Let’s Hear It for Experience!

​There is something to be said for experience. There is
something to be said for tradition. “Been there, done that” counts for a lot.
Money cannot buy this.

Today while writing this blog I received a telephone call
from a fine numismatic friend whose profession is selling real estate for
Sotheby’s. She has been there and done that. Devoting her professional life to
that field, she has dealt with famous names as well as people who are, say,
mainstream America. “When someone comes to me with a potential listing, I tell
them of my experience,” she said. It dates back decades and includes some of
America’s finest properties. Still, now and again someone with a fine piece of
property says, “I am going to list it with a neighbor friend who sells real
estate.” The friend often turns out to be part time with relatively little
experience.

I said, “So it is with coins.” In one memorable instance a
few years ago a lady from New Orleans called our office and talked with a
consignment director. She had inherited a very nice collection of double
eagles, including quite a few rarities. After hearing her list our staffer said
that we would be delighted to showcase it in an upcoming sale. “How long will
it take?” she asked.

He replied that two or three months would be ideal—to study
the coins, have some of them certified, to photograph them, to research each
individually to create descriptions, and more. It takes time to prepare a fine
catalog. The lady was sent a packet of information. No word back from her. Then
about 10 days later our staffer called, only to hear this:

“I found a local auctioneer who didn’t have to write a
catalog or do any of the things you mentioned. He sold them at auction last
Saturday.”
This is funny in a way, but also sad.

The other day I spent some time on the Internet in the
course of doing research on Shield, Liberty Head, Buffalo, and Jefferson
nickels for a special Whitman project to be published in 2017. Whitman does
plan carefully, and it takes a lot of time to turn out books that in time
become standard references.

In the course of poking around I was surprised to see how
many really nice websites I found on the Internet—some of them giving the
impression that they were the finest ever, tried and true, and were the best to
deal with. The trouble was that some did not list the names of the principals,
and some that did gave names of people I have never heard of. 

I don’t know everyone in the rare coin business, but I have
been around for a long time and know most who belong to the Professional
Numismatists Guild, or who are well known for their expertise. However, there
are no requirements or licensing for someone to call him or herself a rare coin
dealer. They can say just about anything they want to. And a lot of people will
believe them.

I like to think that Stack’s Bowers Galleries is steeped in
tradition as well as expertise, in fact without equal. Harvey Stack, whose
recollections we have been publishing on our website and which have been picked
up by CoinWeek, E-Sylum, and a few other places, has been in the business since
1947 and along the way has handled a great share of the finest collections and
rarities to be bought and sold privately and at auction. The capstone is the
Josiah K. Lilly Collection over 5,000 gold coins—the core of the National
Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian today. I started dealing as a young
teenager in 1953 and attended my first ANA convention in 1955 (in Omaha).
Coming up in Anaheim next month will be my 63rd convention!

Larry Stack has been in the forefront for many years. Greg
Roberts has handled his share of rarities and some years ago was instrumental
in setting up a rarity-studded loan display at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Christine Karstedt, a familiar face for many years, has worked closely with the
Eliasberg, Bass, Pogue, and other families.

And, this is just a short list. Besides the experienced staff just mentioned, we have experts in all
fields — world coins, ancient coins, modern coins — as well as specialists in
tokens, medals and currency. In my opinion, we have the Dream Team in
professional numismatics.

“You can buy experience,” it is said, but when you buy,
sell, bid, or consign with Stack’s Bowers Galleries, you don’t have to pay
extra. Our competitive rates include experience that, stated simply, cannot be
found anywhere else.

Speaking of tradition, our official ANA World’s Fair of
Money auction, presented in several catalogs, is coming up next month in
Anaheim. Our first ANA Convention sale by our predecessor firm, Stack’s, was
held in 1939!

See you here in two weeks. In the meantime, enjoy
numismatics and enjoy the summer.