ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER AND ANOTHER Público Deposited
The E-Sylum: Volume 7, Number 7, February 15, 2004, Article 10
ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER AND ANOTHER
Peter Koch writes: "We're still trying to nail down a copy of
Dr. George Hetrich's sale catalogue of Civil War and Hard
Times tokens held by little known Pennypacker Auctions in a
sale we thought took place in 1959. Dr. Hetrich was a
Pennsylvania-based physician who along with Julius Guttag
published a then definitive reference on American Civil War
Tokens in 1924.When the latest edition of EAC's (Early American Coppers)
Penny-Wise arrived last week we were delighted to see the
name 'Kenneth W. Rendell, South Natick, MA' among a
listing of candidates for new EAC membership. It got us thinking
- risky business, but turning the wheels has on occasion reaped
modicum benefit. We never really took a close look at one of
our winnings from the recent Kolbe 'wildfires' sale: Ken Rendell's
"A Descriptive List of an Outstanding Collection of Hard Times
Tokens," a Fixed Price List published, according to Kolbe, in
1957. The nicely executed 16-page saddle-stitched booklet set
the record straight: "the sale of the collection of Dr. Geo. F.
Hetrich was sold in 1954."This is our second copy of the Rendell FPL. Our first has been
long lost in darkness, interleaved no doubt in another book.
Here with this booklet we share a "collyeresque" moment with
our esteemed editor. (See E-Sylum: Volume 5, Number 52,
December 29, 2002)The assumption of the 1959 date was due in large part to
Pennypacker's sale of Leonard Holland's wonderful Large Cent
collection in 1959; a legendary sale that has been a delightful,
favorite adventure recounted over the years within the copper
community.So, to all the correspondents we've pestered, it's the 1954
catalogue, not the 1959.Really, the dates, 1959 or 1954, should make little difference
in searching for a catalogue, especially from a non-numismatic
auction house. Evidently, Pennypacker was a country auction
center specializing in furniture and the like. However, we suspect
correspondents searching our requests for the Hetrich catalogue
may have come up with only the 1959 Holland sale and
became frustrated not finding Hetrich and dropped out of
correspondence, or must have felt we didn't know what the hell
we were talking about.Much of this information would not be possible were it not for
George Fuld's eloquent E-Sylum recollection in
Volume 4, Number 24, June 10, 2001.For the interested HT specialist, the Rendell 1957 FPL featured,
indeed, an 'outstanding' collection of HT tokens. The specimens
were, and remain, among the finest known, captured early by
discriminating pioneer collectors Shumway, Bird, Tilden. A
number of these specimens eventually appeared in the Oechsner
collection sale held by Stack's in 1988; a catalogue whose
appearance seldom fails to command a premium. Many of those
specimens remain today in strong hands.A plea to anyone reading this: retain your original of the 1954
Pennypacker catalogue, a photocopy of simply the front cover
and the Hetrich listing(s) will be met with your premium ask and
our genuine thanks."- 2004-02-15
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