I have been anxiously watching and waiting for my tokens to come up for auction so I can bid on them today. I awoke and sat a the computer ready
and armed with coffee at 7am (west coast time). The bidding started out of the gate at a very quick and robust bidding.
They were going for what I think was way over current prices, so I became even more
jittery..........another cup of coffee will help:)
After an hour or so my first one came up and I was at the ready.......if you have not bid online before it is not an experience
to be missed. After which you will have a new found appreciation for all that goes into a first class auction.....and besides you can sit
comfortably in your chair dressed however you like and scream(yell) at the auctioneer as you wish:D
After winning my first token I needed to wait for an another hour or two till my next one came up. While waiting I was really impressed to see what the Ford pedigree tokens
were fetching. Granted a vast amount were rare and in some cases he had almost a full run of the rare tokens, but still on the more common ones the pedigree did fetch heavy bids.
Winning my second token I then waited again, anxious for the last one to come up and had several hours to wait.......so switching to Iced Tea I watched while more exiting tokens
passed by.........oh to be on that floor.
A few notable sales were:
1) Lot #22247. New York--New York. (Ca. 1831-1836) Dr. L. Feuchtwanger. HT-260. Rarity-6 To 7. German Silver. 27 Mm. MS-65 (NGC).
Hammered at $4,750 Extremely rare 5-6 known and it appeared he had them all.
2) Lot #22213. New York--New York. (Ca. 1834-1841) Collins Ready Made Linen & Fancy Store. HT-241. Rarity-7. Brass. 25 Mm. MS-64 (NGC).
Also very rare and did hammer for what I expected $9,500 A noteworthy token to take a look at.
3)Lot #22332. New York--New York. (Ca. 1829-1830) Wright & Bale. Low-330, HT-340A, Miller NY-1000. Rarity-8 [?]. Brass. 30 Mm. MS-63 (NGC).
A spectacular Wright & Bale [/L] It hammered at $24,000
4)Lot #22538. New York--New York. 1860 Woodgate & Co. Miller-NY 981A. Silver. 28 Mm. MS-65 (NGC).
Hammered at $3,750 with no real surprises here, a little too dark for my preference though, but still a nice silver example But nice to know that mine although scratched can fetch a nice price:D
So these are just a few examples that stood out at todays auction and there you have my armchair bidder experience......I hope everyone enjoyed this and
if anyone has winnings or can add to todays auction please chime in......I would love to hear.
As to my winnings for today I have a total of three.
1)New York--New York. (Ca. 1834-1835) H. Law. HT-286. Rarity-2. Copper. 29 Mm. MS-63 BN (NGC).
I personally have not seen a nicer looking example of this Hard Times Token over the last few years and love the chocolate woodgrain toning.
I also have to say that the die crack adds a nice touch in character as it looks like a very long nail
2) New York--Utica. (Ca. 1860) S. W. Chubbuck. Miller NY-1061. Copper. 32 Mm. MS-65 RD (NGC).
Need I say more about this Civil War Era token.....Love the name "Chubbuck" and Morse code on the reverse graded RED.....what's not to like:D
Yes, it has a few carbon spots but not bad for 1860 copper!
And lastly, the token that started my attraction to this auction.......the reason I got up early a had several cups of coffee, then turned to iced tea.........
a really cool piece of copper. And if anyone hasn't noticed by now.....I mainly collect big toned pieces of silver:Funny;
This beautiful piece of copper Massachusetts--Boston. (Ca. 1861-1862) Henry Cook. Rulau Ma-Bo 20. Copper. 28 Mm. MS-65 (NGC).
I once owned the Henry Cook medal for a year or so, but this one is even more beautiful and only one of two know examples .
I will paste the auction description below.
Chestnut-brown with hints of violet. Possibly bronzed during manufacture. The identity of the variety is somewhat obscure as the reverse
inscription is given by Rulau as: "HENRY COOK, MONEY BROKER," perhaps following a description in an 1886 Woodward sale. The piece offered
here has a 10-line inscription on the reverse; the first two lines being the same as represented by Rulau, and hence this may be identical with
Rulau Ma-Bo 20. Rulau writes further that there are "only 2 pieces known" for the Ma-Bo 20 variety.
A specimen of the more common variety with the Constitution obverse exceeded $2,000 in our (Stack's) July 2008 sale.
From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. Paper envelope with attribution notation included.
