Kolbe & Fanning
Auction 164 27 Aug 2022
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Complete Bound Set of B. Max Mehl Auction Catalogues
Mehl, B. Max. AUCTION SALE CATALOGUES. Sales 1-116, complete, bound in 15 matching volumes. Fort Worth, 1906-1955. Varying octavo and quarto formats (ten bound volumes of octavo catalogues and five in quarto), all with original printed card covers bound in. Sales 13, 19-23, 25-30, 32-34, 36, 38-42, 45, 47, 49, 54-56, 59-64, 67-74 and 77-115 include printed prices realized lists or are hand-priced. Bound volumes fine, with most of the individual volumes being near fine or better. A complete set of these important catalogues. Mehl was best described by John W. Adams, who wrote in his United States Numismatic Literature, Volume II as follows: "The career of B. Max Mehl was an impossibility. He had at least three strikes against him: 1) he was an immigrant Jew in a then-gentile hobby; 2) he was located in Fort Worth, Texas, at a time when 95 percent of the business was done on the East Coast; and 3) Lilliputian in stature and colorless in terms of personality, he adopted a business plan that relied on creativity and promotion. Quite obviously, Mehl did not realize that he was licked before he started. He just knew that it was a lot more fun to sell coins than to sell shoes. From there, he took it one step at a time." Mehl solved his problems with a massive advertising program, the likes of which had never been seen before in the numismatic community. His advertising in numismatic publications was fairly routine for a major dealer of the time though his direct mailings to coin collectors were extensive. Mehl's massive advertising campaign in the most popular national publications, however, was unparalleled. He became the most famous American coin dealer ever and did more to popularize coin collecting among the masses than any other person, before or since. Of his numismatic publications, Mehl's ubiquitous Rare Coin Encyclopedia provided a steady source of income, his Numismatic Monthly deservedly brought respectability, and his series of auction sale catalogues spanning fifty years allowed him to handle far more than his share of the great American coin collections of the day. The method employed--mail auction--gave him greater control over the results than that exercised by his more traditional counterparts in the East. The coins in some of Mehl's more important sales may have been owned or controlled by him and rarities on occasion apparently changed hands in less than conventional transactions. B. Max was not a numismatic scholar and, as John Adams notes, "The lack of attention paid to numismatic issues was a serious flaw in all of Mehl's auction catalogues. However, as unreliable as Mehl's descriptions have proved to be, the plain fact is that, for over half a century he attracted a major share of the best collections that came to market. Beginning with Charles Cowell in 1911 and including a role call of such greats as H. O. Granberg, William Dunham and William Atwater, his consignors represent an important slice of numismatic history. Exactly one quarter of the B. Max Mehl auctions draw a rating of A- or better... Thus, it is the importance of the consignments that makes the Mehl series a desired collectible. The strength of the material is enhanced by the charisma of the Mehl name, the two combining to create strong prices whenever these catalogues come on the market." It is no easy matter to complete a set of Mehl catalogues, especially if one also desires the prices realized lists. The early sales are of modest appearance and the print runs were small, under 500 according to Adams. Their covers were printed on acidic paper that degraded over time, thinning the ranks of survivors considerably. In later years, the print runs were huge for the period and the ready availability of the last twenty or so sales conveys a false impression of the scarcity of the intervening issues. The opportunity to obtain a set of Mehl auction catalogues en bloc occurs infrequently. We sold a set in our Sale 151 for $4250 hammer that had been our first complete offering since we sold this set in 2005. Ex Craig Smith Library (Kolbe Sale 95), lot 170 at an impressive $5500 hammer; ex Cardinal Collection Library.
(Estimate: $2500)
Mehl, B. Max. AUCTION SALE CATALOGUES. Sales 1-116, complete, bound in 15 matching volumes. Fort Worth, 1906-1955. Varying octavo and quarto formats (ten bound volumes of octavo catalogues and five in quarto), all with original printed card covers bound in. Sales 13, 19-23, 25-30, 32-34, 36, 38-42, 45, 47, 49, 54-56, 59-64, 67-74 and 77-115 include printed prices realized lists or are hand-priced. Bound volumes fine, with most of the individual volumes being near fine or better. A complete set of these important catalogues. Mehl was best described by John W. Adams, who wrote in his United States Numismatic Literature, Volume II as follows: "The career of B. Max Mehl was an impossibility. He had at least three strikes against him: 1) he was an immigrant Jew in a then-gentile hobby; 2) he was located in Fort Worth, Texas, at a time when 95 percent of the business was done on the East Coast; and 3) Lilliputian in stature and colorless in terms of personality, he adopted a business plan that relied on creativity and promotion. Quite obviously, Mehl did not realize that he was licked before he started. He just knew that it was a lot more fun to sell coins than to sell shoes. From there, he took it one step at a time." Mehl solved his problems with a massive advertising program, the likes of which had never been seen before in the numismatic community. His advertising in numismatic publications was fairly routine for a major dealer of the time though his direct mailings to coin collectors were extensive. Mehl's massive advertising campaign in the most popular national publications, however, was unparalleled. He became the most famous American coin dealer ever and did more to popularize coin collecting among the masses than any other person, before or since. Of his numismatic publications, Mehl's ubiquitous Rare Coin Encyclopedia provided a steady source of income, his Numismatic Monthly deservedly brought respectability, and his series of auction sale catalogues spanning fifty years allowed him to handle far more than his share of the great American coin collections of the day. The method employed--mail auction--gave him greater control over the results than that exercised by his more traditional counterparts in the East. The coins in some of Mehl's more important sales may have been owned or controlled by him and rarities on occasion apparently changed hands in less than conventional transactions. B. Max was not a numismatic scholar and, as John Adams notes, "The lack of attention paid to numismatic issues was a serious flaw in all of Mehl's auction catalogues. However, as unreliable as Mehl's descriptions have proved to be, the plain fact is that, for over half a century he attracted a major share of the best collections that came to market. Beginning with Charles Cowell in 1911 and including a role call of such greats as H. O. Granberg, William Dunham and William Atwater, his consignors represent an important slice of numismatic history. Exactly one quarter of the B. Max Mehl auctions draw a rating of A- or better... Thus, it is the importance of the consignments that makes the Mehl series a desired collectible. The strength of the material is enhanced by the charisma of the Mehl name, the two combining to create strong prices whenever these catalogues come on the market." It is no easy matter to complete a set of Mehl catalogues, especially if one also desires the prices realized lists. The early sales are of modest appearance and the print runs were small, under 500 according to Adams. Their covers were printed on acidic paper that degraded over time, thinning the ranks of survivors considerably. In later years, the print runs were huge for the period and the ready availability of the last twenty or so sales conveys a false impression of the scarcity of the intervening issues. The opportunity to obtain a set of Mehl auction catalogues en bloc occurs infrequently. We sold a set in our Sale 151 for $4250 hammer that had been our first complete offering since we sold this set in 2005. Ex Craig Smith Library (Kolbe Sale 95), lot 170 at an impressive $5500 hammer; ex Cardinal Collection Library.
(Estimate: $2500)