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V24 2021 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 24, Number 29, July 18, 2021, Article 9

Last week we discussed collector Capt. Andrew Zabriskie. Although his primary coin collection was sold by Henry Chapman, another sale took place at a much later date, as told by reader Alan V. Weinberg. Thanks! -Editor

I enjoyed the brief biography of Captain Andrew Zabriskie, but a significant and in our readers' lifetime Zabriskie event was not covered and it is not widely known within the numismatic community. I consider it the most major but little known numismatic auction of modern times aside from the PA Pennypacker large cent sale of the 1950s.

It is true that while Zabriskie's American numismatic collection, including seven Higleys and a gold Brasher Doubloon, was auctioned by Henry Chapman in 1909, his first love of political exonumia specializing in Lincoln campaign items was kept in a closeted box for almost a century by his descendants, considered of nominal value. They brought it into Sotheby's NYC auction house in 1999 and learned differently.

The most significant auction offering of choice Lincolniana, with many additional top condition rare tokens and medals formed by the Captain appeared on June 26, 1999 lots 423- 677 in NYC by Sotheby's, Catalogue only available for $29, a not inconsiderable auction catalogue price in 1999. The sale was not widely publicized nor attended, certainly not in numismatic circles.

Dominating the auction offering were Steve Tanenbaum with partners, and Larry Stack with Mike Hodder assisting. The sale was inadvertently scheduled opposite a major political ephemera show in the Baltimore area which resulted in many potentially interested bidders, like me, unable to attend the NYC auction.

Still, in the main, prices realized were, for the time, astounding. Cataloguing was done by the very knowledgeable Jonathan Mann and Dan Ackerman ( the latter just retired from Heritage's political/ historical dept ) so lots were quite adequately described and attributed. Most lots were adequately plated and there were several full color plates. The catalogue's cover plate, an 1860 Lincoln ferrotype in a mechanical brass calendar medal realized $38,500, an astonishing price even today. It may be unique as neither this nor another has re-appeared on the market since. The overall quality of everything was as-issued and pristine, collected by Zabriskie as an apparently very wealthy young man who witnessed the 1864 pre-inaugural parade on Fifth Ave and five weeks later the funeral post-assassination procession on the same avenue.

Even today the 1999 Sotheby's Zabriskie catalogue is quite rare, particularly so with original prices realized. I didn't miss out too badly. Shortly after the sale, I acquired several rare medals from the sale directly from Larry Stack and later several impressive ferrotypes from collector Scott Dolson who had in turn acquired those from Stack's. Sadly, much of Scott's collection was later stolen in a devastating residential KY burglary, the vast majority still missing.