WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC LITERATURE RESULTS
The E-Sylum (6/30/2024)
Book Content
WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC LITERATURE RESULTS
Before the June 15 Kolbe & Fanning numismatic literature sale 170 I previewed several lots from the consignment of my own library. This week I'll circle back and review the prices realized.-Editor
Lot 303: Armand Champa Library Materials [Champa, Armand]. MATERIALS RELATING TO THE 1994-1995 SALES OF THE ARMAND CHAMPA LIBRARY.
Two three-ring binders including the following: a postcard from George F. Kolbe announcing that he will be offering the Champa Library at auction; promotional materials for the November 1994 Baltimore show at which the first Champa sale was held by Bowers & Merena; the Bowers & Merena announcement of the Champa Library sale; Wayne Homren's invoice for sets of both the softcover and hardcover catalogues; Homren's annotated copies of the first two Champa sales, hand-priced and generally recording buyer numbers, some of which are identified; a copy of the Herman Halpern sale held March 24-25, 1995 alongside the second Champa sale; printed emails and other correspondence regarding the sales, between Homren and John J. Ford, Jr., Chris Karstedt and others; Homren's bid card, handwritten notes, additional printed emails (Wayne was a trend-setter), Champa bookplates, lists of bidders, and so on.
Also included is Bill Yost's third draft and preliminary layout of his unpublished Index and Account of the Numismatic Books & Manuscripts of the Armand Champa Library (dated November 2, 1996). Materials generally fine or nearly so. A fascinating group of ephemeral items relating to the Armand Champa Library sales, accompanied by annotated catalogues and Homren's notes made in preparation for, and immediately after, the sales. Included in the more ephemeral items are printed 1995 emails from the new BiblioNumis-L list being promoted by Harry Bass and Wayne Homren. Yost's never-published work was envisioned to include a history of the collection, provenances, author and dealer index, consignor index, title index, index of illustrations, and a master index. Ex Wayne Homren Library.
With an estimate of $300, this lot hammered at $375.-Editor
To read the complete lot description, see:
Armand Champa Library Materials(https://bid.numislit.com/lots/view/1-91D1KD/armand-champa-library-materials)
Lot 323: Connecticut Fiscal Paper Connecticut. TREASURY OFFICE TRANSFER CERTIFICATE DATED JANUARY 4, 1790 IN INK. Anderson CT 27. Printed form [approximately 19 by 16 cm] filled out by hand, recording the transfer by Joshua Griggs of old notes for new ones. No. 1759; dated January 4, 1790 (printed 1789 date scratched out); signed by Treasurer Peter Colt, with previous signature of Jedediah Huntington crossed out. Docketed on verso. Folded. Very good or better. A piece of 18th-century Connecticut fiscal paper, recording the transfer from Joshua Griggs of Army Notes
due June 1, 1785 and June 1, 1787, plus Notes issued February 1781 and May 1783, For which he is entitled to receive Certificates in pursuance to an Act of the General Assembly passed in May 1789.
Ex Wayne Homren Library.
With an estimate of $150, this lot hammered at $300. Glad to know another collector appreciates it. Great ephemera.-Editor
To read the complete lot description, see:
Connecticut Fiscal Paper(https://bid.numislit.com/lots/view/1-91D1LH/connecticut-fiscal-paper)
Lot 354: Mysterious American Numismatic Rarity Franklin, C.W. A HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN, GREEK AND ROMAN COINS. Bellevue, 1907. Small 8vo, original brown pebbled cloth, gilt. 119, (1) pages; illustrated throughout, including on variously numbered and unnumbered plates. Spine a bit rubbed, else near fine.
The first copy we have ever handled of this virtually unknown book. John Lupia has investigated the author, Calvin Westley Franklin (1854-1911), and has compiled what information he was able to find about him on his website numismaticmall.com. The rarity of this book is a mystery, given that it includes what appear to be paid advertisements from various banks and businesses, including coin dealers S.H. Chapman and A.C. Gies. One would assume that copies would at the very least have been distributed through these channels, but this appears not to be the case. The unusual mix of coverage (ancient coins and modern American coins) may have contributed to the lack of interest among collectors. While I have not had a chance to investigate the illustrations used in this book, they look familiar and I would not be at all surprised to find them elsewhere. An intriguing volume. Ex John Beck Library; ex Wayne Homren Library.
With an estimate of $300, this lot hammered at an amazing $1,300! Everyone loves a mystery, I guess. Pete Smith shed some light on the publisher in our June 16th issue, but this remains somewhat of a puzzle.-Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
CALVIN WESLEY FRANKLIN (1855-1911)(https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n24a09.html)
To read the complete lot description, see:
Mysterious American Numismatic Rarity(https://bid.numislit.com/lots/view/1-91D1N7/mysterious-american-numismatic-rarity)
Lot 359: Hardcover Gilbert & Elder on 1796 Cents Gilbert, E., and Thomas L. Elder. THE VARIETIES OF THE UNITED STATES CENTS OF 1796. New York, 1909. 4to, original brown cloth, gilt. (16) pages (last leaf blank); 2 fine photographic plates of cents. Three printed supplement sheets, describing varieties 22-31 and 33-40 (skipping 32), laid in. Hinges a bit weak, but holding; Very good or better. A nice copy of the Special Hardbound Edition. One of only 300 copies printed, most of which were bound in card covers.
In a letter sold in our June 1990 Adams sale, George Clapp wrote: Rud Kohler wrote me that Gilbert once told him that he had loaned his manuscript of 1796 to Elder who wished to look it over, and the first thing he knew, Elder had published it without consulting him.
Sheldon confirms this and notes that Gilbert had the material for a first-rate monograph. It was either not ready or not intended for publication and was badly edited.
This copy includes all three printed supplements, covering variety Nos. 22-25, 26-31 and 33-40. Somehow, No. 32 was never printed. Ex Dr. James O. Sloss Library; ex Wayne Homren Library.
With an estimate of $150 and starting bid of $100, this one didn't sell. Go figure. That happened more than once, but the market is ever-changing and sometimes an overlooked lot will sell briskly in a later offering.-Editor
To read the complete lot description, see:
Hardcover Gilbert & Elder on 1796 Cents(https://bid.numislit.com/lots/view/1-91D1NH/hardcover-gilbert-elder-on-1796-cents)
Lot 383: Rare 1866 Cincinnati Coin Sale Broadside Hubbard, S.G. [auctioneer]. COINS, BOOKS, &C. AT AUCTION. ON FRIDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 9TH, 1866, AT 7 O'CLOCK, WILL BE SOLD THE CABINET OF COINS AND A PORTION OF THE PRIVATE LIBRARY OF THE LATE DR. G.T. COLLINS. THE COINS CONSIST OF AMERICAN, ENGLISH, ROMAN AND GRECIAN, COPPER AND SILVER, SOME OF WHICH ARE RARE. AMONG THE BOOKS ARE SOME THAT ARE RARE AND VALUABLE. ALSO, A GOLD WATCH, MAGNIFYING GLASSES, &C. (Cincinnati), November 9, 1866. Broadside [approximately 48.5 by 32 cm]. 209 numismatic lots + (54) lots of books, etc. Attractively framed in brown wood with gilt interior border using museum glass. Four fold-marks; some browning. Very good or better.
A marvelous numismatic broadside, already attractively framed and ready to serve as wall decoration for the dedicated coin collector or numismatic bibliophile. American coins in the sale include an assortment of colonials and state coppers, Washingtonia, a run of half cents (including 1811) and a Martha Washington Half Dime.
A run of Roman portrait coins are included, many of them in silver; as well as Greek coins, including two in gold. English coins, from the Anglo-Saxon period to Victoria, followed. Two numismatic works are featured in the book section, Dickeson's American Numismatic Manual and Humphrey's Coin Collector's Manual.
The only other copy of this broadside that we have handled was in the second Bass sale (Kolbe Sale 77, lot 342), where an example brought $2400 hammer. We know of no other copy having been sold, with the Fuld, Champa, Ford and Newman Libraries all lacking a copy. The ANS Library holds the only other copy known to us, and that is permanently off the market. Attinelli 45. McKay 10166.
With an estimate of $750, this lot hammered at $1,200. The buyer contacted me after the sale - they also won the A. C. Gies copy of the Parmelee sale catalogue (Lot 430 sold for $2,250). Great taste, I have to say - these were among my favorites.-Editor
To read the complete lot description, see:
Rare 1866 Cincinnati Coin Sale Broadside(https://bid.numislit.com/lots/view/1-91D1OT/rare-1866-cincinnati-coin-sale-broadside)
Lot 421: The Donald M. Miller Archives Miller, Donald M. ARCHIVAL MATERIAL INCLUDING ANNOTATED PUBLICATIONS FROM THE LIBRARY OF DONALD MILLER. Includes:
a early binder containing 54 sheets, being a typewritten catalogue of Pennsylvania tokens, almost certainly not by Miller, with handwritten notes by Miller expanding the original text;
a binder containing 61 sheets of handwritten notes by Miller on 19th-century American political tokens;
Joseph Barnet's copy of the 1899 second edition of Lyman Low's Hard Times Tokens, acquired by Miller in 1949 from David Bullowa at the same time that Miller acquired Barnet's collection;
a disbound copy of the 1899 second edition of Low, bound with the 1906 supplementary article as published in the American Journal of Numismatics, as well as W.F. Dunham's Instant Finding List, notes on the Levick sale, and an original set of Edgar Adams's 15 Photographs of Hard Times Tokens, Numbered According to Low (c. 1913);
Thomas H. Isitt's lightly annotated copy of the 1899 second edition of Low, bound in leather with the 1906 Supplement;
correspondence between Donald Miller and Charles Kappan, E.E. Rogers, E.A. Rice, Charles McSorley, William Dewey, James Fawcet and others;
miscellaneous notes on varieties of American tokens, with pricing information; notes on collections of tokens and published materials about them;
an inventory of Miller's numismatic library;
a worn copy of the April 1870 issue of the American Journal of Numismatics, including J.N.T. Levick's early Description of the Hard Times Tokens of 1837.
Condition varies, with some of the material in binders coming loose. Generally very good or better unless otherwise noted.
Donald Miller is probably best-known for being the author of A Catalogue of U.S. Store Cards or Merchants Tokens (1962), which was a revision and expansion of Edgar Adams's earlier work on the subject. Miller formed extraordinary collections of American tokens, most particularly Hard Times Tokens and 19th-century store cards. His interest was broad, however, and there are materials here relating to Washingtonia, shell cards, politicals,
and other tokens. His collections were mostly sold privately, and his printed publications are few in number, making this small archive of considerable interest to the token specialist. Ex Donald M. Miller Library; ex Wayne Homren Library.
With an estimate of $750, this lot hammered at $500. A nice group of material.-Editor
To read the complete lot description, see:
The Donald M. Miller Archives(https://bid.numislit.com/lots/view/1-91D1QX/the-donald-m-miller-archives)
Lot 433: Fantastic 1804 Dollar Signed by All Four Authors & Researchers Newman, Eric P., and Kenneth E. Bressett. Associates in Research, Walter H. Breen and Lynn Glaser. THE FANTASTIC 1804 DOLLAR. Second printing. Racine: Whitman, 1962. 8vo, original brown textured cloth lettered in silver. 144 pages; illustrated. Signed by all four authors and associates on the title page. Fine. The only copy we recall handling that has been signed by all four authors and associates in research
: Newman, Bressett, Breen and Glaser. Laid in is a printout of an email exchange between Ken Bressett and Wayne Homren, discussing this copy. Ex Wayne Homren Library.
With an estimate of $150, this lot hammered at a whopping $3,250, the second highest price in my consignment after the Howard Gibbs archive (Lot 183 hammered at $3,750). Hotly contested, this is a wonderful association item and I'm gratified that it's as valued by the market as it was by me - it was another of my favorites.-Editor
To read the complete lot description, see:
Signed by All Four Authors & Researchers(https://bid.numislit.com/lots/view/1-91D1RL/signed-by-all-four-authors-researchers)
Lot 434: Walter Breen's Inscribed Copy Newman, Eric P., and Kenneth E. Bressett. Associates in Research, Walter H. Breen and Lynn Glaser. THE FANTASTIC 1804 DOLLAR. Second printing. Racine: Whitman, 1962. 8vo, original brown textured cloth lettered in silver. 144 pages; illustrated. Signed, with a lengthy inscription, to Walter Breen by Ken Bressett on the front flyleaf. Minor spotting; somewhat musty. Very good. An important association copy, inscribed by author Ken Bressett of Water Breen, who is named on the title page along with Lynn Glaser as an Associate in Research.
Bressett's inscription, dated September 28, 1962, reads, To Walter Breen, It has been a great pleasure working with you on this book. The outcome was something none of us anticipated when the project was started, and the word 'fantastic' seems a little mild now.
Ex Wayne Homren Library.
With an estimate of $100, this lot hammered at $300. The condition "Minor spotting; somewhat musty" probably played a factor, but to me that was part of the Breen charm.-Editor
To read the complete lot description, see:
Walter Breen's Inscribed Copy(https://bid.numislit.com/lots/view/1-91D1RN/walter-breens-inscribed-copy)
Lot 455: An A.M. Smith Corkscrew Smith, A.M. STRAIGHT-PULL CORKSCREW WITH WOODEN GRIP ADVERTISING A.M. SMITH'S WINE AND SPIRITS BUSINESS. Minneapolis, late 1800s-early 1900s. 11.5 cm iron shaft with 9 cm wooden grip. Printed text promoting Smith's business at 247-249 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis. Shaft lightly rusted; grip text legible. Very good. A neat memento of one of the more prominent American numismatic authors of the later 19th century. According to Pete Smith's American Numismatic Biographies, A.M. Smith moved to Minneapolis in 1886, where he engaged successfully in the wine trade. The wooden grip of this promotional corkscrew advertises the availability of Wines, Brandies, Whiskies, Pure Olive Oil, Honey, Ale, Porter, Beer, Cigars.
Ex Wayne Homren Library.
With an estimate of $100, this association item hammered at $65. A gift from Pete Smith, Pete also provided some additional background in a subsequent article.-Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
THE COLLECTOR'S DISPOSITION DILEMMA(https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n25a11.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)
Lot 486: Signed by Vattemare Vattemare, Alexandre. COLLECTION DE MONNAIES ET MÉDAILLES DE L'AMÉRIQUE DU NORD DE 1652 À 1858, OFFERTE A LA BIBLIOTHÈQUE IMPÉRIALE TANT AU NOM DU GOUVERNEMENT FÉDÉRAL ET DES CITOYENS DES DIVERS ÉTATS DE L'UNION AMÉRICAINE QU'EN SON PROPRE NOM... CATALOGUE AVEC NOTICES HISTORIQUES ET BIOGRAPHIQUES. Paris: Imprimerie de Ad. Lainé et J. Havard, 1861. 12mo, later black quarter morocco with marbled sides; spine ruled and lettered in gilt; original printed paper covers, with printed hors commerce label, bound in. 134, (2) pages. Original postal wrap showing the address of P.O. van der Chijs, signed by Vattemare and bearing the ink stamp of the Systèm International and the handwritten postage paid, trimmed and mounted to opening blank. Very good or better; binding fine. A fascinating copy, this was sent by Vattemare to Dutch numismatist Pieter Otto van der Chijs...
Vattemare's System of International Exchanges was initially aimed at the exchange of duplicate books between libraries, and was later extended to include works of art, maps, natural history specimens, coins, medals and other similar objects. He came to America in 1839 and again in 1847, and was granted funds by Congress and by several state legislatures to further his scheme, which met with greater success here than in Europe. This elusive 1861 work describing American coins, medals and tokens from 1652 to 1858 was written to complement the collection given to the Bibliothèque Impériale (Nationale) in the name of the government and citizens of the United States. Following an interesting historical overview, from colonial issues to pioneer gold, some 381 pieces are described in detail. P.O. van der Chijs was the foremost Dutch numismatist of his day; some of the pencil annotations record additional American coins in the numismatic cabinet at Leiden.
Alexandre Vattemare is recognized among American numismatists as one of the fathers of the discipline in the New World, having assembled the first comprehensive collections of American coins, medals, and paper currency, and produced the first comprehensive catalog of American numismatics.
- Alan Stahl, in The Extravagant Ambassador: The True Story of Alexandre Vattemare, the French Ventriloquist Who Changed the World. Ex P.O. van der Chijs Library; ex Schulman Numismatic Library; George F. Kolbe 1997 fixed price list; ex Wayne Homren Library.
This lot was overlooked in the first sale of my consignment, and didn't sell, but the second time was a charm in this case.With an estimate of $300, this lot hammered at $500. Great purchase from a 1997 George F. Kolbe fixed price list.-Editor
To read the complete lot description, see:
Signed by Vattemare(https://bid.numislit.com/lots/view/1-91D1UJ/signed-by-vattemare)
I'll miss having these on my shelves, but I know they've found some great new homes.-Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC LITERATURE JUNE 9, 2024(https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n23a19.html)