Part
I
By
Harvey G. Stack, Senior Numismatic Consultant
In previous stories I wrote about my early days at Stack’s in 1953
and 1954. These were outstanding years for our firm as we had the opportunity
to sell at public auction two of the greatest sales in the mid 20th century --
the Davis Graves Collection and the Anderson Dupont Collection. I have written
about these sales before, but this week and next I will focus on the
outstanding large cents offered in these collections.
Both old-time and modern collectors have been attracted to large
cents, especially those who are interested in variety and die study. In the
1950s interest in this classic series was growing. Around this time Stack’s
published Howard Newcomb’s famous illustrated catalog entitled U.S. Large Cents 1816-1857. It was quite
a unique publication as all the wording was done by hand, printed by the
author, so legible it appeared to be type set, and all the illustrations were
hand drawn and enlarged so that the diagnostic features of each variety could
be emphasized. It was a work of art, showed years of preparation and became the
standard for the late date large cent series.
Dr. William Sheldon had embarked on a similar study of the earlier
large cents, 1793 to 1814, by combining various papers previously published,
adding new and more current information, and his reference was first published
in 1949 and became the standard for that series. Sheldon created a Condition
Census, which listed the range for outstanding specimens. In order to do this
he created the “numerical grading system.” This extended the description of a
coin’s preservation from adjectival grades like Fine, Very Fine or
Uncirculated, to numerical grades using from 1 (for the lowest grade) to 70
(the highest). To ease the transition to numbers, Sheldon paired the numerical
grades with letters representing the adjectival grades, resulting in grades
such as F-15, VF-30, MS-62, etc. This is the system in use today, although it
took almost four decades to be fully adopted by United States collectors. In
more recent years, the numerical grading system is often used for world and
ancient coins by many numismatists, but is not universally accepted yet.
By late 1953 and 1954 the numerical grading system had been
adopted for large cents. And who more than the creator of this system could do
justice to the Davis Graves and later Anderson Dupont collections of U.S. large
cents.
When the two collections arrived at Stack’s, each was laid out in
large display trays with the information that came with each coin set
alongside. Just looking at these two arrays was a treat in itself. Our next job
was to catalog each collection and we sought out expert assistance to best
showcase the coins when offered at public auction.
My father was a student of large cents and enjoyed discussing the
series with the collectors and dealers who visited Stack’s. He had developed a
close friendship with Dr. William Sheldon in earlier years and he hoped he
could get Dr. Sheldon to help him catalog these two collections. As chance
would have it, during the late 1940s and into the 1950s, Dr. Sheldon was
teaching and working at the Columbia-Presbyterian University Hospital in New
York City and often came into the store to say hello to Morton and find out
what was new. In this case my father answered, “Have I got a surprise for you.”
Of course, once Dr. Sheldon saw the coins laid out in the trays he gasped and
asked where they all had come from.
My father told him these were from two very old-time collections.
Dr. Sheldon looked further and said, “Mort, do you realize that I will now have
to rewrite my book as the Condition Census is no longer accurate and there are
a few no one ever listed for record.” “Man,” he continued after taking another
breath, “would I like to work on these.” Morton, taking advantage of the
exclamation replied, “How would you like to catalog both collections for
Stack’s?” His response? “Boy, would I!”
So the two friends struck a deal. …
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