Spink New York Auction

[Accumulator 52]

The auction is still running, but the pennies are done. I've never seen such a collection of proofs and rarities! I picked up a couple, but wish I had an unlimited budget today (don't we all). Did anyone else bid?

[pies 33]

Got blown away on what i looked at,hoping for better with the heritage

[Rob 3,152]

I stopped at 2200 on the 1c pattern (1088). It wouldn't have helped that the coin is slabbed as ex-Norweb, when it is not, as this will have increased the appeal to US buyers. The coin is as the provenance in Norweb, but is not that of the Norweb coin.

Edited January 14, 2014 by Rob

[Accumulator 52]

I looked at the 1c too Rob, but decided I'd rather add another penny to the collection instead.

In the end I bought the 1918H, as I've been struggling to find a good one and the price was very reasonable. I also bought the 1932 proof, for which I probably paid too much, but wanted to add to my 1934, 1935 & 1936 'run' (minus 1933, of course!). I've seen 3 other 1932 proofs, two impaired and a nice one ex Gregory. None of these are mine so I need to do some research!

In hindsight I wish I'd gone for the 1860 1* + C, F-8C but it was so early in the auction that I didn't have a feel for the bidding levels. I also spoke to another major collector in advance of the auction who was very keen on the coin so didn't want to outbid him. In the end he didn't win it either!

There were lots of bidders in the room, so presumably many US collectors: Bob or Gary among them, perhaps?

[Accumulator 52]

Got blown away on what i looked at,hoping for better with the heritage

Even the pre-auction prices for tonight's Heritage sale are top-end!

Spink's live bidding just about held together, though it was often delayed. Heritage still beats them hands down on that front.

[pies 33]

Im after the 1968 penny they have,got a high secret bid down as will be out of reach on the day,as they say got to be in to win

[RLC35 288]

I looked at the 1c too Rob, but decided I'd rather add another penny to the collection instead.

In the end I bought the 1918H, as I've been struggling to find a good one and the price was very reasonable. I also bought the 1932 proof, for which I probably paid too much, but wanted to add to my 1934, 1935 & 1936 'run' (minus 1933, of course!). I've seen 3 other 1932 proofs, two impaired and a nice one ex Gregory. None of these are mine so I need to do some research!

In hindsight I wish I'd gone for the 1860 1* + C, F-8C but it was so early in the auction that I didn't have a feel for the bidding levels. I also spoke to another major collector in advance of the auction who was very keen on the coin so didn't want to outbid him. In the end he didn't win it either!

There were lots of bidders in the room, so presumably many US collectors: Bob or Gary among them, perhaps?

I wasn't bidding against you this time...I was in Florida at the other show the same days. It might have been Gary though! Ha,Ha! Glad you hit on a few of them though!

[Accumulator 52]

I stopped at 2200 on the 1c pattern (1088). It wouldn't have helped that the coin is slabbed as ex-Norweb, when it is not, as this will have increased the appeal to US buyers. The coin is as the provenance in Norweb, but is not that of the Norweb coin.

You've done it again… your mention of Norweb got me thinking Rob! The 1986 Norweb sale, part 3, lot 1148 is described as: "Proof Penny, 1932, similar [i.e. as the previously described proofs in the catalogue] (BMC 2315; Freeman 419, dies 3+B [actually a mistake, as this is the reference for the halfpenny and this is in the penny section of the sale]. Two spots on reverse, otherwise brilliant mint state, toned, extremely rare. Bt. Empire Coin Co. 1964".

Unfortunately there's no photo in the catalogue, but here is the coin I just bought. Two spots on the reverse perhaps??

Edited January 14, 2014 by Accumulator

[Accumulator 52]

As a footnote, I managed to find something on Wikipedia regarding "The Empire Coin Co.", under an article on Quentin David Bowers:

In 1958, while still in college, Bowers teamed up with James F. Ruddy — the first of several partners to figure in his career — to form the Empire Coin Co. in Johnson City, New York.^[4] The company rode the crest of the mail-order boom in the early 1960s to become one of the nation's leading coin dealerships.^[4] In 1965, Paramount International Coin Corp. acquired Empire. Bowers left the coin business to indulge one of his other great passions: automatic musical instruments.^[4]

[Accumulator 52]

Im after the 1968 penny they have,got a high secret bid down as will be out of reach on the day,as they say got to be in to win

1968 penny???

[pies 33]

sorry typo 1868

[azda 979]

I bidded on the LCW under foot penny but dropped out after $1500, it went for $2100 hammer

[Accumulator 52]

I bidded on the LCW under foot penny but dropped out after $1500, it went for $2100 hammer

I bid too, but also dropped out as it was only EF

[azda 979]

I bidded on the LCW under foot penny but dropped out after $1500, it went for $2100 hammer

I bid too, but also dropped out as it was only EF

Maybe a certain ebayer with £12000 burning a hole in his pocket hoping to sell as UNC? Time will tell.

[Garrett 76]

Nice Penny AC, congrats !

[VickySilver 848]

Had to hold back with limited funds of late...

How did the 1869 and 1871 look, and how did they fare?

[Rob 3,152]

Had to hold back with limited funds of late...

How did the 1869 and 1871 look, and how did they fare?

The 1869 was quite a sharp strike, but I didn't like the quality of image which showed something that I wouldn't have been surprised to find had been cleaned. It was probably just the image processing, but I found it off-putting. I think they were 3250 and 2500(?) hammer.

Talking of images, what did people use. The saleroom only had the obverses and the on-line catalogue on Spink's site was crap. In the end they supplied a hi res pdf file an hour before the sale started, but it was touch and go. It also made eliminating potential lots pretty simple.

Another gripe is that Spink didn't give out advance notice of the sale to those that receive normal notifications. During the past few day there have been adverts in emails from Spink for share and bond certificates, or a wine evening celebrating China on the 17th - but nothing about coin auctions which I may just have been interested in. I only found out from GC yesterday who stumbled across it by accident on the saleroom. How did everyone else find out? Somebody needs to be shot for an appalling exhibition of coprorate negligence.

[VickySilver 848]

Thanks, Rob. I even received hard copy of the catalogue but it was no better. For some reason I am getting a backlog of 1871s that are very nice but just not quite there. For the '69 to go for that there must have been (a) problem(s) IMO...

Was peripherally interested in the 1962 proof as well but sometimes one has to play a bit conservative as I was saying.

[Rob 3,152]

Thanks, Rob. I even received hard copy of the catalogue but it was no better. For some reason I am getting a backlog of 1871s that are very nice but just not quite there. For the '69 to go for that there must have been (a) problem(s) IMO...

Was peripherally interested in the 1962 proof as well but sometimes one has to play a bit conservative as I was saying.

No catalogues were sent to UK customers, as I understand. It was ncessary to phone up a couple hours before the sale and with 2 hours to go to kick-off, hatch a plan to receive some hi-res images. Full credit to the guy who resolved it by getting the English lots into a pdf, but we weren't able to see them in any useful form until 20 minutes before the sale started. Given the second lot had an estimate of $25-30K and wasn't the only pricey item, you would have thought that they would go to the expense of a decent image.

[Rob 3,152]

You've done it again… your mention of Norweb got me thinking Rob! The 1986 Norweb sale, part 3, lot 1148 is described as: "Proof Penny, 1932, similar [i.e. as the previously described proofs in the catalogue] (BMC 2315; Freeman 419, dies 3+B [actually a mistake, as this is the reference for the halfpenny and this is in the penny section of the sale]. Two spots on reverse, otherwise brilliant mint state, toned, extremely rare. Bt. Empire Coin Co. 1964".

Unfortunately there's no photo in the catalogue, but here is the coin I just bought. Two spots on the reverse perhaps??

Good chance. Looks like two spots to me. It certainly isn't the Adams coin which was ex-Stacks 1997. You're lucky. I was on the verge of bidding on this out of boredom as it was definitely the best of the G5 proofs.

I'm also glad the hi-res images gave a chance to look at the KN, which had a diagonal mark across the knee and a small verd spot at 7pm. That was a simple decision. Still looking for a decent example.

Edited January 15, 2014 by Rob

[Accumulator 52]

Nice Penny AC, congrats !

Thanks!

Had to hold back with limited funds of late...

How did the 1869 and 1871 look, and how did they fare?

The 1869 was quite a sharp strike, but I didn't like the quality of image which showed something that I wouldn't have been surprised to find had been cleaned. It was probably just the image processing, but I found it off-putting. I think they were 3250 and 2500(?) hammer.

Talking of images, what did people use. The saleroom only had the obverses and the on-line catalogue on Spink's site was crap. In the end they supplied a hi res pdf file an hour before the sale started, but it was touch and go. It also made eliminating potential lots pretty simple.

Another gripe is that Spink didn't give out advance notice of the sale to those that receive normal notifications. During the past few day there have been adverts in emails from Spink for share and bond certificates, or a wine evening celebrating China on the 17th - but nothing about coin auctions which I may just have been interested in. I only found out from GC yesterday who stumbled across it by accident on the saleroom. How did everyone else find out? Somebody needs to be shot for an appalling exhibition of coprorate negligence.

I used the images on Spink.com, not the eCatalogue or pdf ones, but the images on the main webpage. These could be clicked-on and enlarged.

I agree that the notice provided by Spink was terrible. I had a feeling that many collectors could have missed the sale, though the bidding suggested otherwise. I discovered it by accident through the Saleroom too.

You've done it again… your mention of Norweb got me thinking Rob! The 1986 Norweb sale, part 3, lot 1148 is described as: "Proof Penny, 1932, similar [i.e. as the previously described proofs in the catalogue] (BMC 2315; Freeman 419, dies 3+B [actually a mistake, as this is the reference for the halfpenny and this is in the penny section of the sale]. Two spots on reverse, otherwise brilliant mint state, toned, extremely rare. Bt. Empire Coin Co. 1964".

Unfortunately there's no photo in the catalogue, but here is the coin I just bought. Two spots on the reverse perhaps??

Good chance. Looks like two spots to me. It certainly isn't the Adams coin which was ex-Stacks 1997. You're lucky. I was on the verge of bidding on this out of boredom as it was definitely the best of the G5 proofs.

I'm also glad the hi-res images gave a chance to look at the KN, which had a diagonal mark across the knee and a small verd spot at 7pm. That was a simple decision. Still looking for a decent example.

I'm lucky you didn't bid too then, though it went higher than I would have liked. It would be nice to confirm with an image of the Norweb coin, but I doubt I'll ever be able to find one. I feel fairly confident with the deduction though. I looked at the KN image and saw the dink. I also noted a couple of the other coins had nasty fingerprints. I still wish I'd gone for the F-8C, but isn't that always the way post auction!

[VickySilver 848]

Ah, yes, good work on this one AC. I pretty much have left the copper proofs alone, the same would not have been so a couple years ago...There was quite a lineup of Bun proofs, maybe as many as I've seen. There has really been quite a lot on sale this January!

At these prices, I think at least a few of us need to really cone down our collecting focus.

[TomGoodheart 403]

Another gripe is that Spink didn't give out advance notice of the sale to those that receive normal notifications. During the past few day there have been adverts in emails from Spink for share and bond certificates, or a wine evening celebrating China on the 17th - but nothing about coin auctions which I may just have been interested in.

Indeed. I've had four emails in the last day. Three about stamps. Did I tick the 'Stamps' box when I specified my interests? No, I did not. Nor did I specify coins of Hong Kong and China. Irritating.

And I tried to search the archives again today and found it as frustrating as when I emailed them about it a year ago. They seriously need to sort themselves out.

[HistoricCoinage 147]

Indeed. I've had four emails in the last day. Three about stamps. Did I tick the 'Stamps' box when I specified my interests? No, I did not. Nor did I specify coins of Hong Kong and China. Irritating.

Same here, it's rather tedious.

[Bronze & Copper Collector 413]

I have been inundated with bank note catalogues over the last year which holds no interest for me, which I never requested, and which must be costing them a tidy sum..

And nary a coin catalogue.