Q. David Bowers
Conditions of the sale noted that the lots would be on exhibition each day from 10 in the morning until five in the evening at Kosoff's premises at 122 East 57th Street, and on the day of the sale until noon. "Accounts must be paid, and purchases removed, within 24 hours after the sale, or in the case of mail bidders, when bills are rendered. No claims will be allowed unless presented within 10 days after sale. The authenticity of the coins is guaranteed by the cataloguers, but all claims must be made within 30 days. The condition is carefully stated, and no lots are returnable except by agreement of the cataloguers."
In recognition of mail bids, Abe Kosoff stated:
"We charge no commission for purchasing in our sales. Whenever possible, lots will be purchased for mail bidders below their maximum bids." Lot No.1 in the sale was a tetra drachm of Alexandria, busts of Aurelian and Vabalathus, 270-271. In Fine condition the piece realized 50c.
Numerous lots in the sale brought less than $1 each. Among the higher realizations were an 1873 $3 gold piece, Very Fine, at $60; an 1879 Flowing Hair $4 gold Stella, Proof, "becoming more and more scarce," for $170; a trio of $50 California gold slugs bearing the imprint of Augustus Humbert, grades not stated, $130 to $152.50 each; a 1911 Matte Proof set of four gold coins, $112; the rare 1834 $5 half eagle with motto on the reverse, crosslet 4 in date, "Extremely rare. Uncirculated with Proof lustre," $150; a set of small cents from 1857 through 1938, "all dates and mint-marks, in National coin album, Uncirculated, sold as a set," $100; "One set of large cents 1793-1857, including all dates, average condition Very Good to Fine, sold as a lot, $65; 1878-S Uncirculated quarter, "very rare, seldom comes up for sale," $34.
Around the time that Abe Kosoff entered the field of auction sales, a gentleman came into the shop to inquire about the buying price for $5 gold pieces. "The going price was about $7.50, that's what I told him," Abe Kosoff later related. "He took out four coins and handed them to me. Three were ordinary, but one was a Bechtler private gold piece, and as luck would have it, it was one of the scarcer varieties. I told him that he was fortunate that one of the coins was worth substantially more and I would check it out for him to give him an exact figure. Soon I returned to him with an offer of $7.50 each for three coins and $150 for the Bechtler.
"Now, he obviously had been ready to sell the four coins at $7.50 each, but when he was told the value of one of the pieces, he stopped short to say. 'The coins don't belong to me. They belong to my uncle, and I'll tell him what you said.' Needless to say, I never saw him again. Now that he was armed with the knowledge of the true values of the coins, he could shop around. Possibly by telling another dealer that I had offered such a price he might get him to stretch it a few dollars. Now situations like this don't happen often, but another one occurred soon afterwards.
"A man came in one day with a very small foreign gold coin and I offered him $5.50 for it. He became indignant, telling me that a jeweler around the corner had offered him $7.50, and that was for only the gold value. Since this was an impossible situation and since I had last left two clients in the rear of the shop, I excused myself, told him I was sorry I couldn't pay the price, and left him.
"Down front, the man talked to one of the Rich boys, sons of Alfred Rich, from whom I was subleasing part of his antique shop. How come, he wanted to know, a jeweler could pay more for the gold value than I could pay for the coin? Well, yes, he did have another small coin, a $2.50 gold piece that went with the foreign coin. Rich came back to talk to me, relating the tale. Being tied up with the two clients, I told him that the $2.50 was worth at least $4, making my offer $9.50, and if it was in nice condition I might pay $10. Rich had looked at the coin, and it was nice.
" 'Okay, here's $10, please pay him for me and get his name and address.' Rich obliged, took care of the details, and, later, when I was free, he brought the two coins to me. Imagine to my surprise to find that the $2.50 gold piece was a Templeton Reid private coin worth a considerable premium.
"I checked the telephone directory for the name and address of the man-phony, no such party at that address. The coin sold for $242.50 in my second auction sale, and I recall that Frank Smith of Chicago bought it. It was the highest priced piece in that auction, despite the fact that two $50 slugs were listed. These went for $150 and $210 respectively, the latter being an Uncirculated octagonal Panama-Pacific issue.
"Frequently collectors ask me if I don't some-times wish I had kept all of the rare coins which have passed through my hands. My only comment is that it would be very nice, except that I probably would have starved to death!
"No, I'm happy with having bought and sold just about every coin issued by the various United States mints and I'm delighted with the many friends I have made in the process. Contrary to the theory of holding onto the coins, I have been a disciple of the famed Bernard Baruch, who advocated 'buy when others want to sell, sell when they want to buy' -with exceptions, of course!"
In 1941 Abe Kosoff sold a complete set of four Stellas of 1879 and 1880 to a midwestern collector for $1,125. This news reached Detroit numismatist Albert A. Grinnell, proprietor of several dozen music stores and a well-known collector of coins and, especially, paper money.
Grinnell wanted a similar set and asked Abe Kosoff to acquire one for him. Coincidentally, Wayte Raymond had a set from the Pratt Collection which he offered to the young dealer for $900, who passed it along to Grinnell. Thus he handled within a space of less than two weeks a pair of America's most famous coin sets.
Years later, in March 1961, the owner of the first set of Stellas called to order some $3 gold pieces. Abe mentioned that he had just acquired an Extremely High Relief MCMVII double eagle and was offering it for $25,000. The midwestern collector had not one but two sets of Stellas, believe it or not, so a swap was arranged whereby Kosoff sent him the rare Extremely High Relief MCMVII (1907) double eagle and a batch of $3 Proofs for the Stella set-which in turn quickly found a new home.
Auction activity continued in 1941, with Sale No.5 being held in February of that year. Sam Kabealo, the Youngstown, Ohio dealer, came to New York City to call Sales No.5 through 7.
Auction Sales No.6 and 7 were combined in a single catalogue and offered on April 22nd and 23rd, 1941 by A. Kosoff, who at that time had relocated to 42 East 50th Street. "Note our new address" the title page proclaimed. The sale site was the same as used earlier: the Hotel New Yorker.