THE COLLECTOR'S DISPOSITION DILEMMA

The recent sale of the Wayne Homren Library included lot 455, a corkscrew promoting the Minneapolis wine business of A. M. Smith. The lot description did not mention that Wayne got the corkscrew from me.

This is not a difficult item to acquire. There are currently four similar items on eBay for $27.50, $27.99, $34.95, and $41.19. Their condition appears to be equal or better than the Homren example.

My interest in A. M. Smith goes back to 1978. A co-worker brought in an A.M. Smith bottle he had dug out of a trash heap. The Minneapolis bottle collecting community was very familiar with Smith as a prolific issuer of bottles and advertising promotional items.

I was casually familiar with A.M. Smith as the author of numismatic books in Philadelphia. With a little research, I was able to determine they were the same person. Then I found he had written an autobiography, The Luck of a Wandering Dane. After reading that, I was hooked on collecting his stuff. This eventually provided material for an award winning exhibit at the 1996 ANA convention.

I believe my collection of A.M. Smith items is the largest such collection ever formed. I suspect I have more than fifty books and more than a hundred bottles and advertising items. A few items are unique and many could not be replaced in ten years of searching. The collection is far from complete, however. I have seen many additional items I have not been able to acquire.

That brings me to my dilemma. What should I do with the collection? I don't see it as a candidate for a numismatic auction. Too many items have a value less than $100. It would be a shame to break up the collection and disperse it among many collectors. I am not aware of any young collector interested in acquiring an extensive collection of A.M. Smith material.

The Hennepin County Museum has some Smith items. They might welcome the donation. Then the material could be packed away in archival boxes and never be seen again.

I learned something while working for a coin dealer. There aren't a lot of coins worth a million dollars. There also are not a lot of collectors who can buy a million-dollar coin. At the top end of the bobby, sometimes the collector is as rare as the coin.

I believe my A.M. Smith collection that I treasured, may not appear to be a treasure to any other collector. So, what is the best way to pass it on to the next generation? Do any E-Sylum readers have a similar experience to share?

 

 

 

To see the full A.M. Smith exhibit webpage:
The Challenging Literature of A. M. Smith (https://www.coinbooks.org/about/exhibit_amsmith.html)

To read the complete lot description, see:
An A.M. Smith Corkscrew (https://bid.numislit.com/lots/view/1-91D1ST/an-am-smith-corkscrew)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC LITERATURE JUNE 9, 2024 : Lot 455: An A.M. Smith Corkscrew (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n23a19.html)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web