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Is there a historic benefit to owning Auction Catalogs
yspsales
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I know they are a burden to many and some are digitized in the Newman Numismatic Portal.
Do they still have a place in a collection?
How do they benefit a collector of say Buffalo Nickels or Morgan/Peace Dollars?
Might be the closest I ever come to owning some of the higher end coins, and as a photography buff the images would be a joy to look at...
I could see a benefit in provenance, artificial toning, pricing
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Yes, you need 'price realized' sheets also....but after a few years, that information loses value.
I used to be a catalog saver, I got over it......
I used have quite a few from the 80s and 90s but having moved a couple times, I got rid of the "common/generic" ones. I only kept those from Significant collections like Eliasberg or Ford, Auctions that had significant coins like the 1804 dollar or 1913 V Nickel, or some specialty sales for things like large cents or CWTs that interest me.
IMO, there's nothing wrong with keeping them if you have space, but when it comes time to move them, you may want to be selective about what you box up. I love my library of numismatic references, but haven't missed the catalogs I tossed
I like them for the descriptions. I learn about the coin and sometimes the process. Usually I get an idea of what a top end coin looks like and helps me gauge what I’m looking at by the best.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
They're informative and often beautiful to look at, but BOY do they take up room! I used to keep them, but the bulk eventually discouraged that sort of thing. They're gone now.
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
With the Buffalo Nickels and Morgan/Peace Dollars in mind... or not
What would be a top 10 or top 20 in terms of significance?
Could be by decades or size and breadth of auction.
BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out
I like to look at them from the mid 2000s when everything was crazy high compare nowadays etc
The comment about the Newman Numismatic Portal is critical to this discussion. It has crushed prices for post-WWII catalogs (with a few exceptions), and even older catalogs are not holding their values. This was happening anyway, but the Portal has accelerated the decline. Today, there is just one dealer (Bryce Brown) who carries a large inventory of modern U.S. auction catalogs and prices realized sheets. They are also mostly difficult to sell at this point.
This said, I have pared down to a couple of hundred catalogs or so, ones that are important to me for various reasons. The good ones contain valuable provenance and condition information and good images. I have even used my catalogs to track changes in the appearance of certain coins (i.e., doctoring) as their grades marched up over time and slabs bounced from PCGS to NGC and back, etc.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
99% of them should be consigned to the recycle bin.
I agree that keeping catalogs from generic sales is mainly a waste of space in the digital age.
Those and board make a swell turntable setup.
No benefit really unless you want to reflect back in a decade or so to see how much money you lost.
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
I guess I'm old fashioned, but I quite enjoy holding a book instead of reading in digital format.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I probably have a few thousand catalogs. Many are post WW-II, but there are nearly complete sets of the catalogs from the important 19 century auctioneers!
It helps track the provenance of coins through the years. Mostly that’s important for coins way above my pay grade.
The provenance of my coins basically look like this.... I got it from Bob who got it from Larry who traded a gas tank from an old Husqvarna motorbike for it. Before that, Sam is the one who pawned it for cigarette money. So far, I’m only able to trace it to March of 2019.....
I'm about to agree! I have 2 3-4 foot tall stacks in my basement!
I was looking at a auction from 2006 at Orlando and somebody paid 6900 for a 38d over s buffalo in a 67 ngc star holder!! I think the coin on the grey sheet goes for 525!! 😬
Old auction catalogs are very interesting collectibles themselves. Thumbing through the Lorin Parmelee Sale (NY Coin and Stamp) and studying the plates is more interesting to me than studying just about any late 19th-century coin issued around that time.
Many collectors go through periods when they don't add anything to their coin collections. During such periods, it can be difficult to maintain one's interest in the hobby. Having a good collection of numismatic books and auction catalogs will help to bridge the gaps between coin purchases.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
I still have the CD "catalogs" that HA used to send out.
The most fun I have with old auction catalogs are with the sales I attended. The memories flood in.
It's also fun going through much older sales and spotting a familiar coin, especially when you had no idea that that's where the coin came from.
As for the utility of the catalogs, it depends on the reader. If your're only interested in mainstream US coins, and if your only concerns are grade and price, a small library should be sufficient. If your interests are more diverse, a serious library can occasionally pay huge dividends.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
True! In my case, "Wow, got blown out of the water on that one. Wish I'd won the lottery the previous week."
I recently found out that one of my 2019 purchases was part of the A.J. Vanderbilt collection. The seller did not state this, but when I plugged the certificate number into PCGS it brought up an auction record that mentioned it. I did a quick search on eBay and found the catalog from that auction, offered $6, and had it in hand about a week later. I'll probably keep it as long as I own the coin.
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
If you have a big library, it would be nice to keep them for enjoyment to flip through.
I moved a bookcase from one room to another and boxed up a handful of catalogs I really don't want. I'm down to Eliasberg, Pittman, Bass, and a couple others, including some that are good reference guides (e.g., Missouri Cabinet), but realistically they're mostly just very heavy shelf decoration. I may move a few more to the box when I move the bookcase back. I'm starting to look at stuff in my house and judging how much "rent" it pays me in terms of enjoyment per cubic foot occupied.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars
I love them though limit myself to less than the 40 board feet I have in barrister cases.
If new or classic older auction cat's get added then others leave.
I keep all the sales I attended for auction notes, etc. They have proven valuable.
My 1866 Philly Mint Set
yes there is benefit. you get to be on that Hoarders TV show.
Keep an open mind, or get financially repressed -Zoltan Pozsar
Collect collect collect...... 50 years later: "WTH am I doing?"
Recycle.
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
The vast majority of them should be recycled, but there are a few, like the Eliasberg Sales, which are comprehensive and still of use for research purposes. The main trouble with them is that the photography was as good as those days, and the auction houses didn’t spend the money provide color enlargements for the vast majority of the items.
The Newman site has reduced the need to keep old auction catalogs to a considerable to degree, but some of them are still useful, especially when they had great write-ups about the history of the coins and the lots.
Recycled about 100 a number of years ago, happy to have the shelf space back. Never miss them.
LIBERTY SEATED DIMES WITH MAJOR VARIETIES CIRCULATION STRIKES (1837-1891) digital album
In the spirit of promoting book collecting, check this video on Dan Hamelberg and his #1 Registry Set of slabbed auction catalogs:
OK, fine, they're not slabbed, but it's still worth watching!
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
What an amazing library. I didn’t see your face Andy in the video
Latin American Collection
I am building a library In my house now. Lake views, quirky angles, reading nook. Definitely a wall will be dedicated to my numismatic collection .
Latin American Collection
Overstuffed leather chair with a globe liquor cabinet?
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars
Indeed and a ladder with brass railings for the top shelf’s. Ceiling in one part is 12ft!
Latin American Collection
Looking forward to the Grand Opening party!
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
This post is no good without pics...
BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out
I will definitely post pics when it is done this summer. Cannot cut the balcony out to the water until it is warmer as the sealants and adhesives won’t bond when it is below freezing. Spray foam insulation is next then electrical. Spring 2020 should be complete.
Latin American Collection
I hear Consuelo, formerly in the employ of Mssr. Longacre, is seeking employment.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
The vast majority of them should be recycled, but there are a few, like the Eliasberg Sales, which are comprehensive and still of use for research purposes. The main trouble with them is that the photography was as good as those days, and the auction houses didn’t spend the money provide color enlargements for the vast majority of the items.
The Newman site has reduced the need to keep old auction catalogs to a considerable to degree, but some of them are still useful, especially when they had great write-ups about the history of the coins and the lots.
Pricing in catalogs doesn't mean much to me, because the price realized is a strong function of who was bidding at that time. Add another strong bidder, or remove one, and the end result would be likely very different for a given lot.
Catalogs can also be worth collecting because of notes handwritten by attendees (what they thought of the coins, who the winning bidders were)---this kind of information is hard to come by otherwise.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
Some dealers use catalog pages as shipping stuffer material so there is that.
I’ll keep the Baker Washingtonia sale catalog.
To extend the thought by @Sonorandesertrat , my fear is that NNP will go oh, we have the Chapman xx date sale, we don't need all these copies of it just because 20 old people wrote notes in them.
I used to have many many catalogs but have trimmed back. Now I focus on important historic collections, especially those that featured early silver. The classics like Eliasberg, Pittman, Norweb updated with leather bound set of Pogue catalogues, Garnder and Newman. I will also keep some catalogs that contain early patterns or American keys. I kept a copy of the Adam's Comitia Americana since I bought some splashers from that set.
They are still so fun to browse on a rainy day or inside because of pandemic day.
I had thousands from the mid to late 1960s through 1990 or so. A few years back I started selling them on eBay mostly by auction company by year. I sold over $2,000.00 worth and glad they are gone. They were packed in boxes in the basement and hadn't been looked at in years but I'm basically a pack rat. Now I use the NNP to retrieve the auction notes for items that I bought at auction that are still in my collection.
I still have more and every time I go to my local monthly show I bring a stack for the "free stuff" table outside the door and they are always gone when I leave so I guess folk find the interesting. I do the same thing with Whitman folders and older Red Books that I pick up at my local library sale for $1.00.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
I see limited value, none for myself.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
Personally, I see value in owning physical auction catalogs. In fact, I am currently in the process of purchasing some auction catalogs including some that were annotated by a well known numismatist. I will post more if I get them.
ANA-LM, CWTS-LM, NBS, TAMS, ANS