NYINC 2017 or Something haRasha This Way Comes

harasha

Attended the Thursday and Friday sessions.

As usual, I made my first stop, on Thursday, at Donald Young’s table and as usual, he was not yet set up completely. As usual, he apologized and even suggested that I visit other medal dealers. I assured him that I would be back, nonetheless.

My usual second stop is the Baldwin’s table. They had brought in two trays of medals, which they do not usually do. I perused their inventory and singled out two medals for further consideration. I also spotted something that might have interested Zohar. More on that in a few moments.

I did ask the Baldwin’s crew about possible winnings at The New York Sale. They pointed me in the correct direction and there I went. Much to my chagrin, I discovered that my bid sheet had not been forwarded to the correct person. Much to his chagrin, he discovered that otherwise my bid would have been the high bid on some items. It turned out that on two items, there could be some resolution. I want to give a special shout-out to Glenn Onishi of the Goldberg firm. He was exemplary in the effort to make things right. I never paid too much attention to Goldberg auctions, but but henceforth I will take notice.

Shortly thereafter, I ran into Zohar who greeted me earlier in the show. I advised him of my findings at Baldwin’s, but he already had seen the item. Nevertheless, it gave me another opportunity to exchange thoughts with a valued counselor.

Peter Jencius had snagged me earlier, recognizing me as an ongoing customer. He wanted me to check out two new medals, one commemorating Mother Theresa and the other for the Holy Year. I have a fairly narrow interest in papal medals and neither fit the bill. However, I did purchase three.

The first was one I had seen before, but in poor condition. This was a later cast of a 1605 medal, from the papacy of Leo XI. The reverse is a dead lion surrounded by bees. De Forti Dulcedo. See Judges 14:14, Samson’s Riddle.

The second is an early cast of a Pius II medal. On the reverse is a rendition of the proverbial pelican feeding its young from its own blood.

The final medal is relatively recent; year 11 of Paul Vi. I purchased it because of the depiction of horses in a very fluid scene; St Paul’s conversion.

I then spent the remainder of Thursday scouting the vendors. I viewed several interesting items, but nothing motivating enough to purchase. I returned to the Baldwin table, deciding to purchase the aforementioned medals.

The first medal is a double taler sized city view from Basel. I do not find city views, in themselves, interesting, though this one is exceptional. What attracted me was the awesome reverse, a basilisk holding the Basel coat of arms. Didn’t see Harry Potter anywhere, though.

The second medal was a Croker Queen Anne. Now normally, the Croker medals, in my opinion, tend to be rather pedestrian and ubiquitous. However, this one, in hand, has a particularly sharp portrait. More importantly, I found the reverse fascinating. It depicts Her Majesty, presumably in her role as head of the Church of England. A congregation of bishops kneels before her.

Friday - For this NYINC, I had three goals, in particular. I was looking for items depicting St. Martin. I wanted an 8 reales of Ferdinand VI as an exemplar for my type set (curse you, Boosibri, for expanding my interests in Spanishi Bourbon). Finally, I wanted to fill up spaces in my west Black Sea Greek/Provincial set.

I did not get anywhere Thursday and Friday, regarding St. Martin. An ancient coin dealer with whom I like to deal was absent on Thursday. As for the 8 reales, I only did a general survey of dealers on Thursday. So, Friday was to be the big day.

First I returned to Donald Young, who now had his medals on display. First, I picked up a tchotchke, a modern Scottish gaming token from Glasgow. Not for me, but for a coworker who originally came from Scotland.

The second medal is a Dutch piece in the classical style, honoring a Bernardus Blok. Dated 1785, the medal is production of J G Holtzhey.

I checked out Mexican Coin Company, but they had no 8Rs of Fernando VI. Mike Dunigan had a few, but out of my league. No Fernandos for me, I guess.

I met Josephus in the hallway. Shortly thereafter, Zohar and TwoKopeiki came by. After listening to TwoKopeiki talk about that fabulous 1815 Mexico 8R, I decided to fill up two other holes in my 8R type set. Came away with a 1791 Carlos IV and a 1811 Fernando Armored Bust. I guess there was a Fernando in my future, just a different type.

Came across Nap who, I think, was looking for EVP. While we were chatting, I spotted Frank Robinson, in the flesh! Big excitement for me and got to shake his hand.

Caught up with Nemesis Ancients, sweating to arrange his stock. Picked up a decent small bronze from Bizya and a very nice bronze from Tomis. I ended up buying two bronzes from Deultum. I had found a nice AE23, but there was this exquisite AE18 that I just could not resist.

Two more stops to go.

The Schulman table finally was accessible. Much to my chagrin, there was little to speak of, as far as medals were concerned. I picked up an attractive token from Harlem. Looked like it had been varnished, at some point.

Finally, there was this one item that I had my eye on, since the beginning of the show; a 1621 Schaffhausen taler, from Sincona. As is usual for these early 17th century pieces, it is not in the best shape, but for my purposes, quite suitable. I inadvertently annoyed them, I think, by constantly referring to the ram as a goat. I don’t know why I did that. For some reason, I had goats on my mind. Also, they seemed kind of miffed that I did not have a greater interest in Swiss numismatica. Oh well.

So endeth the 2017 NYINC, for me. Pax vobiscum.

Yorkshireman

Great narrative. I thoroughly enjoy hearing of other's adventures on a bourse.
I am trying to expand my knowledge of international material, specifically British, Canadian and Latin America.
Maybe I will get to meet you guys next year (or even in Chicago in April).

TwoKopeiki

It was great to meet you in person, Harasha! Awesome write up and congrats on your purchases! Was the 1791 an AU with a nice sheer luster from, I believe, Sedwick? And good luck on your hunt for a nice Ferdinand VI. Have you checked out the upcoming Cayón and Aureo sales?

harasha

Nah. The 1791 is pretty ordinary; good for a type set that I am building. AU 58.

Nap

Was nice to see you harasha, sorry we didn't get to chat more yesterday but I see you fairly regularly at the local club meeting.

Glad to hear you had a good show.

Iosephus

It was good to see you yesterday, Harasha. I look forward to you posting the Pius II medal.