The King Farouk Sale
Ed62
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The Fabulous King Farouk Sale of 1954
By Dr. Sol Taylor
February 16, 2008
Perhaps the most significant sale of the last century was the 1954 sale of exiled Egyptian King Farouk's coin collection.
The late Abe Kosoff, a veteran coin dealer, attended the sale and wrote in his memoirs a detailed account of the unusual circumstances surrounding the liquidation of one of the most significant collections of United States coins ever assembled. Author Carl N. Lester published an article, "Numismatic 'Gumshoe' On the Trail of King Farouk," which describes in some detail — mainly from Kosoff's accounts — the peculiar multi-million-dollar sale. In 1954, no coin auction had even approached $1 million.
King Farouk was forced into exile by a military coup in 1952 and left on the Royal Egyptian yacht for Europe where he lived until 1965. As a boy and young man, he enlisted several United States (and possibly European) coin dealers to build a numismatic pyramid — bigger and more prestigious than any other.
One of his New York City dealers, Hans Schulman, shipped him collections and rarities acquired during the Great Depression from leading collectors of the era who were facing severe cash shortages. The king had an insatiable appetite and purchased entire collections and top-tier rarities as fast as he could dip into the national treasury.
As his excesses drained the national economy and drew the ire of his military, Farouk was forced to limit his purchases to $10,000. With his ouster in 1952, the Egyptian revolutionary government took over his vast holdings of artworks, antiquities, sculptures, coins and medals and arranged to liquidate them and return the proceeds to the national treasury.
Since no one in the new provisional government was skilled in such sales, they hastily put together a series of numismatic auctions cumulatively known as the "Palace Collection of Egypt." The London firm of Fred Baldwin was contracted to examine the collection and assemble a catalogue for a public sale. Due to various restrictions imposed by Egypt, the examination period was very short and the use of quality photography was limited. The collection was broken down into lots of coins, often mixing rare and common coins in a single lot. The catalogue was assigned to the London firm of Sotheby's. Some 8,500 U.S. gold coins were in the collection, including what was probably the only complete set of Saint Gaudens $20 "double eagle" gold coins.
One lot described by Kosoff — which was typical of the lots — went somewhat like this" "Lot 333, Forty different $1 gold coins 1849-1889." No grades were given and no mintmarks listed. Such lots often were sold at the value of the most common coin, and as a result, the few active buyers in attendance bought major bargains. Kosoff believed that at the time, the coins were selling for as low as 10 percent of their true market value.
In addition to Kosoff and Schulman, James Randall, Paul Whitlin and Sol Kaplan were among the handful of dealers present for the actual bidding. Due to the remote location of the sale, the lack of promotion, the vague cataloguing and the restrictions imposed by the military, most potential bidders stayed away. At that time there were no mail bids, no telephone bidders and, before computers, no online bidding.
Schulman had a leg up on his fellow dealers, since Farouk had purchased several million dollars worth of coins from him, and by 1952 he owed Schulman some $300,000. When Schulman demanded payment, the new government gave him credit for $300,000 toward his purchases in the Palace sale. Naturally, Schulman was the top bidder, buying back many coins he had sold but never got paid for. He reportedly sold some of these coins to other dealers as he broke down some of the lots he bought.
Most bidders came prepared to spend $100,000 or even more. Rochester railroad magnate and prominent numismatist John J. Pittman allegedly refinanced his home to raise cash to attend this sale. He acquired many items which eventually became one of the finest United States collections.
Gaston DiBello, a wealthy collector from Buffalo, N.Y., acquired several lots of gold coins which eventually became part of his estate, and which was later sold by Bowers and Merena Galleries. These coins made up significant portions of his many award-winning coin exhibits.
Many Farouk pieces found their way into the fabulous collections of Pittman, Harry Bass, Henry Norweb and other notables.
In the 1940s, Farouk acquired the fabulous collection of half eagles ($5 gold coins) from the estate of Col. E.H.R. Green, son of the Wall Street eccentric Hattie Green. The colonel also owned all known 1913 Liberty head nickels at one time. His half eagles showed up in a Bass sale in May 2000 where each set record prices.
Farouk's large collection of United States pattern coins included many pieces of which only one or two were known. For whatever reason, Farouk felt they would be better preserved if coated with varnish or a similar material. Kosoff acquired batches of these rarities in mixed lots described simply as "Lot XXX, Thirty-one different pattern coins dated 1860-1880." These pieces provided the basis for much of the information in the standard catalogue on pattern coins by Judd and Kosoff.
Today, coins that can be attributed to the Palace sale tend to bring higher prices than identical pieces not so attributed. Lester points out one example of an 1854-C half eagle in XF-40 condition that catalogued for $2,700 in 1993 and was sold by Heritage Auction Galleries in Baltimore for $5,720 as coming from the Palace (Farouk) Collection.
The actual catalogue of the King Farouk sale is itself a valuable numismatic item today, despite its lack of quality and depth. Very few exist and at auction could bring hundreds of dollars.
The Egyptian government could have realized perhaps more than 10 times the profit if it had consigned the entire collection to a major New York, London or Zurich firm where more bidders could attend, mail bids and telephone bidders could participate, and with sufficient publicity would bring greater results overall. Kosoff lamented one serious regret: He couldn't raise the cash to buy 20 times what he eventually bought. It is estimated that in today's market, the Farouk collection would easily top $150 million.
For greater details read the book, "Abe Kosoff Remembers" (Sanford J. Durst Numismatic Publications, New York City, 1981).
The Fabulous King Farouk Sale of 1954
By Dr. Sol Taylor
February 16, 2008
Perhaps the most significant sale of the last century was the 1954 sale of exiled Egyptian King Farouk's coin collection.
The late Abe Kosoff, a veteran coin dealer, attended the sale and wrote in his memoirs a detailed account of the unusual circumstances surrounding the liquidation of one of the most significant collections of United States coins ever assembled. Author Carl N. Lester published an article, "Numismatic 'Gumshoe' On the Trail of King Farouk," which describes in some detail — mainly from Kosoff's accounts — the peculiar multi-million-dollar sale. In 1954, no coin auction had even approached $1 million.
King Farouk was forced into exile by a military coup in 1952 and left on the Royal Egyptian yacht for Europe where he lived until 1965. As a boy and young man, he enlisted several United States (and possibly European) coin dealers to build a numismatic pyramid — bigger and more prestigious than any other.
One of his New York City dealers, Hans Schulman, shipped him collections and rarities acquired during the Great Depression from leading collectors of the era who were facing severe cash shortages. The king had an insatiable appetite and purchased entire collections and top-tier rarities as fast as he could dip into the national treasury.
As his excesses drained the national economy and drew the ire of his military, Farouk was forced to limit his purchases to $10,000. With his ouster in 1952, the Egyptian revolutionary government took over his vast holdings of artworks, antiquities, sculptures, coins and medals and arranged to liquidate them and return the proceeds to the national treasury.
Since no one in the new provisional government was skilled in such sales, they hastily put together a series of numismatic auctions cumulatively known as the "Palace Collection of Egypt." The London firm of Fred Baldwin was contracted to examine the collection and assemble a catalogue for a public sale. Due to various restrictions imposed by Egypt, the examination period was very short and the use of quality photography was limited. The collection was broken down into lots of coins, often mixing rare and common coins in a single lot. The catalogue was assigned to the London firm of Sotheby's. Some 8,500 U.S. gold coins were in the collection, including what was probably the only complete set of Saint Gaudens $20 "double eagle" gold coins.
One lot described by Kosoff — which was typical of the lots — went somewhat like this" "Lot 333, Forty different $1 gold coins 1849-1889." No grades were given and no mintmarks listed. Such lots often were sold at the value of the most common coin, and as a result, the few active buyers in attendance bought major bargains. Kosoff believed that at the time, the coins were selling for as low as 10 percent of their true market value.
In addition to Kosoff and Schulman, James Randall, Paul Whitlin and Sol Kaplan were among the handful of dealers present for the actual bidding. Due to the remote location of the sale, the lack of promotion, the vague cataloguing and the restrictions imposed by the military, most potential bidders stayed away. At that time there were no mail bids, no telephone bidders and, before computers, no online bidding.
Schulman had a leg up on his fellow dealers, since Farouk had purchased several million dollars worth of coins from him, and by 1952 he owed Schulman some $300,000. When Schulman demanded payment, the new government gave him credit for $300,000 toward his purchases in the Palace sale. Naturally, Schulman was the top bidder, buying back many coins he had sold but never got paid for. He reportedly sold some of these coins to other dealers as he broke down some of the lots he bought.
Most bidders came prepared to spend $100,000 or even more. Rochester railroad magnate and prominent numismatist John J. Pittman allegedly refinanced his home to raise cash to attend this sale. He acquired many items which eventually became one of the finest United States collections.
Gaston DiBello, a wealthy collector from Buffalo, N.Y., acquired several lots of gold coins which eventually became part of his estate, and which was later sold by Bowers and Merena Galleries. These coins made up significant portions of his many award-winning coin exhibits.
Many Farouk pieces found their way into the fabulous collections of Pittman, Harry Bass, Henry Norweb and other notables.
In the 1940s, Farouk acquired the fabulous collection of half eagles ($5 gold coins) from the estate of Col. E.H.R. Green, son of the Wall Street eccentric Hattie Green. The colonel also owned all known 1913 Liberty head nickels at one time. His half eagles showed up in a Bass sale in May 2000 where each set record prices.
Farouk's large collection of United States pattern coins included many pieces of which only one or two were known. For whatever reason, Farouk felt they would be better preserved if coated with varnish or a similar material. Kosoff acquired batches of these rarities in mixed lots described simply as "Lot XXX, Thirty-one different pattern coins dated 1860-1880." These pieces provided the basis for much of the information in the standard catalogue on pattern coins by Judd and Kosoff.
Today, coins that can be attributed to the Palace sale tend to bring higher prices than identical pieces not so attributed. Lester points out one example of an 1854-C half eagle in XF-40 condition that catalogued for $2,700 in 1993 and was sold by Heritage Auction Galleries in Baltimore for $5,720 as coming from the Palace (Farouk) Collection.
The actual catalogue of the King Farouk sale is itself a valuable numismatic item today, despite its lack of quality and depth. Very few exist and at auction could bring hundreds of dollars.
The Egyptian government could have realized perhaps more than 10 times the profit if it had consigned the entire collection to a major New York, London or Zurich firm where more bidders could attend, mail bids and telephone bidders could participate, and with sufficient publicity would bring greater results overall. Kosoff lamented one serious regret: He couldn't raise the cash to buy 20 times what he eventually bought. It is estimated that in today's market, the Farouk collection would easily top $150 million.
For greater details read the book, "Abe Kosoff Remembers" (Sanford J. Durst Numismatic Publications, New York City, 1981).
The Fabulous King Farouk Sale of 1954
Ed
9
Comments
Rochester railroad magnate and prominent numismatist John J. Pittman allegedly refinanced his home to raise cash to attend this sale. Railroad magnate? He worked for Kodak.
That is correct. And Maurice Storck ran a very successful coin business here in Portland, Maine for many years before retiring to Arizona. It is my understanding that Maurice Storck is the last surviving attendee of the King Farouk auction. At the sale, Maurice bid on and won (among other things) all of the half dimes in the sale, which he still owns. He has many fascinating stories about his participation in that historic auction.
<< <i>A local collector here in Tucson, Maurice Storck, was at the sale.
Rochester railroad magnate and prominent numismatist John J. Pittman allegedly refinanced his home to raise cash to attend this sale. Railroad magnate? He worked for Kodak. >>
ROFLMAO even discounting the reasoning (possible misnomer) that a" railroad magnate" would have so few resources as to need to mortgage his home.
Abe was the first person I met in numismatics who taught me about methods and effects of coin doctoring. He never mentioned Farouk to me, but Mike Kliman, his son-in-law and executor of his estate, as well as one of my mentors, recounted numerous stories about Abe (and others) at Farouk. I think it's now part of the public record that every night a planning session of the "bidding cabal" met in a different hotel room (fear of being "bugged") to carve up their purchases and plan for the next day's lots.
Rick, get over to his house with a tape recorder. What a wonderful view of numismatic history Mr. Storck must have !
Tom
Farouk catalogs aren't really rare unless they contain bidder annotations. The catalog, in my opinion, isn't really useful for attribution purposes, but it is an interesting piece of numismatic history.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
<< <i>A local collector here in Tucson, Maurice Storck, was at the sale.
Rochester railroad magnate and prominent numismatist John J. Pittman allegedly refinanced his home to raise cash to attend this sale. Railroad magnate? He worked for Kodak. >>
I saw that and laughed.
<< <i>A local collector here in Tucson, Maurice Storck, was at the sale.
Rochester railroad magnate and prominent numismatist John J. Pittman allegedly refinanced his home to raise cash to attend this sale. Railroad magnate? He worked for Kodak. >>
I got a chuckle out of that too.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.americanlegacycoins.com
My Mommy would not let me go.
I was only one year old.
<< <i>
Rick, get over to his house with a tape recorder. What a wonderful view of numismatic history Mr. Storck must have ! >>
This!
And take a good photographer with you if you could possibly arrange it! It would be interesting to see a photo of him, it would be interesting to find out what might be in his numismatic library and of course it would be fantastic to document his current collection.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Bowers and Merena (preceded by the then active Bowers and (Jim) Ruddy (first "Photograde")) was still quite a few years in the future.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.americanlegacycoins.com
edited to add: I may have confused Sol Taylor with Sol Kaplan
Kaplan was the 2nd President of PNG, 1955-1960
<< <i>Speaking of King Farouk and Gaston DiBello, here's a Farouk-DiBello Dahlonega piece that I acquired in B&M's May 2000 Harry Bass Collection, Part III sale. It's previously from Stack's May 1970 Gaston DiBello Collection, Part II and Sotheby's 1954 The Palace Collections of Egypt. The images are courtesy of BluCC Photos.
I read in the 1955 R.H. Bernie's book (Small CA and Territorial Gold Coins) on page 86 that an HK-1030 was sold in part of the Farouk sale. I'm wondering if it was part of Lot #371:
The item in question:
... and the notation in the Bernie book (on page 86):
The catalog is on the Newman Numismatic portal at: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/569077
It must be in the catalog somewhere since Bernie published his book.one year after the Farouk sale.
A So-Called Dollar and Slug Collector... Previously "Pioneer" on this site...
I remember being present at a conversation where one of the people who had been at the Farouk sale was talking about it. Apparently the bidders had all colluded before the bidding began that Bidder A would buy this lot and Bidder B would buy that lot and afterwords Bidder C would be allowed to buy coins x, y and z from Bidder A at this price, and so on. I doubt that Egypt got 5 cents on the dollar, net.
This is a great old thread. Thanks for recirculating it!
I have wanted to own a Farouk coin for about 10 years.
Not to hijack an old thread, but what are the best books / periodicals, if any, to learn more about The King Farouk Sale? I think it's potentially a fascinating microcosm of numismatic drama, "rich people stuff" intrigue, mafia-esque thematics, and general international mystery from what I have learned on my own.
Thanks for the revival - I miss seeing posts by Ed62.
Egypt got 5c on the $1 - and the problem is??
Very informative article.
Thanks for the input ! There were so many patterns in the sale/collection. .. @mattniss I ran across this info that may be of interest to you:
https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/11117/
A So-Called Dollar and Slug Collector... Previously "Pioneer" on this site...