What are the most important auction catalogs in your area of focus?

MrEureka

For Central American Republic gold coins, the best auctions were Eliasberg and Norweb. (I'm still kicking myself for missing Norweb!) Going further back, Fonrobert and Ulex were also pretty damn good.

MadMarty

This one...

TwoKopeiki

I have a fat stack of Ponterio auction catalogs that help me out a lot.

farthing

For Conder tokens: Davisson mail bid catalogs, Dix Noonan Web catalogues, 1998 Noble sale of the W. J. Noble Collection of British Tokens

farthing

The just completed (1/24) Spink auction of Important 18th Century Tokens will be remembered as a landmark sale of rare tokens I believe.

Need to get my hands on a paper copy if they exist.

bidask

wish I had those catalogs...I am collector...need to be more of a numismatist..

secondrepublic

The most important catalogs tend to be the Polish ones starting in the 1990s, but there are a handful of very important US auction house catalogs as well. For Polish material, the 2000 auction of the Henry Karolkiewicz collection (CNG, Triton IV) is the most important catalog, followed by the 1974 auctions of the Stanislaw Herstal collection and Henry Nagorka collection by Bowers & Ruddy/American Auction Association. The Nagorka collection was part of the Curtis Paxman sale in '74. There is also a Galerie De Monnaies catalog from 1979 of the Sawicki collection but I have never been able to get my hands on it.

RareSov

Downies Reserve Bank of Australia sale, for gold sovereigns

Each Noble auction (formerly Spink Australia) as it comes, for current buying..

SYRACUSIAN

I don't have the catalogue and I've just heard about this auction, almost by accident. Many thanks to my friend georgethecoinman from Australia who provided this article from a 1973 issue of the Australian coin review.

The article referred to the sale of the Alfred R.Globus' collection of important gold US and foreign coins, by Stack's at the end of 1972. Entitled "Greek coin sells for $19000", said to be the highest price ever paid for a foreign coin in the US at the time, the article was a vivid description of a "wild and exciting" sale according to Harvey Stack.Mr. Globus ,a New Yorker who at the time was the president of a chemical company,began collecting coins in 1957, in Stack's words "with an intensity that rivaled his achievements in scientific results. From the start, he was especially interested in gold coins always seeking those with their pristine beauty and varied toning intact regardless of cost. "

The highlight of the sale was an extremely rare Greek 1852 40 drachmai, with a mintage of 8 pieces, and of which at the time only two were known to exist. Today, two examples can be found in museums and an additional two in private collections. The coin was graded about EF and was formerly part of the Dreesman collection, bringing only ~$2250 the last time it was sold, 5 years before the Alfred Globus collection's sale.

Stack's identified the purchaser as an Eastern physician of Greek extraction ho bought it partly because of his interest in numismatics and partly because of his pride of his ancestry.

Following that, another Greek coin, a 1876 100 drachmai gold in unc sold for $8500 and a 1876 50 drachmai gold in EF went for $4000.Almost every single of the 1052 lots of Mr.Globus' collection set a new record at the time, with other highlights including a British 2 pound pattern coin of 1820 in virtually brilliant proof condition that realized $5250, and a unc 1701 5 guineas piece that sold for $3100.Topping the US part of the sale was an original brilliant proof 1879 flowing hair stella which went for $8000. A BU 1795 eagle with small eagle reverse brought $4750.

Finding a copy of this catalogue would make me extremely happy and content. Following that, the best I can do is try to upload a photocopy of the article, and those with an extra interest in it should be able to zoom in it.

SYRACUSIAN

While still on the subject, and realizing that I hadn't replied the first time, the most important auction catalogue of Modern Greek coins is undoubtedly Spink's sale no 5 in 1979, of the best private collection of such material ever formed and the most complete to be sold at auction. Following that sale, Spink's sale no 10 in 1980 was also an important sale of similar material and I'm happy to own both catalogues with their realized prices.

Despite the great and many rarities included in the 1979 sale, there was no 1852 40 drachmai among them. There was however the second most rare Greek coin, a 1852 gold 20 drachmai in EF, with a mintage of 16 pieces, estimated at 20000 pounds, and sold for 24000 (lot 178).