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Numismatic Bookie: Three auction catalogs, three centuries

Joel S. Orosz writes in his “Numismatic Bookie” column about three numismatic auction catalogs, issued in three different centuries. Joel writes, “Remarkably, however, the careers of the three men associated with them as collectors and dealers form an unbroken line covering nearly all of American numismatic history, beginning in the 1850s, and continuing to the present.”

He begins with a collection formed by Joseph Napoleon Tricot Levick, sold at auction in 1859 by Edward Cogan; switches to a catalog formed by B. Max Mehl of the Frederic Geiss Collection, held in 1947; and finishes with the 2002 auction by Bowers and Merena, cataloged by Q. David Bowers.

Levick was still active when Mehl got his start in the hobby, and a young Bowers interviewed Mehl in the 1950s. 

Joel concludes, “J.N.T. Levick, B. Max Mehl, and Q. David Bowers have far more in common than the use of initials in place of their first names.” To read more, see his column, found only in the print and digital editions of the Nov. 19 issue of Coin World.

The Joys of Collecting: A great time to collect

“Now is a great time to collect coins, tokens, medals, and paper money,” writes the aforementioned Q. David Bowers in his “The Joys of Collecting” column in the same issue of Coin World, adding, “Although price levels are down in many series since the market high in August 2013, the market is very strong — this being an introduction to this week’s commentary.”

Lower prices mean that some double eagles are priced at levels not much above their bullion value, he writes, stating, “never before in American numismatic history have common-date double eagles been so cheap.”

David also examines the year’s biggest coin shows, including the recent American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money in Philadelphia.

To learn more why he thinks 2018 is a great time to collect coins, read David’s column in the Nov. 19 issue.

Varieties Notebook: What collectors are finding

“For collectors of die varieties, the Lincoln Memorial cents remain a very fertile hunting ground,” writes John Wexler in his newest “Varieties Notebook” column. 

He profiles three different Lincoln cents, two with either a doubled die obverse or a doubled die reverse, and a third piece bearing a raised dot adjacent to the FG initials on the reverse that vaguely resembles a period. “Major die varieties have been found throughout the series,” he writes.

However, the column does not focus exclusively on Lincoln cents. For good measure, he shares a reader’s Kennedy half dollar with a doubled die obverse.

To read more about what other collectors are finding, see John’s column, exclusive to the print and digital editions of Coin World.