KOLBE & FANNING OFFER ADAMS LYMAN LOW CATALOGUES

On July 14, 2018, Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers will be celebrating our 150th Auction by offering highlights of the John W. Adams numismatic library.

The Adams Library includes one of the finest collections of American numismatic auction catalogues ever assembled. Among the highlights is a complete set of catalogues issued by New York coin dealer Lyman H. Low, including all of his plated sales, the complex series of early sales, and the extremely rare 1885 catalogue of the R.E. Kingsford sale, withdrawn by the consignor while the catalogue was being printed.

Active from 1883 until his death at the age of 79 in 1924, Lyman Low combined a rare ability to succeed commercially while sustaining a series of scholarly publications and an active career as a numismatic editor. He served as editor of the American Journal of Numismatics for nearly two decades, and published what remains the standard work on Hard Times Tokens, along with other works. His areas of particular interest included Spanish-American coinage, U.S. and Canadian token issues, medals, and foreign copper coins. As a cataloguer, he issued no fewer than 212 sale catalogues.

The Adams Library's holdings of Lyman Low catalogues are being offered as follows:

Lot 252

Lot 252: Lyman Low's own set of his early fixed price lists, with various miscellaneous publications from the period before his sojourn with Scott & Company, many of which are very rare.

Lots 253 and 254

Lot 253: the early Low auction catalogues, including complete copies of the very rare plated catalogues of his fifth and eighth sales from the library of William G. Jerrems, the first ANA President.

Lot 254: the extremely rare 1885 catalogue of the Rupert E. Kingsford sale, withdrawn by the consignor as the catalogue was being printed and extant today in perhaps only three copies salvaged from the page proofs.

Lot 255

Lot 255: an extraordinary complete set, mostly present in eighteen fine bindings, of the later Lyman Low catalogues, constituting 185 sale catalogues issued from 1896 through 1924.

Lots 256 and 257

Lot 256: a bound volume including copies of two of Low's most important sales, that of Benjamin Betts (1898) and the Hays-Phelps 1794 large cents (1907).

Lot 257: a fine studio photograph of Low, taken in 1921 and signed by him on the original decorative cardboard frame.

The extensive, full-color catalogue of the Adams Library is now available at bid.numislit.com. The sale will feature live online bidding using Kolbe & Fanning’s custom third-party online bidding platform. Printed catalogues have recently been mailed to established customers, who should receive their copies shortly. Bidders wishing to make an appointment to view auction lots are invited to contact David Fanning at df@numislit.com.

Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers LLC is a licensed and bonded auction firm in the State of Ohio. For more information, please see the Kolbe & Fanning website at numislit.com or email David Fanning at df@numislit.com.

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