By David W. Lange – www.coincollectingboards.com …..
For Collectors of Antique Coin Boards
Number 44 — Fall 2017
SHOPPING TIME!
Fortune shined on my enterprise during the past few months, and I’m once again able to include a new list of coin boards for sale with this newsletter. Quite a few nice Colonial Coin & Stamp Company boards were acquired during the ANA Convention in Denver. A couple of these have already been placed with want list customers – including a very rare board for Commemorative Half Dollars, Lange Variety C50¢B2a. In the past I’ve had duplicates of that title only within Publisher-Bound binders, and it was a rare treat to sell a single.
MARKET ACTIVITY
There were more than the usual number of eBay coin board offerings this past quarter. Most were unremarkable, and many are still trying to find buyers month after month. These include two of the three Oberwise Mercury Dime boards described in CBN #43. Both are nearly filled, and this has put their cost well beyond the value of the boards themselves. Other Oberwise boards containing partial sets have been offered recently. These would have sold handily a couple years ago, but the downturn in the coin market has made people rather stingy. For those of us seeking only the boards, this is a frustrating development.
Among the better listings was a nine-piece lot of Whitman Second Edition boards that included one for Large Cents 1826-57, as well as two examples of the Two-Cent, Nickel-Three-Cent board. This was a very nice lot that I attempted to buy for inventory, but it sold for one increment above my bid of $120. A different listing for the scarce Two-Three-Cent board was bought by me for a mere $24.99, and it turned out to be nice enough that I just squirreled it away within my own collection. One seller offered a partially filled example of Lincoln Printing Company’s scarce board for Early Nickels. This had some adhesive residue within the openings to retain the Shield Nickels (which had been removed), and it sold for $35.
BOOK UPDATES
Surprisingly, there have been no new varieties reported since CBN #43, but I did learn more about a board that was illustrated in my book as one of the “mavericks”–boards of unknown origin.
During June’s ANA Summer Seminar, in which I taught my usual class on USA Type Coins, I had an opportunity to poke around former ANA President Ken Hallenbeck’s “man cave”. I came across several examples of the bright yellow board for World War II OPA Tokens and purchased two of them. One proved to be slightly different from the piece in my book, and it’s illustrated here. I’ve had a number of persons ask me whether I had a duplicate for sale, and now I do. In talking to Ken, he informed me that this board was produced by Joe Lawonde of North Plainfield, New Jersey in the early 1970s.
READY FOR MY CLOSE-UP
The Denver ANA Convention was a whirl for me, with numerous after-hours commitments and two video segments in which I was featured. The one of interest to readers of Coin Board News was done for CoinWeek. I sat down at the NGC booth for an interview conducted by CW Editor Charles Morgan, who wanted to know what this coin board hobby was all about. I brought along some of my rarest boards to display, including the unique Oberwise board for half dollars.
GIVE TIL IT HURTS
Actually, it didn’t hurt at all to donate a nicely framed, partial set of Lincoln Cents in a high-grade Oberwise board to the ANA Silent Auction fundraiser, conducted as part of the annual award banquet. This used to hang in my office at NGC. The bidding was up to $250 the last time I looked, but I don’t know the final result. Thanks to Charmy Harker (The Penny Lady) for the attached photo of this auction lot.
COIN BOARD EPHEMERA
Speaking of Joseph Oberwise, in 1938 he produced a very rare series of coin checklists for buyers of his premium card boards, and I’m including a selection of examples from my collection. Also illustrated is an ad for Whitman boards from the February, 1938 issue of The Hobby Reporter.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
My calendar is a bit light this quarter without my usual journey to Long Beach, but I anticipate being at the November 9-12 Whitman Baltimore Expo. This is one of the better shows around, and many of its regular attendees know me as the go-to guy when they have boards or albums to sell. Please visit my eBay store at Cagemast Coin Boards and Albums.
Best Regards,
—David W. Lange, coincollectingboards.com
The author’s desktop, featuring Gramercy coin boards as his computer wallpaper. Photo courtesy David W. Lange
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