DAVISSONS AUCTION 41 SELECTIONS

Micro and macro, generalists and specialists, detail or big-picture oriented: the world of numismatics offers challenges and satisfactions for different perspectives, and in many cases the overlap is what makes the field even more exciting.

The effort of finding and filling in elements of a particular series brings the satisfaction of putting something together that not only fulfills a goal, it often leads to new insights and depths of understanding that are elusive until varieties and progressions become more obvious. This is why so much of what is published about coins, tokens and medals is authored by committed collectors, amateurs in the best sense of the term—people whose interest is personal, who love what they are doing.

This means an auction catalog should have data—weights, sizes, concise descriptions, accurate references, reliable grading and, perhaps most importantly, preparation by people with an underlying understanding of the material itself, and a love for it. Interestingly, almost every catalog we put out gets comments back from specialists who know more than we do. (See lot 162 for a key example.) This would not happen unless there was a shared basis of understanding about the material we offer.

Over the several decades we have been writing catalogs and sales we have focused on ancient Greek and Roman coins, specialized in the various series of British numismatics from the over 2000 years the area covers, and have gone into other areas. For the three of us, we feel privileged to have a profession that allows us to indulge our passion, where we never suffer from boredom, always with something new to learn about, to handle, to offer.

While many collectors become specialists and focus on one area, the breadth of what numismatics includes means that there is almost always something new under the sun that can draw interest.

There is fine artistry, decorative expression, political and social commentary—all the things that are considered art that are present in numismatics. I recently had to fill out a government form where I was asked to classify our business. One choice was art dealer and I thought seriously about marking that though I finally decided it was too narrow.

But that is one of the great appeals of what we handle—artistic merit is one of the major criteria we use when considering what should be selected for a sale.

There is also history and the ever-fascinating realization that what we are handling is actually a physical remnant of times and events past.

I spent some time this evening looking over the catalog once again. It has been a few weeks since my part of its preparation was finished so revisiting it now that the end of the sale is so near seemed particularly appealing. A few things really stood out for me:

 

The rare Byzantine gold solidus rendering an Armenian general in fine artistry and in Mint State condition. (Lot 6)

 

The Renaissance artistry of a coin that represented the need for a new denomination because of changing economic currents—and a rare non-London issue as well, the York half ryal of Edward IV. (Lot 8)

 

The excitement of the American west and the gold rush and the mention of Pikes Peak in Colorado. I could see Pikes Peak out of the front window of the house I grew up in. (Lot 13)

 

The powerful presence conveyed by artistry and centering on the beautiful Athenian owl. (Lot 81)

 

Domitian's portrait and Pegasus on the Roman denarius and the spectacular toning that graces it. (Lot 118)

 

The clear, unmarred image of Philip II with Mary on an English shilling... (Lot 170)

 

...and his image again on a coin of Naples. (Lot 319)

 

Charles I riding high on a nearly flawless and spectacular halfpound... (Lot 174)

 

...and then gone forever by the time of the final siege at Pontefract as the coin vainly declared his son the new king. (Lot 176)

 

The simple beauty of an exceptionally fresh (and extremely rare) Scottish crown issued for a few months only during a time of economic turmoil. (Lot 202)

 

The heft of a sixpence piece meant to be worth in commerce what it was in copper—a failed effort both because it was too hard to produce and too heavy to carry (the finest known example). (Lot 302)

 

The set of replicas of America's beautiful 1796 coinage—available for little more than the bullion value of the pieces and rendered in meticulous detail. (Lot 331)

You have a few days left to page through the print catalog or browse the internet.

Then the conclusion arrives Wednesday morning, March 16th at 10:00 A.M. US Central Daylight Time. The hour change occurs a couple of weeks earlier in the United States than it does in Europe. I don't know why—perhaps eagerness for winter's end or simply national impatience. But it does mean a 3:00 P.M. GMT start time for our 41st major sale.

For more information, see:
https://davcoin.com/

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
DAVISSONS AUCTION 41 GREEK, JUDAIC SELECTIONS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n09a27.html)
DAVISSONS AUCTION 41 ELECTROTYPES (https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n10a26.html)

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