LIBERTY SEATED COLLECTOR'S CLUB 2015 AUCTION

The Liberty Seated Collector's Club is holding a fund-raising auction at their annual meeting at the Chicago ANA World's Fair of Money. Bibliophiles may be interested in the nine lots of numismatic literature. Catalogs were included with the Summer 2015 issue of The Gobrecht Journal. Len Augsburger forwarded some of the lot descriptions. Thanks. -Editor

Lot 6. Gobrecht Journal #121, Fall 2014, Small format.
This is a rare “transitional” issue of the Gobrecht Journal, sandwiched in between the black &white small format editions (ending with issue #120) and full color, large format (beginning with issue #121). For a short period of time, a full color, small format version was envisioned, and Editor Bill Bugert produced this copy as a sample. Full color printing in the numismatic world is becoming the standard as printing costs decrease and the use of color facilitates technical evaluation and variety attribution. This is especially important for silver coinage as toning has become a more important consideration with respect to overall eye appeal. Bowers & Merena issued the first full color auction at the Baltimore ANA in 2003 and the world of numismatic publishing has never looked back.

Lot 7. Gobrecht Journal #121, Fall 2014, Large format draft.
Prior to the publication of GJ #121, Editor Bill Bugert produced this draft copy of the Journal as a sample to show fellow members. It contains most of the same content, but ads are not present. The word “draft” is diagonally featured on the front cover in a light gray font. The large format expanded layout possibilities, and offered advertisers the opportunity to easily reuse content submitted to other large format publications.

Lot 8. A Register of Liberty Seated Half Dollar Varieties, Volume IV, New Orleans Branch Mint, 1853-O WA to 1861-O. Deluxe Leather-bound edition, copy #10 of 10 bound.

Bill Bugert continues his masterful analysis of Liberty Seated half dollar die varieties in this, the fourth volume of the series. The books issued to date are volume I (Carson City pieces from 1870 to 1878), volume II (San Francisco half dollars from 1855 to 1878), volume III (New Orleans halves from 1840 to 1853 NA), and volume IV, covering the remainder of the New Orleans issues from 1853 WA to 1861. Work on the Philadelphia volumes continues apace as the “Liberty Seated Half Dollar Summit” meets periodically. This cadre of Liberty Seated half dollar variety experts has been meeting once or so per year, and, over a week long period, will studiously examine hundreds of examples. Bill Bugert acts as “Documenter-in-Chief” and has been publishing these authoritative references since 2009.

This is a leather-bound copy, copy #10 of ten produced. Bill has generously donated previous leather-bound volumes to LSCC auctions. Previous prices realized: Carson City ($1000), San Francisco ($425), and New Orleans (volume III in the series, $650).

Lot 9. The Gardner Collection: Liberty Seated Half Dimes.

The Gene Gardner collection of Liberty Seated coinage is well known, appearing in a series of Heritage sales beginning in 2013. The first three sales realized over $47 million, and a final sale is scheduled for this fall. Gardner’s sets represent the all-time finest for overall quality.

While the Eliasberg collection included certain ultra-rarities not present here (1884 and 1885 trade dollars, the 1873- CC No Arrows dime, the 1853-O No Arrows and Ray half), Gardner’s collection was clearly superior in the area of uncirculated branch mint pieces.

Furthermore, while Eliasberg mixed proof and circulation strike pieces in his frontline collection, Gardner made a discipline of collecting both types, and, as a result, achieved “definitive” status for both proof and uncirculated formats.

Gardner has been a long time friend to the LSCC and has regularly attended club meetings at major shows. Gardner has generously supported the LSCC collective volumes project, and was elected to the LSCC Hall of Fame in 2014.

Several years ago, Gardner began documenting his frontline collections in a series of photo books. These hardbound books feature full color photography on thick paper. Print runs were limited, typically ten or twenty copies of each volume. These books were distributed to family and friends of Gardner and were never commercially offered.

Gardner personally describes each coin with observations on technical quality, provenance, and die varieties. These books are the definitive record of the definitive collection. Eleven volumes were produced for Liberty Seated coinage as follows:

Half Dimes: Two volumes, one for uncirculated pieces and one for proofs

Dimes: Three volumes, two for uncirculated pieces and one for proofs

Quarters: Three volumes, two for uncirculated pieces and one for proofs

Half Dollars: Three volumes, two for uncirculated pieces and one for proofs

Len adds:

For more information about the Liberty Seated Collectors Club, see:
www.lsccweb.org

Wayne Homren, Editor

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web