).

I met Abe Kosoff, a fellow ex-New Yorker, Abner Kreisberg, the Goldbergs of Superior and many other greats of the auction world, as well as local dealers such as Pauline Ney, sister of Nobel laureate Linus Pauling. Many Los Angeles dealers had “bid boards” on which collectors could post coins for viewing and written bids in a king of week-long silent auction sale.

Returning to Miami. I began an 11-year stint as director of the Historical Museum of Southern Florida. I learned to catalogue a bewildering variety of objects, from 18th century cannon to rare books, pioneer artifacts to Project Mercury materials; Spanish treasure coins to albums of historical photographs.

To read the complete article, see: David T. Alexander: How this Auction Cataloger “Got that Way” (www.coinweek.com/featured-news/david-t-alexander-how-this-auction-cataloger-got-that-way/)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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