DAVISSON'S E-AUCTION 41

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V24 2021 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 24, Number 35, August 29, 2021, Article 24

Allan Davisson wrote this overview of his firm's upcoming E-Auction. I selected some lot images for illustration. -Editor

E-Auction 41, closing Wednesday, September 29th 2021, is online now! Print copies will be sent today, if you are not on our mailing list and would like a copy please let us know.

Contretemps—an unusual word that I have never found a use for in opening notes for a coin/medal catalog, until now. Usually anything that merits minting metal is of some significance. The protests of some disgruntled theater fans over two centuries ago seems small stuff for medalists to mark. But no other word (except perhaps kerfuffle) could be more apt to describe theatre-goer unhappiness at ticket price increases after the restoration of the burned-to-the-ground Covent Theatre. You can see the medals that resulted (212-214, The Old Price Riots) at the end of this sale.

In the process of getting there you will see the range of coins that mark more significant times and peoples through the centuries. Gold for a Scottish king, copper marking the aspirations of towns and kingdoms and colonies in the ancient world, a few masterpieces of ancient Greek art in silver, ancient silver coins depicting Greek gods and Roman emperors and would-be emperors like Mark Antony. Also look for many connections to wine and grapes, classic urns, and mythological stories of satyrs.

The British are represented. They are the only peoples that have an almost continuous coinage extending well over two millenia. The Scots were a bit late on the British scene. Their coinage did not get started until the 12th century, but their tumultuous history and their sense of independence marked their coinage. We will be offering a carefully assembled collection of Scottish coins over four auctions. Part I is here.

Tokens—This remains a series marking a time of political and economic transition. We continue to be the only North American firm regularly offering a substantially changing palette of this series. The Michael Sussman collection has been the core of our catalogs for over a year now and we will be ending it soon in 2022 but other collections have come in. We have been fortunate in being able to offer high quality. You will see more of it here.

World coins from the 16th to the 19th century represent a rapid expansion of political and economic power. Minting technology followed along. Coins from the huge collection formed based on U.S. Mint Director James Snowden's 1860 publication of the huge Mint collection have given us the opportunity to offer collectible Very Fine and better coins from these centuries. In an age where the mint state grading number may seem more important than the coin in the slab it is refreshing to be able to handle a piece that was handled by someone from the era in which it was minted. We will continue to work through this series.

American Colonial and United States coinage has its own rich history. In addition to pieces from this early period of our history there are pieces of Continental Currency and a couple of unusual mint errors—an area of numismatic fascination that has seen some dramatic prices in recent sales.

We find putting together a sale is always a bit different—it is exciting to be able to look at what has come in and see things we have seldom (or never) seen before. We hope you enjoy it all too.