J A Bolen Collection
Grayjoseph
Posts: 8 ✭
Looking to find suggestions to market a collection of Bolen tokens I found in a small time capsule with provenance. Thanks !
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Ooh, very exciting! Pictures please?
Stacks has sold large groups of Bolen pieces in past sales. You might check with them.
I hope they weren't damaged in the time capsule. Do post photos.
A good suggestion would be to give us far more details so that the information you get might be more relevant.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Sadly, I cut through a few of the medals. It was a cornerstone of The Springfield Bank and the Springfield Republican newspaper. I salvaged a lot of the newspaper buried in the capsule, with dates. And, a handwritten note listing coins from Bolen. I will add some photos. Thanks
I have spoken with Andrew Bowers and met with him. They wanted me to put the collection on with no minimum bid and couldn’t guarantee anything. It made me nervous and I didn’t want it to go for low money.
https://www.wcvb.com/article/new-england-history-preservation-wampanoag-tapestry-found-time-capsule/45523229
Good first group of photos.
Some coin photos are out of focus, maybe because they were closer to the camera than it could handle.
The time capsule connection is interesting; the question is how much is that worth? The value of the tokens by themselves is reduced given that they are damaged by corrosion. Frankly, it seems to me that, given the condition of the tokens, it was generous of Stack's Bowers to make the offer they did, and you may regret not taking them up on that.
If you insist on setting your own price, it might be best just to list them on eBay as a buy it now. Given their condition, I would not expect them to sell at prices comparable to the undamaged examples that have sold at Stack's or Heritage, for example.
I agree with all points. It's a fascinating group, but fascinating doesn't necessarily translate into money and the corrosion definitely doesn't help either.
Don't clean anything. That would be much worse.
And I’ll mention that the last batch of Bolen material that sold earlier this year didn’t do all that well given the rarity of the pieces offered. You could tell the seller was a serious collector with a knack for completeness.
Probably way less interest in corroded pieces, provenance or not.
All due respect but that guy on the tractor reminds me of Darth vadors boss 😟
Now that I have seen the photos I suspect that you should have taken his offer. All of the tokens appear to have damage related to their long storage in the time capsule. (This was not unexpected.)
Andrew told me not to clean them. I don’t feel as if there are more than surface patina on the copper. The photos are terrible. I think the value is in the story I have researched and the complete package. I am not desperate to sell them , I just don’t want to let them go for two thousand dollars if that is the low bid. I would rather donate them to a museum of some sort. I have newspaper articles about the placement of the capsule, there is mention in Musante’s book about the capsule. He just didn’t know everything that was in the box. I will take better pictures.
The guy loading the cornerstone was a great guy. It was a driving rain and I went there to get an antique well cover and went home with the piece of brownstone as well. The thought was to carve something from the brownstone. It shocked me to hit the box, I had no idea. The stone seemed seam and crack free. They did such a great job concealing it in the stone.
Thanks for all of the comments. :-)
That is cool!
Based on the pictures I suspect the bid would be a lot lower than that, sorry.
It is a remarkable story but I think a collector will just see these as damaged tokens. The real historical value of the complete package would be to a museum or local historical society.
Perhaps you should investigate the possibility of donating to a suitable and willing institution.
What about sending them ATS for conservation? Worth it? 🤔
ANA LM
USAF Retired — 34 years of active military service! 🇺🇸
I agree with the post above. They should be in a historical society or local museum.
Could someone explain ATS for conservation? I am not familiar with that term. Thanks
Here are a couple of photos showing a note, written by Bolen, listing the coins. Look closely and you will see the mention of the
two Confederatios, the extreme spirits , Lincoln Malice towards none, die sinker, etc.
"ATS" = Across The Street = NGC
ATS = NGC, but with the context of restoration, it means NCS. I honestly think you'd be throwing good money after bad; an olive oil soak would probably be almost as effective, and you could round the price to 0 basically.
Here's the thing with historical finds like this.....and I've seen a number of them, dug from a riverbank, found in a tin can when pouring a foundation. Your potential pool of buyers is not going to find the story nearly as cool (or valuable) as you will. You're part of the story, so you see them in a light that no one ever will. You could probably send the lot of them to NGC and get your own labels that read "Plymouth Time Capsule" or "Mr. Brownstone" or something marketable like that. You might find a buyer for 2k, but realistically, you'd be fortunate to find that. You may enjoy having them encapsulated for your viewing pleasure, or you can just keep them for sentimental reasons. Sadly, small finds like this don't bring too much of an extra premium, especially when the coins are not preserved well. Large finds like SSCA, or Saddle Ridge, are large enough to be marketed and collected, but this novelty will probably have the most value in a display frame, hung on your wall.
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Its still nice to see things/stuff like this, it can prove interesting at times... Best wishes
Thank you everyone. It’s true , it is an unbelievable find for me. I am a stone sculptor, to find a treasure buried in a.block of salvaged brownstone is a gift from the stone gods.
I drove to CT from NH. New England’s Chronicle 5 did a great story on it. They still air it now and then. You can Google the episode or message me for the link.
I will most likely pursue a museum out of the Springfield MA area. I have four children, who gets it, ha ha.