NNP Blog

4 DECEMBER 2021

Thomas Elder Auction Catalogs on NNP

Thomas Lindsay Elder was one of the most prolific cataloguers in American numismatics, with 292 numbered sales to his credit, per Martin Gengerke. His auction catalogs cover the period 1903-1940, and Elder’s torrid pace was matched only by his terse descriptions. Elder’s ecomony of words once reduced an otherwise desirable 1907 high-relief Saint to three words: “kind won’t stack.”  Despite the brevity, John Adams gives the Elder catalogs high marks for breadth and quality of material. The Newman Portal has digitized the entire series, less a few stray issues. Many thanks to scanner John Graffeo (Internet Archive staff onsite at the American Numismatic Society) for patiently working through this extensive run. With the addition of a group of plated Elder catalogs, and Elder sale addenda previously loaned by Dan Hamelberg, this online collection will be a useful adjunct to the series descriptions by Martin Gengerke and John Adams.