The Bebee Collection.
keets
Posts: 25,351 ✭✭✭✭✭
With my recent purchase of a medal in the Stack's August sale came a couple of old auction tags. Searching those sales I came upon another sale of the medal that dates it to the 1987 Bowers and Merena sale of "The Bebee Collection" of Aubrey E. and Adeline I. Bebee. When I searched the Stack's auction archives and scrolled through the auction lots I was pretty amazed, so amazed that I ordered a copy of the catalogue from a website I found.
Certainly their collection may not rank among the finest of all-time in size but it was impressive nonetheless. It was diverse and included a number of rarities and an exceptional Proof collection. The ANA introduction to them states "Their 1913 Liberty Nickel is legendary, and the fact that the Bebee's also owned an 1804 Dollar...................." while leading up to the fact that they had a World Class Collection of United States currency that they donated to the ANA Museum.
So I am wondering, why is this collection never mentioned??
Al H.
Comments
Your "never mentioned" conclusion is incorrect. Do a search and you'll see that there are quite a few old threads that mention the name.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
OK Mr. Picky, why isn't the collection mentioned more often??
OK, I searched as requested on "Bebee" and there aren't really many hits that come up about the collection, although I didn't follow and of the links. mostly the links are for the 1913 Liberty Nickel and the 1804 Dollar which date to about 200-2008. I'm guessing those coins were in the spotlight then for some reason.
still, I tend to pay attention to what goes on hear and I'd never heard of the collection.
"Mr. Picky" might have been fair, had the Bebee name only been mentioned a few times.
But in answer to your (thankfully) revised question, probably in part, because the sale was more than 30 years ago.
Edited to add:
Also, if the 1804 dollar and the 1913 nickel hadn't been donated to the ANA and had since resold at auction, the name probably would have come up more often.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
The Bebee's donated the 1804 Dollar and the 1913 Liberty Nickel to the ANA and are in ANA collection and on display at the ANA museum.
Life member of ANA
That is one heck of a donation. While I admire people for doing this, after seeing the Pennsylvania Historical Society sell off Baker's Collection of Washingtonia directly against the provisions of his will, I have no faith in such agreements.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Much like the famous relative of @MFeld ... although in somewhat different ways I suppose, the Bebee's where definitely 20th Century ambassadors for the hobby (at least from my historical understanding).
While their name may not be (currently) associated with the greater collections for the material in the buying and selling marketplace of today, I think it holds a special place for those who can step back to that time and connect provenance.
Like their collections, their donations were beyond amazing, although (as mentioned) the fact that what they donated is now out of the collector marketplace indefinitely might contribute to their somewhat muted notoriety.
Another reason, which seems odd for me to think, but in context may have some validity, is they were one of the many last great collections before the onset of the TPG, and shortly thereafter, the development of the internet. Because of that, the coins and paper and medals that do exist in the marketplace that came from their collections might be stuck in between the old, more well known provenances and the new, easily traceable ones.
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
they were one of the many last great collections before the onset of the TPG
I think that has a lot to do with it, their collection sold at a time when the Hobby was in transition and no doubt much of what they sold probably went to PCGS/NGC pretty soon thereafter. Aubrey died in 1992, his wife Adeline in 1998, so there decision to sell was well timed. I think it is safe to say that many of their coins have lost the provenance, which is sad.
@keets
Al, I'm curious. Which of the catalogs did you order? I think there were multiple parts to the sale if memory serves me. I could be wrong though.
The main sale was actually just as I became an "adult" collector .. when I was serving in the USN ... so really the whole history is before my time as a collector, although I read a lot about it (and them) while the whole auction and donation proceedings were or just had transpired.
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
I can't think that big!
the one I found had five sessions but I don't know if it's the only catalogue. I only paid $10 so if nothing else it will be nice to browse this winter and a good reference. I had hoped to track the provenance of my new medal, listed as coming from the Bebee sale, but I didn't see it in the online version at Stack's, maybe it'll be easier to locate in the hard-copy if it's there.
does anyone know if there are more than just one catalogue/sale??
He had his shop on North 30th Street in Omaha, Nebraska....my town was richly blessed with numismatists.
Byron Reed donated his vast collection to the city, and Hewitt Judd is also from around here , too.
Most of my fellow citizens know A famous person, or two from here; but few know of our numismatic heroes.
There was only that one catalog called the Bebee Collection. It was a multi-consignor sale, probably dozens of consignors, and Bowers did not pedigree which lots were owned by Bebee for some reason. This was unlike the Norweb auctions of US coins which were from a single consignor and sold in 3 separate sales in 1987 to 1988.
The introduction mentions that the $4 Gold on the cover was one of Bebee's favorite pieces and mentions that the sale has multiple other $4. They are sold next to each other without designating which was the Bebee coin in the lot. This was not an uncommon practice if there were not many lots from the consignor that a sale was named after, though some sales did make it clear.
So there is no way to tell what lots were from the actual Bebee collection. Often auction catalogs can serve as the record of what all was in a particular collection, but not in this case. There may have only been a few lots or possibly hundreds. That along with the fact that they donated the 1913 5c and 1804 $ among other items makes it a difficult to assess their collection though they were a well known name.
It is still a pretty cool auction catalog. I recall I was disappointed to win only a single cheap lot by mail bid. Think it was lot 2016, a 1902 Indian cent called MS-63 at $49.50. Seems like it was nice and was able to sell it for a small profit. Have no idea why I can remember that.
As far as tracking the medal down in the catalog, there is an index in the back which may or may not help. Some of the Bowers and Merena sales, such as this one, did not have everything in denomination or category order. It is chopped up with some series appearing in multiple places and the index not always catching all items. You might have to look through the entire catalog unless you have the lot number.
Here is a link to the catalog scanned by the Newman Numismatic Project. I like that it has many notes by someone who viewed the lots, such as how they analyzed the heck out of the raw 1878 $3 graded as MS-67 on this page:
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https://archive.org/details/bebeecollection0000bowe/page/86/mode/2up
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"To Be Esteemed Be Useful" - 1792 Birch Cent --- "I personally think we developed language because of our deep need to complain." - Lily Tomlin
Imagine if someone bought and donated the 1794 Brand-Cardinal-Morelan dollar?
I wish the ANA would post more of their collection online like the ANS does.
It would help if the ANA curator posted on the CU forums
I remember when Mr. Beebe purchased the 13 nickel. It made front page news in Coin World.
So as @keets holds his new medal from the August Stack’s sale, I can hear him saying, “Oh Bebee, I love ya”. 😆
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
I lost my head looking at some of their coins!
Here's one of their patterns.
Here are 1798/7 and a 1799/8 large cents from Bebee that ended up with ESM.
While the Historical Society did sell, the medals and tokens were kept from private collections for over 120 years in pristine condition which is still commendable.
You might have to look through the entire catalog unless you have the lot number.
I have done that online but it'll be easier to do it with the catalogue in my hands.
The following makes it even harder.
I posted a few above. I wonder how many coins can be attributed to them now.
How negative are donations viewed?
They're not. But they are often pilfered, by those who they were entrusted to, for whatever reasons.... before the public ever knows what went on ...in private.
I have no facts. I've only heard rumors. And I like to keep a good mystery alive.
I don't think it is necessarily viewed as negative by most, though some do. It is just that without an event where the collection is sold, it dilutes the awareness of it. The Bebee catalog is vague as to what was theirs.
The Bebee name was known for being a longtime dealer and the ownership and donation of the 1913 and 1804, but the contents of the collection is mostly unclear. So the name doesn't have the notoriety of a Garrett, Eliasberg, Pogue, Norweb, Newman and many other collections which were an event when sold.
"To Be Esteemed Be Useful" - 1792 Birch Cent --- "I personally think we developed language because of our deep need to complain." - Lily Tomlin
W-L-W, thanks for an explanation that makes sense. there are some good color plates in the catalogue but, unfortunately, no specific mention of what belonged to other consignors. there is someone who might be able to help. this from the Bebee bio:
In 1955 the American Numismatic Association held its annual convention in Omaha. Dr. J. Hewitt Judd was president of the organization, and Lewis M. Reagan served as the general secretary. Raymond J. Larson served as general chairman of the
event, while Aubrey E. Bebee held the post of official convention auctioneer. An attractive catalogue was prepared, and many scarce and rare items were offered. Among the successful bidders was a newcomer named Q. David Bowers, who at the age of 16 was the youngest person in American numismatic history to ever have a bourse table at one of these events, and who at the auction distinguished himself by being the high bidder at $610 for a rare 1867 With Rays Proof Shield nickel.