From QDB's book: Taking several DAYS to catalog a single auction lot-- is that for a bygone era and
Longacre
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I was taking a look through QDB's new book on Investing in Rare Coins. In the introduction he gives a pretty impressive summary of the collections that he has had a part in, as well as the major rarities that he has either sold or helped broker. In discussing how interesting the obscure coins are, he indicated that as part of his cataloging of the Virgil Brand collection, he spent several DAYS cataloging a single lot. This lot consisted of three different designs of Washington "Seasons" medals which were struck in the late 1790s. They were supposedly used by western explorers to give to Indian chiefs. QDB indicated that he pieced togehter information in old auction catalogs, out of print works, and government records to write a little essay on these medals. Does anyone know:
(1) How rare are these medals? Are they similar to the Jefferson Peace Medals that ANR auctioned relatively recently?
(2) Are the days of spending several DAYS cataloging a single lot a thing of the past? I get the impression that consignments come in the door "fast and furious" and need to be written up and described rather quickly.
(3) Because of the plethora of research material available today, is it just not realistic to have to spend DAYS researching something? Does a nano-second search on Google do the trick?
(4) Today, would the Senior Cataloger hand the Junior Cataloger a pink slip, if Junior indicated he would take a few days to catalog Lot #123?
(1) How rare are these medals? Are they similar to the Jefferson Peace Medals that ANR auctioned relatively recently?
(2) Are the days of spending several DAYS cataloging a single lot a thing of the past? I get the impression that consignments come in the door "fast and furious" and need to be written up and described rather quickly.
(3) Because of the plethora of research material available today, is it just not realistic to have to spend DAYS researching something? Does a nano-second search on Google do the trick?
(4) Today, would the Senior Cataloger hand the Junior Cataloger a pink slip, if Junior indicated he would take a few days to catalog Lot #123?
Always took candy from strangers
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
0
Comments
OK, your 4 questions:
1) Seasons medals are rare, with a mintage of (if memory serves) 200 in copper and 500 in silver. I'd say they are similarly rare today. A rough guess -- maybe there are 50 or 60 of the things in both metals today? Perhaps even a bit higher, but many are in museums. They were produced in Washington's second term but are probably best associated with Lewis and Clark, who were known to have distributed them. More in Prucha's work in Indian Peace medals. In terms of value, Jefferson medals go for vastly more -- but they are rarer, more iconic, bigger, and always silver.
2) No. I spent more than a day on the 1793 Strawberry Leaf and probably a few other pieces here or there. There were a few Eliasberg pieces that took a full day. In general, you're right when you say lots get catalogued pretty quickly and in long hours over a short period of time. But some things deserve the extra effort, for the sake of the object if not to add to the bottom line.
3) If I went to the National Archives, or the ANS, or even a regular old library, every time I wanted to you'd have day-long descriptions on all sorts of things. I could easily spend a full day (or more) at ANS researching one pedigree, or a full day at the NatArchives to look up even one letter telling me what a lifesaving medal was awarded for. You do the best you can with the time you have. Google is helpful but those who see it as the be-all of research will end up looking like fools. Garbage in, garbage out -- google should be better used for finding real sources than for finding the right answer. Some things are exceptions, like identifying obscure historical characters. Using google to triangulate the identity of some guy named Benajai Morris allowed me to pinpoint when a document was written and where.
4) There is occasional pressure to not spend oodles of time cataloguing some lower value things, sure. But you do the best you can in the time you have. Some obscure things literally end up getting more cataloguing than they're worth, and some other items get catalogued right up to the point of "we don't know, but we suspect the winning bidder will have fun researching this."
Baseball players leave stats, parents leave children, contractors leave houses, and cataloguers leave catalogues. Sometimes a long night of writing beats looking back on something really great you only got to write up once and thinking you could have done a better job with it.
Betts medals, colonial coins, US Mint medals, foreign coins found in early America, and other numismatic Americana