FIFTH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE!
TIME FLIES Yes, it’s been five years since publication of my book Coin Collecting Boards of the 1930s & 1940: A Complete History, Catalog and Value Guide. This book changed board collecting forever, and our hobby’s profile has risen considerably as a result. What was once a very small group of individuals collecting in isolation and knowing little of what existed beyond their own collections is now a community. While this has reduced the chance of cherrypicking rarities, it is nonetheless something to celebrate. In recognition of this fact I’m raising the discount applied to board orders over $50 to 10% until the next newsletter is issued in 2013.
MARKET ACTIVITY The number of coin board offerings has risen somewhat since last quarter. As I write this a listing of seven nice boards has just concluded, with mixed results for the selection of Whitman boards but very strong prices for three choice Lincoln Printing Company boards which are rarely seen so fine. There have been no sightings of truly rare boards, but it’s good to see that high quality is being more broadly recognized by buyers.
After having enjoyed some success with my eBay store, I’ve had to close it for purely personal reasons. The coin boards and albums that were listed have been set aside for now, but I hope to resume either auctions or buy-it-now sales in the future. For now, Coin Boards for Sale Number 124 offers a nice selection of brands and titles. My own purchases of coin boards have been limited, due to my reduced travel schedule during summertime. The hoards that turned up with some frequency when I first began putting out lists seem to have dried up, though I occasionally acquire a dozen or so boards at a time. Aside from a few nice Colonial brand boards that I picked up recently, the current list includes primarily items I’ve had for awhile but have held back for just such a rainy day.
BOOK UPDATES In Coin Board News 23 I reported that Whitman Large Cent boards W1¢A2 and W1¢B2 each have just eight unprinted openings, when in fact my book is correct in putting the number at 10 apiece. In a similar situation I had reported in CBN 22 that Colonial brand board C5¢A2a exists with both Publication 1 and Publication 2, only to retract this statement in CBN 23. A reader advised me that he does have an example with Publication 1, yet neither I nor anyone I know has an example of C5¢A2b with 1937 copyright, and that listing is evidently an error in my book. Therefore, I’m reassigning Number C5¢A2a to the variety with Publication 1, while that having Publication 2 assumes the Number C5¢A2b. The varieties of Lincoln Printing Company boards seem to confuse everyone, including me. The latest error revealed concerns L1¢Bc.1, and my description of this variety omitted the fact that it was printed on the dark gray cardstock used for earlier varieties.
After having owned over a dozen examples of Whitman’s bound coin board albums I’ve come to realize that the selection of boards is too random to justify giving each assortment a separate catalog number. Therefore, varieties WBV1a, WBV1b and WBV1c are now consolidated into the single listing of WBV1, while WBV2.1a and WBV2.1b are consolidated into WBV2.1. Varieties WBV2 and WBV2.2 remain unchanged. Newly discovered board varieties are limited to the ever-rich field of J. Oberwise & Company this quarter, and the latest front/back pairings to surface are O1¢Av and O10¢Ax.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN My travel schedule has grown for the final quarter of 2012. First up is the ANA Money Show in Dallas, October 17-20. This is followed by the Whitman Expo in Baltimore, November 15-17, and the Houston Money Show of the Southwest November 29 through December 1. See you there …
Dave
David W. Lange POB 110022 Lakewood Ranch, FL 34211 941-586-8670 www.coincollectingboards.com
