The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 47, November 5, 2005, Article 2

THE MOST EXPENSIVE NUMISMATIC BOOK

Hadrian Rambach of Spink forwarded a press release:
"On 7th October 2005, Spink purchased Johann Huttich’s
“Imperatorum romanorum libellus. Una cum imaginibus,
ad vivam effigiem expressi.“ A fierce bidding war for
the item ensued, but Spink made the final bid to win
the book in Christie’s Paris saleroom for €102,935 –
a world record price for a numismatic publication.

Possibly one of the most important numismatic portrait-
books, it is a brief illustrated biography of the
Roman Emperors.  First published in 1525, the book was
subsequently published in German, Italian and French.
This rare second edition, published in 1526 is listed
in Dekesel, Bibliotheca Nummaria, Bibliography of 16th
Century Numismatic Books, London (Spink) 1997, # H39
(21 copies listed). Printed throughout in finely engraved
italic letters, the publication contains descriptions of
263 medallions, 185 of which display portraits with 78
being left blank. These engraved portraits of emperors
and their wives are superbly displayed in white on a
black background, some of them being attributed to
Hans Weiditz (“the Petrarch Master”, c. 1495-1536).

This particular book comes from the library of humanist
Jean Grolier (c. 1489-1565), who is renowned as the
“Prince of Bibliophiles”

[So what’s the second-most expensive numismatic book?
And since many of our subscribers are from the U.S., what
is the most expensive piece of U.S. numismatic literature
sold at auction?  Is anyone keeping a list?   Editor]

THE MOST EXPENSIVE COIN SET
An October 31, 2005 article in The New York Times reported
the latest sale of the famed King of Siam set:
"As a child in the 1960's, Steven L. Contursi sorted
through the nickels and dimes he received on his paper
route in the Bronx, picking out those he needed for his
collection and saving them in inexpensive blue cardboard
holders.

On Tuesday in Beverly Hills, Calif., Mr. Contursi and
his company will pay $8.5 million in a private sale for
one of the most famous coin sets in the world, the United
States proof set known as the King of Siam set.

Mr. Contursi calls it "the Holy Grail of numismatics,"
and the price he is paying is a world record for a coin set.

The set, which includes one of the finest of the extremely
rare 1804 United States silver dollars, was a gift from
President Andrew Jackson to King Ph'ra Nang Klao of Siam,
known as Rama III, in 1836.

Edmund Roberts, the American envoy charged with establishing
relations with Asian nations at the time, sailed with the
set on a diplomatic mission to Siam. The original ship's log
is included in the sale.

Rama's son, Rama IV, learned English from a British governess,
Anna Leonowens; their relationship was the basis for the book
"Anna and the King of Siam" and the musical "The King and I."
In 1962, the set of coins came to light after being sold by
descendants of Ms. Leonowens. It was sold at auction several
times over the years, most recently in 2001 for about $4
million to an anonymous West Coast collector."

To read the complete article, see: Full Story

[The photo of the set published with the article is very nice,
but outdated.  It shows the coins lying au naturel in the original
presentation case.   But weren't all of these coins slabbed
several years ago?   Shouldn’t the caption read, “This is what
the set would still look like if some yutz hadn’t dandied the
coins up for sale to prospective buyers.”    Will some future
yutz do the same to John J. Ford’s Nova Constellatio silver
pattern set?   If so, I expect John will be turning in his grave.
The buyer is entitled to do whatever they want, I suppose, but
slabbing coins of this stature seems as wrong as it is unnecessary.

Does anyone really think an extra grading point (or two or ten)
really make a difference in their value?  -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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