Classical Numismatics Discussion
  Welcome Guest. Please login or register. 10% Off Store-Wide Sale Until 2 April!!! Explore Our Website And Find Joy In The History, Numismatics, Art, Mythology, And Geography Of Coins!!! Expert Authentication - Accurate Descriptions - Reasonable Prices - Coins From Under $10 To Museum Quality Rarities Welcome Guest. Please login or register. 10% Off Store-Wide Sale Until 2 April!!! Explore Our Website And Find Joy In The History, Numismatics, Art, Mythology, And Geography Of Coins!!! Support Our Efforts To Serve The Classical Numismatics Community - Shop At Forum Ancient Coins

New & Reduced


Author Topic: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!  (Read 94773 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline mlkrt_2

  • Praetorian
  • **
  • Posts: 16
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #275 on: November 18, 2016, 12:08:12 am »
I've bought this coin at a Swiss auction, with an old collector's tag attached. The cataloguer noted carefully that it probably came from Münzen und Medaillen VII, Basel 1948.

Curtis Clay and Justin Benton have now kindly provided me copies of the relevant pages from the auction catalogue held by the Harlan J. Berk library. As you can see it is definitely the same coin.

Thank you, Curtis and Justin!

Offline Jordan Montgomery

  • Consul
  • ***
  • Posts: 111
    • Gallery of my Roman Republican coin collection
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #276 on: February 07, 2017, 09:42:38 am »
I have a feeling the RR collectors will appreciate this. The Stacks 1978 sale of Knobloch's RR coins is now available online at archive.org and it allows you to download a PDF. You can find it at this link: https://archive.org/details/greaternewyorknu1978stac_p5c2
Gallery of my collection with notes and discussion of Republican history and numismatics

Offline Carausius

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1432
    • My Forum Gallery:
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #277 on: February 11, 2017, 03:57:53 pm »
I have a feeling the RR collectors will appreciate this. The Stacks 1978 sale of Knobloch's RR coins is now available online at archive.org and it allows you to download a PDF. You can find it at this link: https://archive.org/details/greaternewyorknu1978stac_p5c2

That is a very important RR sale, and certainly worth the storage space for those that don't have a hard copy.  Hard copies are generally cheap, but getting more difficult to find.

As an aside, my first major auction coin purchase was at the 1980 Stack's sale of the Knobloch Roman Imperial collection. I was 16 at the time!

Offline Optimo Principi

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 604
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #278 on: August 02, 2017, 11:32:44 am »
I have a Galba "Roma Renascens" denarius that came with the the reference: "MMAG Basel 1975, listing 372, 23."

After some research I see there were actually number of MMAG Auction catalogues in 1975, none of which seem to be online. If anyone has the resources to check for this coin I would be very grateful and curious to know any associated sale information.

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-88732

Offline Carausius

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1432
    • My Forum Gallery:
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #279 on: August 02, 2017, 11:48:36 am »
Optimo,

M&M 372 from 1975 is a fixed price list (FPL).  M&M issued FPLs regularly.  Numbers run all the way up to 609.  I have FPL 372 from October 1975, and I attach below a photo of the lot 23 listing and plate. Lovely coin!


Offline Optimo Principi

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 604
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #280 on: August 02, 2017, 12:10:41 pm »
That's made my day, thanks for the research and pictures, Carausius!
I have amended the coin's details with this more precise information.

Offline mlkrt_2

  • Praetorian
  • **
  • Posts: 16
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #281 on: August 03, 2017, 11:45:19 pm »
Hi guys, I'd like to make another request for information if I may. I've bought a coin at a recent auction described by the auction house as hailing from Vente Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 20 mars 1975, n°56. I know that quite a few auction houses work through Drouot, but no further details were supplied.
Would anyone have the auction catalogue by any chance?

Offline Carausius

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1432
    • My Forum Gallery:
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #282 on: April 30, 2018, 12:10:05 pm »
I haven't posted on my old auction catalogue thread in some time.  I wanted to highlight to anyone interested in old auction catalogues that Joe has been adding a large volume of old catalogues to the Forvm Ancient Coins retail shop.  I've noticed some very important sales in the group, including the Hess sale of the Trau Collection and some Münzhandlung Basel sales.  I have no financial interest in these catalogues.  This is just a friendly announcement to all infected with the Old Auction Catalogue Madness.  There's only one cure: more catalogues!   ;)  Keep em' coming, Joe!

Offline mauseus

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 3084
  • Ah Allectus, my trusted friend.......
    • Later Roman Coinage
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #283 on: May 01, 2018, 05:32:00 am »
I had been looking at Joe's copy of the Trau sale and mulling over buying it. Just scared about what the postage might be to the UK. Might work out cheaper to find a UK copy.

Mauseus

Offline vrtsprb

  • Praetorian
  • **
  • Posts: 91
    • Coins of Probus
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #284 on: July 11, 2018, 10:16:49 am »
Michael,

since you appear to have "24. Rodolfo Ratto - 8/2/1928 (Morcom/Hands/Wertheim)", could you please check lot 4552 for me? I'd be quite grateful.

I'm following citations from RIC V.2 — it's supposed to be a Probus aureus RIC 306

i. IMP C M AVR PROBVS P F AVG
B. Laureate, draped bust r.

CLEMENTIA TEMP
Roma seated left on shield, holding Victory and sceptre.


If it is illustrated, I'd appreciate a scan or a photo.





Thanks,

G/<
.

http://probvs.net.probvs

Offline Carausius

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1432
    • My Forum Gallery:
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #285 on: July 11, 2018, 10:54:26 am »
vrtsprb, I posted in response to your PM here:

www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=116064.0


Offline vrtsprb

  • Praetorian
  • **
  • Posts: 91
    • Coins of Probus
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #286 on: July 11, 2018, 11:48:11 am »
Quote from: Carausius on July 11, 2018, 10:54:26 am
vrtsprb, I posted in response to your PM here:

www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=116064.0



Thanks.

In meantime, I've actually found that particular Ratto catalogue at BnF.

What threw me is that RIC V.2 refers to the Morcom sale as 1927 (print date), not the actual Ratto February 8, 1928 date.


G/<
.

Offline orfew

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1055
    • Historical Ancient Roman Coins
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #287 on: July 11, 2018, 04:58:04 pm »
A few weeks ago I bought an auction catalogue from Forum. I had been looking for a copy for about 1 year. Lucky for me Joe had a copy and posted it for sale. The catalogue arrived and my coin was pictured and described. The catalogue was Vecchi 13 September 1998. The coin was lot 757. RIC II part 1 mentions this sale in reference to my coin. Until recently my coin was the only one known. A few months ago @David Atherton also found one.

My sincere thanks to Joe for the catalogue.

Here is the coin.

Vespasian (69-79). AR Denarius (18.08mm, 3.50g, 6h). Rome, AD 75.
Obv: Bare head l. R IMP CEASAR VESPASIANUS AUG
Rev: Pax seated l., resting l. elbow on throne and holding branch.
PON MAX TRP COS VI
RIC II 773 (this coin); RSC –. Extremely Rare variety, near VF.
Ex Vecchi sale 13, 1998, 757.
Ex: St Paul Antiques auction 7 Lot 285 June 11, 2017
Coin depicted in the Wildwinds.com database.


Offline Carausius

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1432
    • My Forum Gallery:
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #288 on: July 11, 2018, 05:32:16 pm »
Wonderful, Andrew. Congratulations on a rare coin and terrific provenance.  The Vecchi series of sales from the 1990s are wonderful catalogues including some excellent specialist collections (Roman Republican bronzes in Vecchi 3; Augustus in Vecchi 9).  I'd recommend buying more of this series if you've got the room.

Offline orfew

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1055
    • Historical Ancient Roman Coins
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #289 on: July 12, 2018, 04:46:39 pm »
Many thanks Michael for the kind comments. At the moment I am just trying to collect catalogues where I have coins listed or pictured.

Offline Optimo Principi

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 604
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #290 on: August 13, 2018, 10:49:02 am »
Does an online version exist of the famed Leu 17, 1977 Nicolas auction? It seems to be a hard catalogue to find.

Offline Carausius

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1432
    • My Forum Gallery:
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #291 on: August 13, 2018, 11:11:10 am »
Not that I'm aware of.  Several Forum members, including me, have copies of that catalogue, so if there is a certain type or lot that you a looking for, just ask. 

Offline Optimo Principi

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 604
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #292 on: October 02, 2018, 08:32:43 am »
It’s come to my attention a recent acquisition of mine came from M&M Basel fixed price list 391, July 1977, lot 23. The coin has a very dark tone so I am wondering if any collections were associated with this sale? I only have the plate photo, no further information.

Offline Carausius

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1432
    • My Forum Gallery:
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #293 on: October 02, 2018, 09:01:18 am »
Nice coin, and nice provenance!  I have most of the MuM FPLs for that era, but I'm missing #391.  Sorry.  I'll see if I can get someone else to chime-in.  

Offline Andrew McCabe

  • Tribunus Plebis Perpetuus
  • Procurator Monetae
  • Caesar
  • *****
  • Posts: 4651
    • My website on Roman Republican Coins and Books, with 2000 coins arranged per Crawford
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #294 on: October 02, 2018, 09:17:47 am »
It’s come to my attention a recent acquisition of mine came from M&M Basel fixed price list 391, July 1977, lot 23. The coin has a very dark tone so I am wondering if any collections were associated with this sale? I only have the plate photo, no further information.

There's never any collections or provenance information associated with any M&M Basel FPL. Never seen even a single instance, and I've 98% of the lists from 100 to 609. Seems to have been policy never to disclose sources. That still remains policy for almost all fixed-price dealers as they buy to flip, so their sources are inevitably recent. To quote three current examples Ed Waddell doesn't disclose where his coins (just) came from though he may quote much older provenances. Nor does the Baldwin's FPLs. Nor do the Berk sales (effectively FPLs with potential to make offers). Auctions are different because the coins within may be old collections, but FPLs inevitably are recent auction buys (which you deliberately don't disclose so your clients won't find out where or how cheap you buy coins) or minor random purchases (which aren't very interesting to disclose). So FPLs old or new very rarely have provenance information.

I attach the cover, plate and text info from this sale.

Offline Carausius

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1432
    • My Forum Gallery:
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #295 on: June 26, 2019, 11:30:22 am »
My old auction catalogue madness has relapsed.  I just bought this copy of Ars Classica 1 (Pozzi) ON SALE from the FORVM shop.  Thank's, Joe!  FORVM has some wonderfully useful catalogues in the shop, and the sale prices make them hard to resist.



Offline Carausius

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1432
    • My Forum Gallery:
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #296 on: December 27, 2019, 12:08:48 pm »
I wonder if any Forum friends might have a copy of Pegasi Auction VI (8 April 2002)?  I'm hoping to both confirm a provenance and see what breadcrumbs might be lurking within the lot description for a coin I've recently acquired.  Thanks.

Offline Joe Sermarini

  • Owner, President
  • FORVM STAFF
  • Caesar
  • *****
  • Posts: 12103
  • All Coins Guaranteed for Eternity.
    • FORVM ANCIENT COINS
Joseph Sermarini
Owner, President
FORVM ANCIENT COINS

Offline Curtis JJ

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 435
    • CONSERVATORI: Ancient Coins & Their Provenances
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #298 on: January 28, 2022, 02:52:37 pm »
Lest a classic thread die after only 5 years (now 7), I hope no one minds another entry (and that I get the images right -- larger ones linked at end). Two Greek coin provenances found “in the wild” in catalogs with their own provenance (Pozzi Collection, D. Weaver / T. Stanton, H.J. Berk; Libraries of Salton-Schlessinger, BCD, H. Christensen).

(I’ve read the replies for a long time without participating but have clearly been infected with the “madness” of catalog bibliomania. I’ve shared these two coins with different writeups elsewhere, not on Forum, linked at the end. Believe it or not, this is much condensed.)

First: Corinth AR Stater (ex Pozzi-Naville 1688 = Pozzi-Boutin 3756; for type: Ravel 1029, Calciati 419, BCD 110).

One of my first ancient coin purchases (c. 1991, ~12 years old). Bought at Glass Shoppe coins in Tucson, AZ – not from the owner (then, Halden Birt), but another guy who was there a lot (possibly Anthony “Tony” Tumonis, who later took over). They were cheaper then, but I still did neighborhood yardwork & saved up all year to buy one ancient coin every summer.

Happily, its sentimental value multiplied when, on its 100th anniversary, I was looking at the 1921 Naville - Ars Classica catalog of the Pozzi Collection, and found my coin illustrated (Lot 1688; No. 3756 in Boutin 1979). I don’t have a hard copy of the auction, but there are multiple acceptable copies online (e.g., Uni. Heidleberg (link), Bib. Nat. Fr. – Gallica (link), INHA Fr. (link), Archive.org (link), and elsewhere, all of which repositories have digitized many other important catalogs of ancient coins). The PRL is available, but I haven’t found a “named” copy – yet.…



I do, however, have the 1979 Pozzi collection catalog by Serge Boutin (not exactly a reprint). It has its own interesting provenance from the library of Mark Salton-Schlessinger & Lottie Salton (Kolbe & Fanning 161, 141, part of). I’m interested in the family’s coins/books as an important illustration of how gravely WWII and the Nazi regime affected the world of numismatics. Though it’s all post-WWII, I’m glad I bought some literature since I didn’t manage to get any ex-Salton coins at this month’s (ferocious!) Stack’s sale.

The new mystery is how my coin got from 1921 Lucerne to 1991 Tucson. I don’t think it’s cited in Ravel, and I haven’t found it elsewhere (except as a reference in Gemini VI [2010], Lot 801). A lot of Pozzi coins ended up with R. C. Lockett, but no luck there either. Maybe I’ll find it combing through catalogs and journals… Or it may remain a mystery.

Second: Athens “mass classical owl” AR Tetradrachm (ex-Weaver & HJB, mid-1970s).

The next coin and its recent background are less exciting, but still a nice reminder of forgotten moments, actors, and documents in the recent history of the ancient coin market (c. 1970s).
A mediocre example, it didn’t even merit its own listing at Morton & Eden 104 in 2019 (Lot 109, part of)(here), so I didn’t hold out much hope for finding it illustrated in older catalogs.



Since my interest in provenance research extends to catalogs, this “Note from BCD” on a mixed lot of American FPL’s caught my attention in a recent sale of “BCD Library Duplicates”:

Quote
This writer considers himself fortunate to have met some of the people that issued these lists. Sadly, they are not with us anymore and it is about time the numismatic community does something significant in their memory so that they will always be remembered. (Jacquier 49, 940)

It’s not quite what BCD meant, but, having found my owl in one of those lists, I’ve certainly tried to remember its authors and recognize their connection to the numismatic world.
 
The list in question is Douglas Weaver’s mail-order FPL from November 1975. It’s the first (or second?) by Tom Stanton after he joined Weaver and they “greatly expanded our ancient section.” A great thing about old mail-catalogs is that the addressee is often labeled on the back cover (often with postage still attached). This one was addressed to coin dealer Henry Christensen at his New Jersey business.
 
The same coin was illustrated one year prior inHarlan J Berk’s FPL #2 (Fall 1974), Lot 80 ( link). The prices were $295 (HJB) and $350 (DW; about $1,600 and 1,800 in 2022 USD – representing quite a loss of value over 45 years). Once I’d found a bit of backstory, I was really hoping for a collection history, but none is mentioned by Berk either. Perhaps someday I’ll find it in a 1973 auction!

More:

If anyone knows/knew any of the characters involved, I’m interested to learn more, of course. My previous writeups (incl. additional biographical & bibliographical refs. & my notes from Pete Smith's American Numismatic Biographies & Gengerke's American Numismatic Auctions):

Pozzi & Salton, (link here) “A French Gynecologist Playboy, Nazis, and Numismatic Bibliomania.”
The owl, Weaver & Christensen

Larger images plus a few relevant others: https://imgur.com/a/c5sSFII
“Collect the collectors…” John W Adams’ advice to J Orosz (Asylum 38, 2: p51)

Galleries https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/index.php?cat=27154

Offline esnible

  • Procurator Monetae
  • Caesar
  • *****
  • Posts: 926
    • gorgon coins
Re: Old Auction Catalogue Madness!
« Reply #299 on: January 29, 2022, 08:06:54 am »
Quote from: Curtis JJ on January 28, 2022, 02:52:37 pm
One of my first ancient coin purchases (c. 1991, ~12 years old). Bought at Glass Shoppe coins in Tucson, AZ – not from the owner (then, Halden Birt), but another guy who was there a lot (possibly Anthony “Tony” Tumonis, who later took over). They were cheaper then, but I still did neighborhood yardwork & saved up all year to buy one ancient coin every summer.

Amazing finding a Pozzi coin at age 12, in Tucson, being able to realize it’s quality.  Also, finding enough grass in that desert city -- needing cutting -- to be able to afford a Pozzi coin!

I have not found anything of mine in Boutin’s Pozzi but I recently acquired the Ars Classica reprint.  I have not checked … yet.

There are many interesting illustrated fixed price lists.  No one knows much about many of them.

The first provenanced ancient coin I bought was a diobol of Methymna from the May 2001 FPL of Colosseum Coin Exchange (Ira Teitelbaum / Hazlet NJ).  No listed provenance, but it turned out to have been part of the Rosen Collection of archaic coins, published in 1983.  This got me on the CCE mailing list, so I got the last catalogs.   (I no longer have them — I donated them to the ANS which lacked copies!)

Many people are chasing after pre-1970 provenances.  There aren’t many illustrated FPLs from this period.  There seems to be little interest in FPLs from later — and perhaps that will give us a chance to obtain FPLs cheaply for now.

I was able to obtain a run of Tom Cederlind catalogs from Lottie Salton (not part of K&L sale).  I found a coin of mine in the December 2007 catalog.  I already had older and newer provenances, but it added another data point.

Because of copyright law, these catalogs probably won’t make it online during our lifetime.  No one thought to ask for permission to put them online when the dealers were alive.  No one recorded ownership of the intellectual property when they passed, so we don’t know who to ask now.  Many (most?) are also rare.

I am acquiring FPLs, but I am not scanning them.  I have the start of an inventory so that I don’t double-buy, with a few notes like how many lots of ancients are present.  I haven’t really organized the data or tried to write about them or put anything online about them.

 

All coins are guaranteed for eternity