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KOLBE & FANNING SALE 172 SELECTIONSIn the full disclosure department, I can't help myself and have to comment on some of my own consigned lots in the upcoming Kolbe & Fanning sale, all rare or unique and interesting in their own way. -Editor
Heavily annotated throughout, with handwritten additions, deletions and corrections (see comments); a couple of inserts laid in, including Donald Miller's receipt for this copy, purchased from David Bullowa in 1949 for $12.50. Binding very worn, with rear cover loose. Good. An important work, extensively annotated by Joseph Barnet, one of the foremost token experts of his day, and later in the library of Donald Miller, whose 1962 A Catalogue of U.S. Store Cards or Merchants Tokens is a revision and expansion of Adams with updated pricing. The annotations in this copy would appear to be Barnet's collection inventory, with notes on unlisted tokens that he had encountered and various corrections and emendations to Adams's text. Every page except for the preliminaries has some annotations by Barnet, making this a most notable copy for the specialist, and an important source of information for Miller. Barnet is best remembered today for his work on Civil War store cards, and he is a member of the Civil War Token Society's Hall of Fame. Ex Joseph Barnet Library; ex Donald M. Miller Library; ex Wayne Homren Library. I was delighted to meet and befriend Don Miller, meeting with him at his home in Indiana, PA and later purchasing his numismatic library from his widow. He and I had very similar numismatics tastes, and the majority of the books were duplicates to me, which I consigned to The Money Tree. But many rarities were added to my library, including this great association copy. -Editor
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[Beck, John A.]. ARCHIVAL RECORDS RELATING TO THE JOHN A. BECK COLLECTION. Materials include: a thorough appraisal of the Beck collection conducted by Ray Byrne, consisting of 139 legal-size pages of reproduced typewritten inventory with valuations (accompanied by some carbon copy correspondence by Emerson Smith); a contemporary copy of Abner Kreisberg's 72-page typewritten inventory of the collection; safe deposit box inventories; perhaps 300 pages of photocopied numismatic correspondence between Beck and many of the most prominent collectors and dealers of his time, including B. Max Mehl, Henry Chapman, Edgar Adams, C.F. Clarke & Co., S.H. Chapman, Tom Elder, Alvin Fink, W.F. Greany, Theo Leon, Atlas Leve, Lyman H. Low, C. Johnson, Edward Michael, H.E. Morey, Jacob Roth, Spink & Son, Wayte Raymond, Charles Steigerwalt, Elmer Sears, Walter Webb, Howland Wood, Farran Zerbe and others... John A. Beck (1859–1924) was a major collector of United States coins, specializing in pioneer and territorial gold coins. His coin collection was kept off the market for half a century after his death, with it finally appearing in three sales conducted by the Abner Kreisberg Corporation in 1975–1977. Unfortunately, it is occasionally unclear whether a given coin in the sales belonged to Beck, as additional material was included by Kreisberg. The appraisals, which act also as inventories, have research potential in this regard. The appraisals conducted by Ray Byrne and Abner Kreisberg in 1971 were remarkably close: Byrne's appraisal came to $708,969, while Kreisberg's totaled $701,140—a difference of about 1%. Charles Wormser also evaluated the collection but does not appear to have formally appraised it. When the coins were sold a few years later, these appraisals were shown to be extremely conservative, with the results being far greater. A fascinating archive. Ex John Beck Library; ex Wayne Homren Library. To me, John Beck was one of the first, if not THE first numismatic investor in the U.S. He purchased rarities in quantity. The inventory is jaw-dropping - there are DOZENS of pages listing $50 gold slugs, and HUNDREDS of 1856 Flying Eagle Cents, comprising about half of the total mintage. The collection passed to his two daughters on his death, and remained locked in bank vaults until the last of the daughters died. What a King Tut's tomb discovery for a numismatist in the early 1970s. These were among the records I rescued from being trashed by the estate of Emerson Smith, along with the Howard Gibbs archive sold in an earlier sale. -Editor
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American Numismatic Association. 1937 ANA CONVENTION BANQUET PHOTOGRAPH. Washington, D.C., August 25, 1937. Photographed by "Rideout." Original black and white photograph [24 by 48.5 cm. Some slight breaks to the emulsion from having been rolled. Very good or better. The image is identical to the halftone found on page 926 of the October 1937 issue of The Numismatist. Ex Wayne Homren Library. I've forgotten how I acquired this one, but original ANA Convention photos are amazing records and display pieces. -Editor
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An original typescript of this detailed article, which was published in three issues of The Numismatist (August, September and December 1946). While the typescript precedes the formal publication, the list of corrections follows it, making this material of interest for multiple reasons. See Clain-Stefanelli 14003 for the published version. Ex Money Tree Sale 19 (1994), lot 173; ex Wayne Homren Library. As a specialist in U.S. Civil War numismatics, I was delighted to acquire this unique original manuscript of an important article on the topic. -Editor
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Revolutionary War pay authorizations from the western frontier. General Edward Hand (1744–1802) was an Irish-born physician who became an officer in the Continental Army and rose to the rank of general. He was named a member of the Society of the Cincinnati and served as a member of the Congress of the Confederation in 1784 and 1785. Ex Wayne Homren Library. As a Pittsburgh native and collector of early Pittsburgh obsolete paper money, I was glad to acquire this document from a local bookseller. I always thought I'd end up donating it to the Fort Pitt Museum administered by the Senator John Heinz History Center, but I never got around to it. Neat museum piece for the colonial collector. -Editor
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Hetrich, George, and Julius Guttag. CIVIL WAR TOKENS AND TRADESMEN'S STORE CARDS. A TENTATIVE LIST OF THE CIVIL WAR TOKENS, AND STORE CARDS ISSUED BY THE MERCHANTS OF THE UNITED STATES, AND USED AS MONEY DURING THE PERIOD FROM 1861 TO 1864. (Kutztown, Pennsylvania), 1924. Large 8vo [26.5 by 17.5 cm], original blue cloth, gilt. 289, (1) pages, interleaved with blank paper; 16 halftone plates; errata sheet tipped in. Nearly every page of the book has been annotated, with hundreds of corrections noted (including on the errata sheet), new varieties recorded, and observations based on close examination of various collections, including that of the ANS.
A remarkable volume, from the library of one of the great token collectors of the 20th century. Hetrich & Guttag's landmark publication was the Civil War Token collector's vade mecum in the decades before the father and son team of Melvin and George Fuld began writing on the subject. This copy is filled with hundreds (probably thousands) of annotations, entered over a period of years, the work of a meticulous and sophisticated collector. Miller is best remembered today for his 1962 A Catalogue of U.S. Store Cards or Merchants Tokens, and it is clear that the present volume served Miller well in the compilation of his book (a revision of and update to Edgar Adams's work on the subject). As for the book at hand, George Hetrich became a collector early in life and, in his later years, selected Civil War tokens as his numismatic specialty, forming one of the finest collections of the time. Julius Guttag referred to him as "the first person systematically collecting these coins with whom I became acquainted." Their collaborative effort was the first substantial work on the topic ever published and it remained the standard work for close to fifty years. Clain-Stefanelli 14031*. Davis 505. Ex J.F. Jennings Library; ex Donald M. Miller Library; ex Wayne Homren Library. 
Another acquisition from the Miller Library. I knew this was special at the time, but it took me a while to realize just how special it was. Another unique Civil War numismatic literature highlight. -Editor
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Homren, Wayne K. THE AMERICAN NUMISMATIC SOURCEBOOK: GLEANINGS FROM CONTEMPORARY NEWSPAPERS. Computer-printed typescript of this unpublished work. Pittsburgh, undated. 121 leaves [8.5 by 11 inches], housed within black three-ring binder. Four sheets of handwritten notes included. Fine. [with] Homren, Wayne K. THE AMERICAN NUMISMATIC SOURCEBOOK. NUMISMATICS IN THE NEWS: GLEANINGS FROM CONTEMPORARY NEWSPAPERS. DRAFT. AUGUST, 1995. Computer-printed typescript of this unpublished work. Pittsburgh, 1995. 143 leaves [8.5 by 11 inches], housed within black three-ring binder. Also included are perhaps two dozen pages of drafts, correspondence and photocopies. Fine. Two drafts of this very interesting compendium of substantive articles on numismatic topics published in various contemporary newspapers. Compiled before the existence of current online resources, Homren's production was the result of considerable work and involved not only actively collecting such material, but corresponding with others of similar interest, including Eric P. Newman, Pete Smith, Harry Colborn and others. Ex Wayne Homren Library. This was my pre-E-Sylum numismatic labor of love. I've mentioned before that I was too much of a perfectionist to consider it ready for publication, and never did publish it. These were mostly compiled from my collection of newspapers with numismatic content, many of which were sold in Kolbe & Fanning sale 119 in November, 2010. -Editor
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Lee's work is exceptionally rare and of the utmost importance, being the first major treatise on Confederate currency, as well as the first book to describe and photograph the Confederate cent. Of the 30 copies printed, we are able today to trace only 10, half of which are in institutional libraries. As such, it is a major numismatic rarity, and one can understand why a serious collector of Confederate paper would have found it worthwhile to carefully copy the text out by hand (although the present transcription covers only the first half of it). A.C. Hutchinson was most active in the hobby in the 1920s, which seems a reasonable guess as to when this transcript was written. Ex Charles Davis's February 1996 auction, lot 376; ex Wayne Homren Library. Another collector's labor of love, this unique manuscript was the closest I ever came to obtaining a copy of the rare Lee work for my library. -Editor
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Würtzbach, Carl. (COMPLETE SET OF MASSACHUSETTS COLONIAL SILVER MONEY). Lee: Carl Würtzbach, 1937. Oblong 4to, original maroon leatherette folder. Blank leaf, 8 printed leaves; portrait of the author; 8 fine facing photographic plates depicting both sides of eighty coins. Addendum slip affixed to seventh leaf. Binding somewhat worn, particularly at spine, but intact; signed by the author; contents fine. A scarce and important illustrated record of Würtzbach's notable collection, prepared for presentation purposes. Würtzbach apparently gave out few copies, however, and most were probably distributed after his death in 1947. Würtzbach dedicated his work "To the lovers and collectors of the most interesting and historically the most important issues of all our colonial and United States coinage." The excellent plates remain useful for establishing pedigrees. Depicted are coins once in the collections of famous numismatists such as Finotti, McCoy, Mickley, Clay, Bushnell, Davis, Cleneay, Parmelee, Whitman, Winsor, Mills, H.P. Smith, Stickney, Gschwend, Zabriski, Earle, Parsons, Bement, Jackman, Jenks, Ten Eyck, Brand, Clapp, Ellsworth, Hall, Granberg, Col. Green, Guttag, Newcomer, Ryder, DeWitt Smith, T. James Clarke, Stearns, W.S. Lincoln and Dr. Clay. Würtzbach's collection was purchased by T. James Clarke, passed in turn to F.C.C. Boyd, and thence to John J. Ford, Jr., finally being dispersed in the remarkable October 18, 2004 Stack's sale. The portfolio's binding is fragile, and copies are frequently encountered with one or both covers detached. Intact examples such as this are seldom offered. Ex Money Tree Sale 21 (1994), lot 196; ex Wayne Homren Library. While not as rare as other items discussed here, this is indeed scarce and hard to find intact. An important record of a landmark collection, this was among the most expensive individual book purchases I made for my library. If memory serves, I paid about $600 for this. Thanks for indulging me in this trip down Memory Lane. May everything find loving new homes with other numismatic bibliophiles and researchers. -Editor
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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 
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