By Frank Van Valen Numismatist, Cataloguer
As a cataloger and numismatist here at Stack’s Bowers and its predecessor companies for the past 24 years, I’ve seen my share of rare – and not so rare – coins. Everything from Stellas to 1804 dollars, and virtually every other date and denomination or rarity you can imagine, has crossed my desk at some point. Even in those cases where I wasn’t the primary cataloger, the rarities have still been seen and duly admired by me, often shared by the other catalogers in the course of a workday.
After immersing myself in coins on a daily basis for all these years, my collecting tastes in the past few decades have gone beyond coins in general to “neat” items that are often inexpensive yet are fun to collect. I keep two felt-lined wooden trays on my desk, each with a tin bottom, a mahogany finish, and a brass knob, representing the two remaining drawers from an old coin cabinet that arrived at Bowers and Merena years ago in a broken and tattered state. On these trays – one for U.S. items, the other for world items -- I keep what is basically my current collection.
On the U.S. tray for instance, I have a copper 1846 half eagle, struck from copy dies and nearly perfect to the eye as far as details and accuracy. It keeps company with a low-karat gold 1904 $2.50 about the size of a half dime, made from crude hand-made dies and as neat as an item gets in my book. There’s a gorgeous golden brown MCMIX Lincoln Centennial medal by Bela Lyon Pratt, on my tray for no other reason than it’s a beauty to behold; I picked it up at a coin show in the Portland, Oregon area during the 2009 Lincoln Centennial year. My favorite love token resides in my office; it features a hobo walking a rail road track with a bindlestiff over his shoulder and the words ROBB EDINBRO ADD AYLIGHT around. If you arrange the spacing just so, you’ll see what plight befell our poor hobo friend.
On the World tray I have numerous British Model pennies and halfpennies by Thomas Moore, circa 1844. These are bi-metallic with a copper or bronze outer ring surrounding an inner plug of white metal, brass, or other metal. I have an extensive collection of these, and the ones on my tray represent the overflow I’ve accumulated in the past few years. There is also a small hoard of coin weights from the Royal Mint in Britain, many dated 1821, the first year of George IV’s reign. I also have a Gem Mint State “To Hanover” token, brass with an exceptional strike and excellent eye appeal – they seldom come this way. The obverse features a Young Head portrait of Queen Victoria, the reverse the familiar St. George slaying the dragon motif. Both trays hold so many more items it would take a long dissertation to name them all.
Mind you, I haven’t stepped away from mainstream U.S. numismatics, as I still enjoy nice, problem-free Barber dimes, quarters, and half dollars in Fine to EF condition, and buy them whenever I find them. However, expanding my collecting horizons in the past decade or so has brought me untold pleasure and excitement, and the overall cost has been trifling. From the quietest corner of the local coin show to our own Americana Sale catalogs, there is always something neat to find. Me? I can’t wait to get to another show to see what other great finds I can make!
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