PREV ARTICLE
NEXT ARTICLE
FULL ISSUE
PREV FULL ISSUE
1870S EMPEROR NORTON MARKET FORECASTS
John Lumea of the Emperor Norton Trust published a new article on the collector's market for photos and the rare scrip notes or "bonds" of the famous eccentric San Francisco resident, the self-styled 
In 2016, Bonhams auction house sold a c.1874 cabinet card of Emperor Norton for $6,000. The photograph was taken only a couple of years after an Oakland editor wondered, in January 1872, if people might actually pay for photos of the Emperor — and, if so, how much: 
WHAT DID Thomas Houseworth ask — retail — in 1874 for a cabinet card of his studio's photo of Emperor Norton? One dollar? Two? After 140 years, $6000 is quite an appreciation in value on one or two bucks. But, it doesn't begin to compare with the appreciation in value for Emperor Norton's promissory notes that, typically, the Emperor originally sold for 50 cents. The market value of these notes trades largely on the value of the Emperor's signature. In 2012, one of these notes, dated 1875, sold for nearly $13,000 — more than twice the auction sale price of the c. 1874 cabinet card... A decade later, in 2022, a note dated 1872 sold for more than an astonishing $33,000. No doubt, these prices would have shocked the editor of the San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin who noted in November 1877: 
A royal signature at $5 or less is cheap enough, but if the market were overstocked with such signatures, the price would be unfavorably affected. There is the signature of
The observation is from an editorial,
The number of known examples today of promissory notes on John adds: "That I have seen, this is the first and only instance in which an independent observer commenting during Emperor Norton's lifetime identifies the Emperor's signature on his promissory notes as a discrete element of value to collectors — possibly the primary element of value on the notes." While I owned a set of reproduction Norton bonds (sold with my numismatic ephemera collection), I was never able to acquire one of these interesting notes. It would have been a great companion for my collection of the money artist J.S.G.Boggs. -Editor
To read the complete article, see:
To read earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
|