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Provenance - Defining A Collection
MidLifeCrisis
Posts: 10,613 ✭✭✭✭✭
I love coins. Especially colonials. There are so many cool and interesting coins out there that I have to define ways to stay focused and limit what I buy. If I didn't, I'd go broke pretty quickly buying everything I liked. Or I would never be satisfied with what I had because there would always be another coin that caught my eye.
So I have set parameters to define my collection.
I chose pedigrees - more accurately, colonial era coins with a traceable provenance - because they give the coin a story; they give a human aspect to the coin that I find interesting; and coins with well known pedigrees are generally nicer - not always, but generally.
However, while I think pedigrees can be really cool and add an interesting aspect to a coin, the coin has to be great on its own. A pedigree cannot make a coin.
Just waxing philosophical on a cold December evening...
So I have set parameters to define my collection.
I chose pedigrees - more accurately, colonial era coins with a traceable provenance - because they give the coin a story; they give a human aspect to the coin that I find interesting; and coins with well known pedigrees are generally nicer - not always, but generally.
However, while I think pedigrees can be really cool and add an interesting aspect to a coin, the coin has to be great on its own. A pedigree cannot make a coin.
Just waxing philosophical on a cold December evening...
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Comments
I always enjoyed EAC. While I couldn't afford the coins, it was fun to see how far they could be traced back through all the storied collectors.
<< <i>Nothing better than original toned silver with a great provenance.
Got something specific in mind?
As a dealer in colonials, I always am on the lookout for pedigreed pieces for my inventory. Throughout the year I find a good amount where the pedigree has been lost to the collecting hobby. It always brings a smile when you find an non pedigreed coin on the bourse and get home only to find out it is from a well known collection or auction.
<< <i>I 100% agree with your statement here MLC. A pedigree, especially with early coins can enhance not only the coin itself but also the demand and appeal to a larger group of collectors. With colonials, it is always nice to feel, as an example, that John Garrett and Edward Maris also liked a New Jersey copper enough to own it themselves and now you own a piece that they cherished as well. >>
I've always thought similar to this...if a very wealthy, accomplished, and knowledgeable collector like Emery Norweb, John Work Garrett, John Roper, or John Ford liked a coin well enough to keep it in their collection - considering they usually had their pick of most coins out there - then it's probably a great coin that would go well in my collection too!
<< <i>Throughout the year I find a good amount where the pedigree has been lost to the collecting hobby. It always brings a smile when you find an non pedigreed coin on the bourse and get home only to find out it is from a well known collection or auction. >>
Right there with you NER and such discoveries make the hunt doubly rewarding.