By David W. Lange – www.coincollectingboards.com …..
For Collectors of Antique Coin Boards
Number 40 — Fall 2016
DRY SPELL CONTINUES
Though I picked up a few boards for my own collection (see BOOK UPDATES below), there was very little in the way of items to place with my customers. A couple of pieces were sold to want lists, but nothing rare. I do, however, have a very good stock of first-generation (1939-50) coin folders, and I see this as great collecting area going forward. Write me if you have an interest in this mostly untapped field.
GONE HOLLYWOOD
The addition of the complete catalog of CBN issues to the Newman Numismatic Portal served to highlight my publication’s plain, homespun appearance, so I’ve dressed it up a bit with new illustrations and some color. Those of you who received a copy of CBN 39 subsequent to the original mass mailing saw a preview of the new look, as I redid that issue in the format seen here. In celebration of this upgrade, I’ve decided to make this 40th issue a bonus one, with extra text and illustrations.
MARKET ACTIVITY
The past quarter’s activity on eBay was mostly a replay of the same old story–common boards in so-so condition failing to sell unless they contained desirable coins.
There were a few exceptions, such as an Oberwise board for Early Nickels grading Fine or so that sold for $39.99. Yes, it did contain some low value coins, but the sale price reflected mostly the value of the board.
A trio of rare first printings from the Whitman Second Edition, these lacking a copyright date, sold for strong money. Each appeared to grade Very Fine, and though of common titles brought from $30-40 apiece.
Another lot included three Whitman Fourth Edition boards grading Fine and with some dustiness to their faces, but this was a fair purchase at $28.99 plus shipping.
An early printing of Lincoln Printing’s Early Nickel board grading Very Fine was offered at a low opening bid. I tried to secure it for resale at a slight advance, but I was bested by someone who offered $40. This was a real bargain for the buyer.
HOLDING PATTERN
Last quarter I announced that COINage Magazine was about to publish an article by [CoinWeek writer] Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez regarding the collecting of various kinds of coin holders, but it’s now uncertain when this will run. I was extensively interviewed for this piece in an effort to bring more attention to our hobby.
BOOK UPDATES
Several new board varieties have surfaced recently, and I’m pleased to say that most of these found their ways into my own collection.
It’s not often that I can report a new Kent board, but this time out we have two! K1¢A2a.3 has a beige backing but is otherwise similar to varieties a.1 and a.2. My book’s listing of K1¢A2b with its tan backing has been renumbered to K1¢A2b.1, while new variety K1¢A2b.2 has a beige backing. W25¢C2f is now W25¢C2f.1, since new variety W25¢C2f.2 has the second paragraph of the backing text expanded to entirely fill the last line, as on later printings of that title. Thanks to Donald Kocken for spotting this one.
New varieties of Oberwise boards are reported nearly every quarter, and the past few months have produced a bumper crop. O1¢Ax is similar to O1¢Aq in my book, aside from its “x” backing. O1¢Bu is now known in three sub-varieties: O1¢Bu.1 has mintages for two months of 1940, u.2 has four months, and u.3 has five months. O1¢Bx.4 is new with dates and mintages complete through 1944. Entirely new are O5¢Ax and O5¢Bd, the latter a rare, early printing of the Buffalo Nickel board having marbled face paper. The existing O5¢Cx.2 gets bumped to x.3 to allow for newly-discovered O5¢Cx.2 that has dates through 1945 and incomplete mintages through 1943.
BIO UPDATE
One of the frustrations of researching coin board publishers is that so little information has been found for Leiser W. Schnelling, who produced the beloved Colonial Coin & Stamp Company boards. I did recently learn, however, that he was released from military service on February 2, 1943, just over four months after enlisting. As a naturalized citizen from an enemy nation, I imagine he wanted to demonstrate his love for America, but at the age of 45 it’s likely that he was thanked and sent home as too old for boot camp.
VINTAGE COIN BOARD SIGHTINGS
I’ve come across two more appearances of coin boards in old photos published within The E-Sylum, the online newsletter of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society (NBS), and these are included with this issue of CBN. The first shows coin dealer William A. Gaede of the Pittsburgh Coin Exchange in a photo that originally ran in the May 1941 issue of The Hobbyist. On a shelf to his right are four Colonial Coin and Stamp Company boards. In the second photo, which dates to about 1979, Robert W. Cornerly poses behind his desk at Rare Coins of Georgia in Atlanta. On that desk is another CC&S board that is just barely identifiable as Eagle/Indian Cent board C1¢A2b. Here’s a link to The E-Sylum article: http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v19n32a16.html.
If you’re not reading this weekly newsletter you’re really missing out on the heart and soul of numismatic literary research and gossip.
RESEARCHING COIN BOARDS, FOLDERS AND ALBUMS
Since there’s almost nothing on these subjects published, aside from my own books and newsletters, attempting to learn more can be challenging. The recent arrival of easily searchable archives such as those of the Newman Numismatic Portal and the American Numismatic Association’s (ANA) journal, The Numismatist, does help considerably. Still, I have to do a lot of digging the Old School way by buying and reading vintage coin company catalogs and coin hobby guidebooks. These are time capsules into what coin storage products were available, who published them and how much they cost when new. This has proved to be more necessary in researching coin folders and albums than it was with coin boards, as the latter were in production for such a short time.
I’ve amassed quite a library of little paperback books of the sort that other collectors of numismatic literature disdain. For example, I came back from this year’s incarnation of the annual ANA book sale with a carton full of old catalogs that were purchased at 25 cents apiece from the “no one cares” pile. This hoard included long runs of the annual catalogs put out by Bebee’s in Omaha and Tatham Stamp and Coin Company in Springfield, Massachusetts. Both always featured coin holders and other supplies and have proved to be the richest sources of detailed information.
For example, the 1940 Tatham catalog included a full-page ad for Whitman’s Third Edition coin boards, though that company’s name was not mentioned. This ad is reproduced herein, along with a vintage postal cover from the company dating from the 1920s that I recently acquired.
Also included in this issue is a vendor stamp that appears on one of my recent coin board purchases. It’s a new one to me, and the list of known vendor stamps is now well over 100.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
…though just barely. My only coin show during the final quarter of 2016 will be the November 3-6 Whitman Baltimore Expo. Stop by the NGC booth to say hello, as I’ll have copies of my books for sale upon request.
–Dave
