KOLBE SALE RESULTS Público Deposited
The E-Sylum: Volume 4, Number 42, October 14, 2001, Article 7
KOLBE SALE RESULTS
George Kolbe forwarded the following summary of results
from his recent sales of numismatic literature: "The 550 lots
of numismatic literature offered at public auction at the Long
Beach, California Coin Convention on October 6th, 2001
by George Frederick Kolbe/Fine Numismatic Books brought
a total of over $236,000. Lots 1-450 comprised the first part
of the John Bergman Library, and lots 451-550, issued in a
separate catalogue, consisted of "100 Rarities of American
Numismatic Literature."Thirty-five floor bidders, five telephone bidders, and over two
hundred fifty absentee bidders combined to make both sales
a great success. A few highlights follow:A superb set of Furtwängler's monumental three volume "Die
Antike Gemmen" sold for $4,400; an 1840 volume on French
medals of the "Trésor de Numismatique" in a fine binding brought
$1,650 on a $850 estimate; Hiram Deats' run of the first forty-
six volumes of the "American Journal of Numismatics" garnered
$9,900; The Charles Ruby Archive, a bound collection of some
5,000 letters and other items of numismatic interest dating from
the mid-twentieth century, drew the interest of two mail bidders,
two telephone bidders and at least one floor bidder and, after
spirited bidding from all quarters, sold for $24,200, well over
the pre-sale estimate of $15,000; a deluxe edition of Browning's
classic work on U. S. Quarter Dollars sold for $7,150, and an
example of the regular edition brought $3,960 on a $2,000
estimate; a great example of "Numismatica Americana," the
Chapman Brothers' Original Client Ledger, realized $4,180; a
superb leatherbound copy of George Clapp's classic work on
1798 & 1799 large cents opened at its estimate of $5,000 and
ended up bringing a world record price of $8,250; perhaps the
most sought-after lot in the sale, a superb first edition Yeoman
"Red Book," attracted over a dozen mail bids, and after
protracted floor bidding, brought an amazing $1,980, surely
another world record price.A limited number of copies of the two catalogues with a prices
realized list may be obtained by sending $25.00 to Kolbe. In late
November, the firm will participate in an important specialized
sale of rare and out of print numismatic books at
htp://www.sothebys.com, and their next regular numismatic
literature auction is scheduled for March 2002. Further details
are available at the Kolbe web site: http://www.numislit.com."[A few other notable U.S. items: lot 482, Thomas Elder
correspondence relating to "Plans for an Improvement of
United States Coinage", $300; lot 496, another group of
Elder correspondence with M. H. Bolender, $950; lot
509, J. Colvin Randall's complete set of Mason's Monthly,
$1300; lot 538, Plated H.P. Smith sale of the Maris
collection, $3800. -Editor]- 2001-10-14
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