Kolbe & Fanning
Auction 164 27 Aug 2022
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Elder's Lawrence Sale, with All 22 Plates
Elder, Thomas L. CATALOGUE OF THE IMPORTANT COLLECTION OF RARE COINS AND MEDALS FORMED BY THE LATE DR. GEORGE ALFRED LAWRENCE, OF NEW YORK. FINE AND RARE ANCIENT, MEDIAEVAL AND MODERN GOLD, PLATINUM, SILVER AND BRONZE COINS AND MEDALS... New York, June 26-28, 1929. 4to, original gilt-printed cream card covers. 107, (5) pages; 11 blank leaves interspersed throughout the text; 1544 lots; 22 superb photographic plates, loosely accompanying. Original printed prices realized list laid in; partly hand-priced in black ink with some buyers' names. Catalogue covers a bit worn and dusty, very good or better, accompanied by a fine set of plates. Adams 222, with plates. Rated A+ overall: "Biography of Lawrence. Superb ancients. Outstanding medieval: Anglo-Saxon, coins of the Crusades. Definitive Maltese. Siege pieces. Baltimore shilling, 6 pence. Perhaps best territorial gold ever: 1850, 1851 Baldwin $10; Gem Humbert 1851 $50 (3); Kellogg's own 1855 $50; Mass. & Cal. $5; Schultz $5; superb fractionals; Cal. gold notes." The Deluxe Special Quarto Edition, with the full complement of 22 fine photographic plates. A perplexing Elder production. Often, plated copies come with only one or two specialized sections of the plates, rather than all of them as here; there are also at least three different varieties of the text; and even the prices realized list comes on regular and thick paper. Four of the superb photographic plates depict ancient Greek and Roman coins; nine illustrate English and European coins; one depicts American colonial coins; and the remaining eight plates illustrate American pioneer gold coins. A well-known neurologist, Lawrence wrote a number of books on the topic. His coin collection was remarkably varied but is best known for its outstanding collection of California and other pioneer gold coins. Elder explains the reason for this predilection in his introduction: "The late Dr. George Alfred Lawrence was born at Lawrence, California, a settlement named for his ancestors, on June 6th, 1869. As California was the principal seat of the coinage of private gold issued between 1849 and 1855, it was natural that the Doctor should specialize in the American Private Gold Coinages." Plated copies of the Lawrence catalogue have long been desirable and are infrequently obtainable. As noted previously, a number of private gold pieces feature the buyer's name, in all but one case "Chap[man]," who was a busy man that day. An interesting note accompanies lot 1384, the 1849 Massachusetts and California Company $5.00 in gold: "$7900. Chapman. Record for am American Coin at Auction." Davis 370. Fanning, Ancient Coins in Early American Auctions, 39. Ex Kolbe Sale 107, lot 82; ex Cardinal Collection Library.
(Estimate: $1500)
Elder, Thomas L. CATALOGUE OF THE IMPORTANT COLLECTION OF RARE COINS AND MEDALS FORMED BY THE LATE DR. GEORGE ALFRED LAWRENCE, OF NEW YORK. FINE AND RARE ANCIENT, MEDIAEVAL AND MODERN GOLD, PLATINUM, SILVER AND BRONZE COINS AND MEDALS... New York, June 26-28, 1929. 4to, original gilt-printed cream card covers. 107, (5) pages; 11 blank leaves interspersed throughout the text; 1544 lots; 22 superb photographic plates, loosely accompanying. Original printed prices realized list laid in; partly hand-priced in black ink with some buyers' names. Catalogue covers a bit worn and dusty, very good or better, accompanied by a fine set of plates. Adams 222, with plates. Rated A+ overall: "Biography of Lawrence. Superb ancients. Outstanding medieval: Anglo-Saxon, coins of the Crusades. Definitive Maltese. Siege pieces. Baltimore shilling, 6 pence. Perhaps best territorial gold ever: 1850, 1851 Baldwin $10; Gem Humbert 1851 $50 (3); Kellogg's own 1855 $50; Mass. & Cal. $5; Schultz $5; superb fractionals; Cal. gold notes." The Deluxe Special Quarto Edition, with the full complement of 22 fine photographic plates. A perplexing Elder production. Often, plated copies come with only one or two specialized sections of the plates, rather than all of them as here; there are also at least three different varieties of the text; and even the prices realized list comes on regular and thick paper. Four of the superb photographic plates depict ancient Greek and Roman coins; nine illustrate English and European coins; one depicts American colonial coins; and the remaining eight plates illustrate American pioneer gold coins. A well-known neurologist, Lawrence wrote a number of books on the topic. His coin collection was remarkably varied but is best known for its outstanding collection of California and other pioneer gold coins. Elder explains the reason for this predilection in his introduction: "The late Dr. George Alfred Lawrence was born at Lawrence, California, a settlement named for his ancestors, on June 6th, 1869. As California was the principal seat of the coinage of private gold issued between 1849 and 1855, it was natural that the Doctor should specialize in the American Private Gold Coinages." Plated copies of the Lawrence catalogue have long been desirable and are infrequently obtainable. As noted previously, a number of private gold pieces feature the buyer's name, in all but one case "Chap[man]," who was a busy man that day. An interesting note accompanies lot 1384, the 1849 Massachusetts and California Company $5.00 in gold: "$7900. Chapman. Record for am American Coin at Auction." Davis 370. Fanning, Ancient Coins in Early American Auctions, 39. Ex Kolbe Sale 107, lot 82; ex Cardinal Collection Library.
(Estimate: $1500)