Coin Books, did you see some of the prices in the last CNG auction?

RR - That was an interesting book and I was going to bid on it but decided not to at the last minute. I'd be interested to hear how good it is. Congrats!

TIF - Awesome as always! Love the pictograph!!

Prokles - I was Clio'd an an item too, but I made him pay for it dearly. Nearly 4x estimate.

Thoughts on CNG Auctions: Nice stuff is rarely cheap. Yes, sometimes people overpay significantly on common items, but that's the nature of auctions. Also, there is a matter of convenience and reliability buying from CNG. I know I overpay when a) I really want something and b) I want it now. Otherwise, I have to live without it which is far less pleasurable "to me" than living with it and the associated cost. All economics and personal priorities.

As for me, I bought one thing and I think I got a great bargain on it! A nice run of 14 Hess - Leu auctions, lot 911 for $475. I was the underbidder on a similar lot at NYINC in the RBW library sale that hammered for $750.

 

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I find the auction results encouraging. It shows that not everyone has that mentality of 'everything should be free' that is quite pervasive when considering books. The vast majority of all numismatic books are out of print and only had a small run to begin with. If people really want those books they will have to pay for them. But to be honest, I didnt understand the idea one should buy a book in the auction used when it was available from the same seller new and far cheaper!

 

True. Made me feel better about my library, with maybe hope that when mine sells there will still be value in them.

 

Great posts!

I got the Axumite coinage book for $85.00


John

 

TIF, I have added Clio'd to my vocabulary. Maybe next time when I hit a bump in the road, I can say Clio'd twenty times instead of sounding like Bill Murray in What About Bob -

 

great Movie

 

I won the Babylon RR book:

Babelon, Ernest. Description Historique et Chronologique des Monnaies de la République Romaine vulgairement appelées Monnaies Consulaires. (Bologna, 1963 Forni reprint of 1885-6 originals). Two volumes.​

I believe I overpaid a bit for this book. But I have been looking for it for several months, I did an exhaustive worldwide search, and could not find the book at a lower price. And now I have a complete "essential" RR reference collection, as recommended by Andrew MaCabe

 

Well congrats on the score!

 

It looks like it is very nicely bound which would cost well more than what you paid for it to have done yourself. It's an interesting work that also has the price of the coins in French Francs which gives you a gauge to rarity in the late 19th century.

 

Congrats! That one is a keeper. Please report back on the quality of the pictures.
The book is on my list, but "je ne parle pas français" so the book is a bit lower than it was a few years ago. I am hoping to find a link to it in PDF format.

 

Thanks all! I took a chance on this reprint, hoping that since the pictures were good enough for an American dealer, that they would suit me (and I don't want to pay the premium price for the original publication).

 

This is a scan of the original that you can download for free:

Volume 1: https://archive.org/details/descriptionhisto01babe
Volume 2: https://archive.org/details/descriptionhisto02babe

I hope to pick up a physical copy one day as well but since I have a scanned copy it's lower on my list.

 

Here you go:

Vol I
https://ia801407.us.archive.org/34/items/descriptionhist04babegoog/descriptionhist04babegoog.pdf

Vol II
https://ia902605.us.archive.org/17/items/descriptionhist03babegoog/descriptionhist03babegoog.pdf


Edit: Posted with Spork was posting his. Sorry for the dup. His is a better scan too but I can't delete this.

 

Thanks RS & Carthago.

 

My thanks too!! I treasure books, so I do not regret my purchase...but I can use the digital copy for text, and save the wear and tear on the actual books.