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  1. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E32, Lot 198:

    UNITED STATES. Peace dollar, in fine chain mount with loop. 29.53 gm. 42 mm. 1925 S (San Francisco). Very Fine.

  2. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
  3. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    A39, Lot 339:

    A COLLECTION OF BRITISH MUSEUM REPLICAS. Two-hundred-twenty-nine electrotypes of the finest Greek coins from the British Museum holdings in a late 19th century bespoke cabinet.

    Robert Ready and his sons were seal makers hired by the British Museum in the late 1850’s to produce copies of some of the finest ancient coins in the British Museum. Using an electrotyping technique invented in 1838 they produced uniface replicas of actual coins in the Museum holdings. This electrotyping process is explained below. The Museum displayed these as well as making them available for purchase and for education.

    Barclay V. Head (1844-1914) began work at the British Museum at the age of 20 and ultimately became head of the Department of Coins and Medals. Among his extensive output of research and catalogs he summarized Ready’s work, publishing a Guide to the Select Greek Coins Exhibited in Electrotype in the Gold Ornament Room in 1872 and a subsequent edition (1880) that also included Roman Coins in Electrotype in its title. I believe the 1872 work was the basis for the numbering and layout of this collection. The latter edition is available as a reprint and we will include it with the set on request.

    The mahogany cabinet is 8 ½ inches deep, 9 inches wide, and 8 ½ inches high with brass handles on the sides and doors with a latch and key. The woodwork is of the highest quality with dovetail joints, pulls with different heads from Greek coins on them, and numbered tailor-fitted depressions in velvet lined drawers that conform to the size and shape of each piece. The coin replicas were purchased joined together from the Readys with “R R” stamped on the side across the seam. The set is exceptionally well preserved.

    The value of this set, $20,000 to $25,000, reflects the exceptional quality of this 19th century cabinetry and the fact that all the pieces are joined and intact from the era with the RR stamp on the edge, as well as recent prices Ready electros have achieved. Several years ago CNG sold “A Mounted Set of Twenty-six British Museum Electrotypes…each uniface with attached mounting pins…mounted on velvet-lined wood” for $3250. In November 2019 Baldwins of St. James’s realized a total equal to $17,000 for what they described as “A large collection of late 19th/early 20th Century electrotypes of ancient Greek and Roman gold silver and copper coins, most comprise separate obverses and reverses and are placed side-by-side in a deep front, stacking Lincoln mahogany cabinet (handles missing).”

     

     

    The Electrotyping Process:

    Invented in 1838, electrotyping involves coating a mold of the coin being duplicated in a conductive material, graphite, then connecting it to a wire and running a current through it while suspending it in an electrolyte solution along with a copper anode. The copper dissolves from the surface of the anode and is deposited on the conductive graphite. The final result is a uniface replica of one side of a coin, which was sometimes then joined to a copy of the other side and the edges smoothed to create a more accurate replica. The copper shell was also often gilt to represent silver or gold coins more accurately.

    Electrotypes were widely produced by Robert Ready and his sons for sale by the British Museum between 1859 and 1931, using examples from the Museum’s collection. Electrotypes were a popular display and educational product that, while convincing, are usually fairly straightforward to distinguish from the actual pieces by examining the edge for a seam, comparing the weight to an actual piece, or by a stamp of RR, R, or MB on the edge (which stand for Robert Ready, one of his sons, or the Latin name for the British Museum respectively).

  4. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
  5. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
  6. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
  7. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E18, Lot 168:

    GREEK COIN REFERENCE LOT (all hardcover except for the Hazzard volume).

    1. Ward, John. GREEK COINS AND THEIR PARENT CITIES. London. 1902. 464 pages. Brown cloth with embossed (silver) images of tetradrachm of Lysimachos and Syracuse. This is a major work in the history of numismatic books on Greek coins; heavily detailed with background and history as well as a catalog of coins, it has 22 high quality collotype plates. Minor foxing on end pages, boards tight but cloth separated along spine in back; inscribed: "To Sir Edward J Poynte Bart with the kind regards of The Author, John Ward. London 26 June 1902."

    2. Poole, et al. CATALOGUE OF GREEK COINS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, SELEUCID KINGS OF SYRIA. BMC volume IV. Standard reference, coins listing, 28 plates. Durst reprint--not the quality of the regular reprints but perfectly serviceable. As new.

    3. Hazzard, R. PTOLEMAIC COINS AN INTRODUCTION FOR COLLECTORS. 1995. 132 pages, card covers. A well illustrated background of the series. As new.

    4. Klawans, Zander. AN OUTLINE OF ANCIENT GREEK COINS. 1959. 208 pages. Whitman Publishing. Handbook size, a heavily illustrated overview of ancient Greek coinage; from the clear maps in the front through the guides to types and the coin images of rulers the book is an excellent introduction. Maroon cloth, covers a bit scuffed, contents generally fine.

  8. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E17, Lot 165:

    ENGLISH POST-1066 COIN REFERENCE LOT.

    1. Richard Lobel, et al. COINCRAFT'S 1999 STANDARD CATALOGUE OF ENGLISH & UK COINS 1066 TO DATE. Large format 741 page volume. The pricing is out of date but the extensive background research and listings not available elsewhere like the section on Hammered Patterns make this a particularly useful book. Hard cover. Fine copy.

    2. BRITISH COINS MARKET VALUES 2016. The latest edition of this 178 page price guide. Market analysis and price guide. Card covers. (Plus another early CMV, 1983; fascinating look at market and dealer changes)

    3. J. J. North. ENGLISH HAMMERED COINAGE. VOL. 2. EDWARD I TO CHARLES II. Spink 1960. First edition. 183 pages. 10 plates. Hardcover. Very Good to Fine copy. Cover has plastic protective film on it that is partly gone.

    4. Ken Bressett. A GUIDEBOOK OF ENGLISH COINS. 1982 publication. 144 pages. The mintage numbers are particularly useful. Card covers. Basically as new.

    5. Seaby and Rayner. THE ENGLISH SILVER COINAGE FROM 1649. Seaby. 1974. Well illustrated and detailed. 240 pages. Hardcover. Dust jacket. Fine copy.

    6. H. A. Seaby. An early cloth covered edition of the above work that uses careful line drawings rather than photographs to demonstrate the varieties. Very useful! Fine copy.

    7. STANDARD CATALOG. COINS OF ENGLAND. A 1982 edition and a 1999 edition provide an interesting contrast of the market. (2 books). Fine copies.

    8. Baldwin's. May 2012. THE BENTLEY COLLECTION. BRITISH MILLED SOVEREIGNS VOL. 1. 381 lots of the finest possible sovereigns. The catalog has extensive detail. As new.

  9. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
  10. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    E17, Lot 166:

    SCOTLAND, IRELAND, THE BRITISH WORLD REFERENCE LOT.

    1. Richard Lobel. COINCRAFT'S STANDARD CATALOG OF THE COINS OF SCOTLAND, IRELAND, CHANNEL ISLANDS & ISLE OF MAN. Large format hardcover 1999 publication. 439 pages. Extensive illustrations. A particularly detailed coverage of the series with much information not readily available elsewhere. Fine copy.

    2. Seaby. COINS AND TOKENS OF IRELAND. The first edition, small format, with information not found in any of the subsequent editions. Hardcover. 168 pages. Fine copy. Hard to find.

    3. Seaby. COINS AND TOKENS OF SCOTLAND. Same comments apply. 160 pages. Fine copy.

    4. Harris. A GUIDE BOOK OF MODERN BRITISH COMMONWEALTH COINS. Whitman. 1970. Useful overview. The listing of mintages is particularly useful. Hardcover. 125 pages. Fine copy.

    5. Spink. COINS OF SCOTLAND, IRELAND AND THE ISLANDS. Second edition. 2003. A single volume edition with updated valuations. Hardcover. 219 page. As new.

    6. Robert Friedberg. COINS OF THE BRITISH WORLD COMPLETE FROM 500 A.D. TO THE PRESENT. Extensively illustrated extensive coverage—a single volume reference that was published in 1962 and not reissued. Large format, hardcover, 210 pages. Near Fine copy, minor tears on the dust jacket. Useful historical notes, clear photos.

    7. Bowers and Ruddy (with Spink). February 1976. THE DUNDEE COLLECTION OF SCOTTISH COINS. 347 lots. A major named sale of an exceptional collection that launched a new interest and new price levels for the Scottish coin series. An essential catalog for anyone interested in Scottish coins. With prices realized. Generally fresh copy; the "perfect binding" is letting loose of the pages.

  11. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    A34, Lot 302:

    Six useful works including Betts on American Colonial.

    •Betts, C. Willys. American Colonial History. Contemporary Medals. 1970. 310 pages plus indexes. Quarto. Hardcover. Brown cloth with gold stamped title on front and spine. The standard reference for this series that has significant overlap with the British historical medal series. Fine copy.

    •Berry, George. Taverns and Tokens of Pepys London. Seaby. 1976. Hardcover. 140 pages plus Bibliography and Index. Extensively illustrated. Fine copy.

    •Davis, W. J. Nineteenth Century Token Coinage. 1904, 1969 reprint by Seaby. Large quarto. Dust jacket. 284 pages. 15 plates. The standard reference on the 19th Century series. Fine copy, minor wear and tear on the dust jacket.

    •Gavin Scott, J. British Countermarks on Copper & Bronze Coins. Spink. 1975. Hardcover. Dust jacket. 179 pages plus 10 plates. Standard reference for this series. Fine copy, minor tears on dust jacket.

    •Holland, S. Canal Coins. Baldwin. 1992. Card covers. 68 pages plus Index. Illustrated in text. As new.

    •Mays, James O'Donald. Tokens of Those Trying Times. 1991. Hardcover. Dust jacket. 248 pages including a complete reprint of the Dalton reference on silver tokens of the 1811-1812 period. Mays was a major collector of the series and provides the only extensive discussion of this short-lived issue of silver coins that I am aware of. As new.

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