My First Auction Catalog. Somewhat of a review.

BillyKingsley

And now I see why they are referenced so often as being essential reading.

Let me say up front, I am not a fan of auctions. As a general rule I find them distasteful and more trouble than they are worth, I wouldn't do them at all if I wasn't missing out on stuff otherwise. I went online at home in 2000 and didn't even join Ebay until 2006.

Back in September I visited an antique shop that didn't have a single coin, but they did have a copy of the Heritage Catalog from the Boston ANA. They only wanted $20 for it so I went ahead and bought it. I paged through it breifly then but I really didn't do any actual reading of it until yesterday. I am really enjoying seeing the large, clear pictures and reading the descriptions.

I am especially enjoying the error, pattern and gold sections, as they are things I don't get to see in person, and in some cases this catalog is my first experience with them.

This is definitly something I'll keep handy and pull out and look through from time to time. I have not read everything yet but I will in time.

Not sure I'll shell out $50 to get them when they are new, but if I can find any others marked down I will not hesitate to buy them.

ChrisRx

Think its only $100/year for all catalogs. And they give you a $100 voucher to be used towards an auction (talking Heritage.)

AnkurJ

Ive been getting them at no charge for years..

Then again I've bought a lot from them too. They usually end up in recycling after the auction since all results are easily available online.

pruebas

Billy, join a coin club. Often times, club members bring in old or even current auction catalogs for "recycling" to other members. Different clubs are different, but they often raffle them or put them in a club auction.

Sometimes small coin shows have catalog giveaways. Our annual Garden State Numismatic Association show has a table with many auction catalogs (US coins, world coins, currency, and stamps) and back issues of the Numismatist available for a small $1-2 donation. These were donated by members or dealers with the proceeds going to the club and its programs.

BillyKingsley

I'm the kind of person who actually prefers reading a actual book than looking at something online...old fashioned? Probably! But I like being able to take it anywhere, and read it anytime, can't really do that with the computer...and besides I spend enough time on here, I've got to stand up and walk around from time to time or I'll take root, LOL.

$100 a year is unfortunatly essentially my entire coin budget for the year...as cool as the book is, I'd rather spend that on coins themselves!

I would LOVE to join a club. The only one that's close to me is in an area that I really don't want to go at night, and the other close one, which is a major club, is in an area that I can't really get to. (Westchester Co. NY)

JBN

I will surf the auction online looking for coins for my half dollar collection. I also receive catalogs from the major auction houses. I enjoy paging through the catalogs and will look for silver dollars, stare at the beautiful buffalo nickels, and also search for the odd excellent commemorative.

I agree with you that the catalogs are better in that you have hard copy. If I do buy a coin, I will staple the relevant auction catalog cover and the page describing the coin with the coin's receipt for my records.

Catalogs are superb reference sources - especially when major collections are put up for sale. The recent sale of a superb Barber half dollar collection was acutely interesting in that they had descriptions about the coin and date, also had pictures of the records kept by the individuals who got these coins directly from the mint back in the day! Also, the lot descriptions can have substantial contextual information.

Another impressive catalog had the sale of an important SLQ collection.

It is a shame that there isn't some kind of 'clearinghouse' for old catalogs. I, too, relegate these to the recycle bin after my use and the auction is over. Wouldn't mind getting these catalogs to someone like the OP who could enjoy them without spending funds earmarked for their collection.

Broadstruck

<< <i>It is a shame that there isn't some kind of 'clearinghouse' for old catalogs. I, too, relegate these to the recycle bin after my use and the auction is over. Wouldn't mind getting these catalogs to someone like the OP who could enjoy them without spending funds earmarked for their collection. >>



Pop them on the BST and just charge the shipping, insurance, and delivery confirmation rates.

I've bought LOTS of older calalogs that way.

JBN

<< <i>

<< <i>It is a shame that there isn't some kind of 'clearinghouse' for old catalogs. I, too, relegate these to the recycle bin after my use and the auction is over. Wouldn't mind getting these catalogs to someone like the OP who could enjoy them without spending funds earmarked for their collection. >>



Pop them on the BST and just charge the shipping, insurance, and delivery confirmation rates.

I've bought LOTS of older calalogs that way. >>



Excellent idea.

I'll post the first catalog now.

RWB

Just an opinion –
Others have posted about some of the positive things, but....Please be very careful about trusting background information in auction catalog descriptions. Many companies cut and past old material for decades, or twist material to make the coin sound like something special when it is not. Unfortunately, catalogs are a primary means for distributing outdated, invented and false numismatic information to collectors and dealers.

There is, to be sure, a lot of good material, but it can be difficult to separate from the dross.

Flatwoods

Billy, if you would like some more, p.m. me your address.
I usually toss them but I'm sure I could round up a few.
I can see a pile of Stacks catalogs from here.

BillyKingsley

Thank you very much! I will take you up on that

Roger, I have learned to take pretty much EVERYTHING I read with a grain of salt these days. I am always reading something and seeing something that I know is not right. Can't say that I've learned enough about coins yet to spot that, but I can't imagine that one hobby's publications would be flawless when none of the others are. Even if I didn't read the descriptions the large, clear photographs are certainly a great tool to learn off of. Some of the descriptions I've read have been very helpful, I find especially the coins that were deemed ungradeable by PCGS, as Heritage gives a very clear reason why not- at least what they feel the reason is. Some of them were obvious to me, some of them kind of surprised me a little.

I still have much to learn, but I enjoy learning stuff so it works out well for me!