The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 46, November 11, 2007, Article 3

KOLBE NUMISMATIC LITERATURE SALE 104 RESULTS

[George Kolbe forwarded the following press release on
the results of his firm's 104th numismatic literature sale.
Bibliophiles can breathe a sigh of relief that the recent
California wildfires spared this inventory of rare works,
which will now be dispersed to collectors worldwide. -Editor]

Classic American coin auction sale catalogues were in great
demand in George Frederick Kolbe's 104th auction of important
numismatic literature, closing on November 1, 2007. The
sale featured the library of John Jay Pittman, Jr., and
nearly fifty other consignors. The highest price achieved
in the sale was $27,600, for a handsomely bound, very
fine set of the American Journal of Numismatics, estimated
at $20,000 [selling prices cited include the 15% buyer
premium; estimates do not].

One of the biggest surprises in the sale was a nearly
complete set of 153 Chapman brother auction sales, formed
mostly catalogue-by-catalogue over the past 25 years by
a dedicated numismatist. Estimated at a seemingly realistic
$8,500, five bidders competed for it strongly and it ended
up realizing $21,850, well over double estimate. Classic
plated auction catalogues set records, often selling for
double estimate or more. This reflects the entrance into
the market of a new generation of numismatic bibliophiles,
along with a renewed realization that the surviving
numbers of many nineteenth and early twentieth century
catalogues issued with photographic plates, especially
those of the Chapman brothers, are quite small.

A selection of sale results follows: a complete set of
the Numismatic Chronicle, 1836-1996, sold for $17,250;
Fulvio's 1517 Illustrium Imagines, the first illustrated
numismatic book, brought $8,050 on a $4,500 estimate; a
complete set of Sotheby's classic 1903-1904 Murdoch sales
realized $3,162; John Jay Pittman's very fine first edition
Red Book brought $2,587 on a $2,000 estimate; Howland
Wood's set of volumes 3-6 of The Numismatist, estimated
at $4,500, sold for $6,325; Elder's 1921 Gehring sale
with photographic plates realized $5,750 on a $5,000
estimate; George Fuld's plated 1890 Parmelee sale caught
the attention of many bibliophiles, five of them bidding
over the $1,750 estimate, eventually bringing $3,795;
Frank Van Zandt's unparalleled collection of 158 copies
of Evans' Illustrated History of the United States Mint,
1885-1901, sold for $6,900; and a complete set of B. Max
Mehl catalogues, formed by the same collector who assembled
the 153 Chapman sale catalogues, brought an impressive $8,050.

Kolbe's next sale is scheduled for March 2008 and will
feature a remarkable, virtually complete library of books
and catalogues on classical Greek coins, including all
volumes published thus far of the international Sylloge
Nummorum Graecorum. Other consignments are still being
accepted. Kolbe may be contacted at P. O. Box 3100,
Crestline CA 92325, telephone: (909) 338-6527, email:
GFK@numislit.com.

[If I'm reading the prices realized list correctly, I had
some successful bids in this sale.  I'll write up some of
my purchases in The E-Sylum.  -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

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