Are auction catalogs written continually, or is there a waiting period to see the totality of the co

Longacre

Does anyone know if the descriptions in auction catalogs are written on a continuous basis and sometimes out of order (in other words, depending on the consignment, the numismatic researcher may research the coins in the November auction before the coins in the September auction, becuase the November coins are more complicated and take more time)?

Also, is there ever a "wait and see" attitude with the consignments before any writing is done? For example, if an auction house get a consigment of 10 quarter eagles, does it hold off on writing those up because there is a chance that the consignment director is close to landing a consignment of 90 more quarter eagles, and therefore, a little more pizzaz would need to be written about the QEs in order to move the large quantity? Or does it not matter and the same amount of sugar is added to the numismatic quarter eagle pot, no matter if there is one QE up for auction, or whether there is a major consignment of them?

LouisCamp

I work for an auction house that works with stamps, I'm sure it's the same thing for coins. We write up material all the time, the program we use to create the catalog sorts the items when it's time to produce a catalog. It's a database that holds all the lots until sale time.


Lou

PerryHall

<< <i>I work for an auction house that works with stamps, >>



I guess working with stamps all day is enough to make one take up coin collecting.

LouisCamp

Perry;

Yes, need a break....


Lou

Pistareen

We catalogue semi-continuously, with breaks for travel, occasional other projects, and sanity. The fact is that most consignments come up very close to the deadline, so 80% of the work is done in the final weeks.

RWB

If you check electrical usage in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, you will notice a spike occurring about eight weeks before any ANR auction. This correlates with an increase in pizza orders (delivery), and Chinese food take out. That is when John K. and company are doing the majority of the catalog work. I am told that two weeks after an auction, the beer and lobster consumption spikes…..