This is what I don't like about the new Bowers and Merena catalog

ColonialCoinUnion

Just got it yesterday - leafed through, tons of nice coins, but the thing that bothers me is that there is virtually no 'history' at all.

No pedigrees to speak of (I think there are two Jack Lee references), no accurate historical data about populations or real rarity. Just a few quotes about what Breen said was rare (which are generally not accurate) and a few 'perhaps the finest known' headlines which are not substantiated in any way.

In fact, there are several coins that are pedigreed to significant collections but the catalogers have chosen to leave that information out.

Whoever wrote this catalog evidently checked the slabs of each piece, reviewed the current pop reports and went to press.

If this is the future of numismatics, I don't like it.

Dennis88

No idea, but I've sent you a PM yesterday. Are you going to response???

Dennis

Shamika

<< <i>no accurate historical data about populations or real rarity >>


Though I don't collect Colonial coins (if only I could afford them), I always drool over these items in the catalogs. I will say that I've also noticed a lack of historical data. Is this the result of QDB having left for ANR?

majorbigtime

As you know, it's Bowers in name only.

Dave's now at ANR, and they have great descriptions IMO!

BillJones

I think that this is a reflection of where the owers of the Bowers company wanted to go after they moved Bowers out of the picture. B&M auction catalogs were always noted for lots of history and research. And the company also published and sold many first rate books. Given the cost of doing all of this, the owners decided that the company had too much overhead. Hence you get meaner and leaner.

Sadly there are a lot of collectors and investor types who are mostly interested in the grade on the slab, the population reports and how much this coin or one very much like it sold for recently. They could care less about who once owned the coin and all the history around it.

It's sad, but that's direction that the owners think the market has taken them.

toothpuller

I noticed the same thing. The Phoenix collection is said to contain a number of coins from the Alan Epstein Collection [considered the all-time finest Indian Head Cent collection], yet no specific coin is pedigreed to Epstein, Gougelman, Steve or anyone else except for one specific reference to Benson which is probably only made because the name most likely appears on the slab.

mrearlygold

You were hoping to see a catalogue from ANR in disquise?

There's only 1 ANR.


Tom

Coinosaurus

It's a different approach. If it works, more power to 'em. If you prefer the ANR approach (as I do), then by all means do business with them instead. If I were selling right now, I would look at ANR first. But as for buying, I go by the coin, not the cataloguing.

ziggy29

Well, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that, as others have already mentioned, since Dave Bowers is at ANR now as is much of the old B&M staff. So I would imagine that much of what we liked about the old B&M catalogs can be found in ANR catalogs now.