A Warm Welcome!
Welcome to our main catalog of American coins, tokens, and medals for the 2019 World’s Fair of Money. This is a companion to our Rarities Night catalog that showcases individual items. Another catalog features the Anthony J. Taraszka Collection of 1795 to 1804 eagles—a unique offering in American numismatic history.
The present catalog has something for everyone—or close to it. Whether you are adding to a specialty you already pursue or are contemplating a new one, there are many opportunities.
As also mentioned in our Rarities Night catalog, this ANA sale is déjà vu, as not once but many times over as we have offered many ANA sales. Our first was held in 1939 and included this introduction:
To the collectors attending the A.N.A. Convention;
We extend to you a most cordial welcome, and we sincerely hope that your visit here will be both enjoyable and profitable to you.
A visit to our store would be advantageous as well as interesting to you. See our collections of coins of the world in all metals. Browse around in our library. Chat with our foreign and ancient coin experts.
You will enjoy the atmosphere of America’s Finest Coin Shop located in the heart of the city.
Our 1939 catalog is a classic collectible today. Finding one can be a challenge. If you would like to see it, you can find it on our website StacksBowers.com for free in our virtual catalog library, where we have digitized past auction catalogs dating back to 1935.
Today in 2019 our coin gallery at 123 West 57th Street, New York City, is as inviting and friendly as ever. Perhaps stop in on summer vacation or business travels.
A Special Welcome to a Special Catalog
This is a collectors’ sale encompassing colonial, federal, and related coinage from the early days down to the modern era. You will find rarities here, as well as many affordable and entry-level coins, all cataloged with care. In the present Internet age high-resolution photographs are worth more than words or, shall I say, add even more information to the words.
If you would like a prescription to extend your numismatic longevity, here it is:
Start a specialized collection in a series that requires immersion and study. The Zeitz Americana Collection includes early Indian Peace medals. Read the descriptions carefully. If your interest is piqued and if your bank balance can afford it, bid on one or two. If you are successful, then learn more about its history through books or on the Internet. Any Peace medal has enough history to merit an essay!
I have consigned items from two of my favorite collections: Hard Times tokens and encased postage stamps. Again, any specimen can open the door to learning a lot more. Both series offer items that are very affordable as well as seldom-seen classic rarities.
From coins of colonial America, to early copper half cents and cents, to later small cents, to two-cent and three-cent pieces you will find many opportunities. The same goes for silver coins from the 1790s down through the Capped Bust, Liberty Seated, Barber, and later series such as Mercury dimes, Standing Liberty quarters, and Walking Liberty half dollars.
Morgan silver dollars from 1878 to 1921 are far and away the most popular early series to collect. Of the nearly 100 major dates, mintmarks, and varieties listed in the Guide Book, over half of them can be obtained in Mint State for no more than several hundred dollars. Peace silver dollars from 1921 to 1935 are another favorite series.
Forming a type set of gold coins is an enjoyable challenge, made even more interesting if you buy a few books on the various series. In my opinion owning a coin is worth one point and knowing its art, history, and romance is another. Put one and one together and, in this case, you get three!
Cherry picking, or numismatic treasure hunting, is a lot of fun. Our images on the Internet are almost like seeing coins in person. Remember: certified grade is only part of the desirability of a coin. Sharpness of strike and nice eye appeal can be just as important. With this in mind, if you work on a new specialty, take time to select the coins in our sale that are just right for you.
After the World’s Fair of Money ends, our Internet sessions offer still more opportunities.
Plan to Participate
We invite you to come to the ANA World’s Fair of Money and participate in this and our other auction sessions. In the lot viewing area examine some coins, tokens, medals, or paper money that you do not collect now, but might in the future. You may be inspired to start a new specialty, as mentioned above.
The World’s Fair of Money includes many exhibits and programs as well as meetings of specialized societies. Thursday features meetings of the Medal Collectors of America, the Token and Medal Society, and the Civil War Token Society, including the afternoon “Ask the Experts” program, a reprise of the event that was such a success last year. Check the convention schedule for ideas.
If you want to track me down, you can find me by checking with Stack’s Bowers Galleries in the bourse area or in lot viewing. You’ll also find me at the Whitman Publishing display where I can personally sign any books. Whether you are a teenager at your first ANA convention (as I was in 1955) or whether we’ve known each other for 50 or 60 years or more, it would be a delight to talk with you. The topic can be of your choice—from current numismatic events or to something more serious, such as discussing the presentation of your coins, tokens, medals, or paper money in a future Stack’s Bowers Galleries sale.
If you plan to stay at home, you can be “here” in virtual reality by bidding and buying on the Internet. It is easy to do, and thousands of our clients participate in this way.
Appreciation
As you peruse this and our other World’s Fair of Money catalogs you will see the efforts of the entire Stack’s Bowers Galleries organization. We’ve been working for many months on our presentations—often going far beyond date, variety and grade. In fact, we started last year. What I like to call our Dream Team of experts has been as busy as ever.
In what may be a perfect scenario, our consignors enjoy their relationship with Stack’s Bowers Galleries as well. Although we are enthusiastic when we seek coins and collections, once a consignment is in-house that is where our efforts really begin. This works well for sellers as well as for us. Often, when a consignor sends us coins, tokens, medals, or paper money and then views the results of the sale, additional items are sent our way. I mention this in detail in my introduction to the Rarities Sale.
All of us are fortunate that the coin market is dynamic, that there are many players, and that the field is so diverse that no one person can know everything. New opportunities always beckon.
I and other members of the team look forward to the convention itself—the most important of the year.
Thinking of Selling?
As you read these words I and other team members are planning the balance of our 2019 auction season (filling fast) and the great events scheduled for 2020, with some planning even further ahead. The Whitman Coin & Collectibles Expos in Baltimore are three of the most dynamic shows of the year. If you act quickly you can consign to the next one, coming up fast in November. In addition to regular attractions, the Colonial Coin Collectors Club will have its annual meeting—well worth investigating.
Looking ahead to 2020, another rarities-spangled year of public auctions is in the offing but with, I hasten to say, countless popular and affordable coins, tokens, medals, and paper money as well. Our Internet sales are also an important venue and have been very popular. In recent years I have consigned a lot of my tokens, medals, and counterstamps to the Internet sales, with great results. More are on the way!
Are you thinking of selling? Then think of Stack’s Bowers Galleries. If you carefully consider the matter, there is no other logical choice. Our record dates back to our first sale in 1935 and our first American Numismatic Association convention sale in 1939, as mentioned above. Since then we have handled thousands of collections from modest in size to the greatest and have had an unequalled record of success. The dynamism continues: we currently hold the records for the most expensive coins ever sold at auction worldwide and the most valuable collections ever auctioned. More is to come!
Whether you have some choice and interesting duplicates, sets, or series to sell or whether you have a great collection laden with rarities, I and our Dream Team would like to hear from you. Just call 800-458-4646 (West Coast) or 800-566-2580 (East Coast) to speak with a consignment specialist.
My best wishes to you,
Q. David Bowers
