BOWERS ON THE GREAT COLLECTIONS CATALOGS

I recently heard from Christopher McDowell, a relatively new on the scene Renaissance Man researcher, now editor of The Colonial Newsletter and a major contributor to the Colonial Coin Collectors Club (not to overlook great help with some of the research I have been doing for Whitman and Stacks Bowers Galleries) In this instance, he wrote to ask who authored certain parts of a long-ago series of sales. These were the suite of four catalogs for the Garrett Collection sold by Bowers and Merena Galleries from 1979 through 1981, consigned to us by the Johns Hopkins University. My reply to Chris included much of the following.

I wrote nearly all of the Garrett descriptions with the help of George Fuld on the MEDALS. There was some staff help on other series. This involved a heck of a lot of research -- going through over 4,000 documents at the Johns Hopkins University, consulting with specialists – and also resulted in a book that became a best seller. It was a “grand adventure” that I recall with pleasure today. David and Susan Tripp at JHU, still great friends today, facilitated things.

The sale turned the market upside down. For the first time TONED coins became widely popular. Some of the prices were so off-the-wall that Abe Kosoff wrote that in calculating values, the Garrett Collection should not be considered as it was a special situation!

Later, David Tripp was instrumental in helping me and the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company with the Virgil M. Brand Collection, another “grand adventure,” that resulted in a book as well and the transforming of Virgil in popular numismatic opinion from a wealthy coin buyer who simply bought and stored coins (as Col. E.H.R. Green did) to a wealthy coin buyer who was also one of the most knowledgeable numismatic scholars of the early 20th century.

Other “grand adventures” include the Ambassador and Mrs. R. Henry Norweb, Louis E. Eliasberg, Walter Childs, Harry W. Bass, Jr. and D. Brent Pogue collections—for most of which I had a lot of staff help, with John Kraljevich doing the lion’s share of the Pogue descriptions. I wrote two books about the Pogue Collection.

Chris Karstedt in particular has been dynamic in the past quarter century with coordinating and arrangements, and numismatists on staff have been the Who’s Who in American Numismatics. Some have gone elsewhere in their careers, but John Pack’s banner still waves high at our California office. The Stack’s Bowers Galleries team includes many world=class numismatists who were not part of the aforementioned great collections, but who are front row center in sales in recent years.

Then, of course, there was and is the SS Central America, coordinated by Dwight Manley. In 2000 and 2001. I created the 1,064-page book on the treasure under an unlimited budget that facilitated research from the Library of Congress in the East to the Bancroft Library in the West. I received help from many people (Bob Evans was the star); 4,600 copies were sold, and today on the after-market they still sell for more than they did originally!

None of the above could have been done without wonderful staff help, an enthusiastic reception in the marketplace by dealers and collectors, and excellent coverage in the media.

To read the complete article, see:
Remembering Great Collections (http://www.stacksbowers.com/News/Pages/Blogs.aspx?ArticleID=2944)

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