One of the cool things they have at the ANA Summer Seminar is a book sale, which this year brought in about $15K between the two weeks. Lots of cool stuff, but I limited myself to these Hardbound Eliasberg gold and Starr proof coinage catalogs Some pre-VAM Morgan dollar books and Wayne Miller's book that preceded his Textbook. 1964 Brown & Dunn Grading book (for 75¢) and the 2nd edition of the Cohen half cent book. Of course, there's a little graffiti in the Cohen book
I missed the book sale bonanza but did finally witness the ANA library. I nearly fell over when I scanned the vast crammed shelves filled with books on every conceivable numismatic subject. The book sale must be quite the fur flying event.
Great prices on these. For those really into collecting, or even just amassing, numismatic literature, the ANA book sale could very well be worth the cost of tuition to the summer seminar. David Sklow, who runs the library, fills a conference room with books -- US coins, auction catalogs, lots of red books, world coins, club newsletters, journals, 19th century mint director reports (alas, no 1878), a hardbound book that was the proceedings of the 2nd session of the 25th Congress (1837-38) just waiting for a HTT junkie to spot it, you name it. If you want to go to the sale, you draw a numbered ticket that represents your spot in line. Ticket #1 is withheld from the draw and is auctioned off along with a pretty desirable book. The holder of ticket #1 gets 4 minutes in the room alone, after which people are admitted to the room as space permits. I probably paid around $100 for everything, and I had ticket #84. Mike Faraone (PCGS attributer/grader) bought a box full of softcover Ford sale catalogs, about 80% complete, for about $40. The second day of the sale, some fresh books are added to the mix. The third day of the sale, stuff is 25% off (when I picked up the Brown & Dunn book), then 50% off, and eventually $5 for a banker's box full (with some exceptions). The sale is restocked with fresh material for each week of the summer seminar. The mail room will ship for you (book rate, at your expense) if you can't carry your loot home, or in the case of Mark Borckhart a couple years ago, your car can't hold any more boxes. Lots of fun. I just wish the room had better ventilation.
Yup. There were piles of them. The old ones were more expensive ($100 for a 1948, if I recall), but you could build a big collection of these quickly. This was my third year teaching a class, and it's been fun every time.
It is a blast. If anyone needs to save up to go start now. Put $100+ a month away for it. You will have the numismatic time of your lives. I'll be going next year as well, most likely. And both weeks at that. I was a little more advanced than the other morgan students and they would come to me at lunch and dinner wanting minor clarifications on things taught that day that they didn't fully understand. I had a blast and can't wait to do it again. I'll probably take the grading classes next year if I go. Met alot of the big boys in numismatics and made a bunch of friends. Way more of an awesome and humbling experience than I ever thought it would be going into it.
I'm glad you enjoyed our class and the rest of the experience. Don't forget about the view of Pikes Peak from the Lunar Lounge.
