13-07-2018 – 01-01-1970
150th Auction
Highlights of the John W. Adams Library
Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers are celebrating their 150th Auction by offering highlights of the extraordinary numismatic library formed by author and researcher John W. Adams on July 14, 2018.
Lot 28: David Proskey’s priced, named and plated auction room copy of the Chapman brothers’ Charles I. Bushnell sale.
The Adams Library includes one of the finest collections of American numismatic auction catalogues ever assembled. To give one notable example, Sale 150 will include every catalogue issued by Henry and Samuel Hudson Chapman. Every unplated catalogue will be offered, as will every published plated sale. This is the first time such an offering has been made. Exceptional runs of other cataloguers will also be featured, including complete or near-complete sets of the catalogues of Tom Elder, Lyman Low, William Hesslein, Ed Frossard, Ben Green, Charles Fisher, Wayte Raymond, J.W. Scott, New York Coin & Stamp Company, and others.
A few highlights include:
Lot 86.
Lot 86: the exceptionally rare 1919 S.H. Chapman William Sleicher catalogue with six plates.
Lot 127: Virgil Brand’s copy of Tom Elder’s extraordinarily rare J.B. Chase sale with photographic plates.
Lot 133.
Lot 133: Elder’s Sale 37 with three plates, apparently the first copy to be offered publically in the modern era.
Lot 212: a bound volume of Ed Frossard’s catalogues from the library of Bauman Belden, including plated copies of four of his sales.
Lots 252 through 255: a complete set of Lyman Low auction catalogues and fixed price lists, including the extremely rare 1885 Kingsford sale and the rare February 1885 catalogue with two photographic plates.
Lot 275: a finely bound set of New York Coin & Stamp Company sales including an exceptional plated Woodside catalogue.
Lot 289, 293 and 295: the bid books of all four W.W.C. Wilson sales held by Wayte Raymond between 1925 and 1928.
Lot 367: W. Elliot Woodward’s second Vicksburg sale with photographic plates.
Lot 340: the extremely rare plated 1917 Dr. French catalogue, the first plated copy we have ever offered.
While the focus of the sale will be on auction catalogues, a number of exciting books and periodicals will also be included. Of particular note are: an original copy of the very rare separate bound offprint of Edmund Slafter’s The Vermont Coinage, Bolen’s rare 1905 catalogue of his medals, cards and facsimiles; the very rare Bowers Coin Company Catalog of Rare United States Coins; a deluxe leatherbound copy of Howard Newcomb’s United States Cents of the Years 1801-1802-1803; the 1708 Act of Queen Anne regulating the value of coins in America; and an entirely complete set of the rare Canadian Antiquarian and Numismatic Journal.
The extensive, full-color catalogue is now available online. The sale will feature live online bidding using Kolbe & Fanning’s custom third-party online bidding platform. Printed catalogues will be mailed to established customers. Bidders wishing to make an appointment to view auction lots are invited to contact David Fanning via e-mail.
For more information, please see the Kolbe & Fanning website.