Here's a item I picked up last month. I was able to purchase a few older coin books but this one stood out. It's dated 1929 so in 8 years it's an official antique. The prices are unbelievable but if you were alive then it would be normal. Sure wish I could buy them today at those prices. Lol This book was compiled and published by The Numismatic Company of Texas, formerly The Numismatic Bank. B. Max Mehl was the owner and manager. It's called The Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia and Premium Catalog. The one I have is from 1929 and it cost $1.00, quite expensive for the era. It is also the 32nd edition. It's very interesting to read. All prices in this catalog are the prices they are willing to pay. It also states that it is only to serve as guide.
Oh wow, that's an amazing part of numismatic history. Would you mind posting a few pages? Would be interesting to see how much people payed for coins back then.
Actually, 1929 was considered to be a recession year and gold was approx. $20.63 per ounce. 1930 was considered to be a deflation year and gold was about the same. 1931 was considered to be a depression year and gold dipped to $17.06.
These are fairly common. I own a few just from lots of books over the years. Everyone wanting to buy at those prices should convert modern dollars into those in that timeframe. Easiest way is gold. If they priced a coin at $20, then compare it to what a double eagle is worth today. What has gone up is truly rare items like 1822 half eagles, patterns, keys, etc. Most common coins are actually cheaper today adjusting for dollars.
It was hard to do due to the age and not wanting to hurt the Catalog but here you go. Hope you like it. The First US Mint: The left column is the lowest price he was willing to pay and the right or single column was the highest. This was the second page for Large Cents.
The old saying goes when the 2 ends of the horseshoe are downward all the luck runs out but when they are pointed up the luck stays in the. I like it and the name on your horseshoe is the owner on my Catalog. Glad it's been lucky for you.
Remember these are the prices Mehl was PAYING to people with no numismatic knowledge. These are NOT the prices a collector would be paying a dealer for them. Mehl did a LOT of advertising back then and did thing like widespread advertising to buy 1913 V nickel for $50, which back then the average person though of as a LOT of money. It did bring in some nice coins to buy, but what it REALLY did was sell copies of that buying price list for $1 apiece. And he sold them by the truckload for decades. The catalogs are still readily available. There are currently close to 80 of them up on ebay.
Nut, can I get a price quote from the catalog on what he would buy an MCMVII 1907 High Relief Saint...as well as some common Saints like the 1924 and 1927 ?
Those catalogs were very popular in their day because they appealed to peoples' treasure-hunting instincts. Sometimes Mehl made more money selling catalogs than coins. Abe Kosoff called him the P. T. Barnum of numismatics. The ad for the 1913 V nickel is a case in point - he spent untold thousands running those ads even though he knew all five examples were accounted for. But he kept the spotlight on coins, and specifically his dealership.
Even if he paid $2 - $7 for a 1796 quarter and marked it up 10 times it would still be a steal in 1929 dollars. A few bucks for a draped bust dollar wouldn’t be a bad deal either.
Without going political, yes, gold was fixed by the government. But every time there was a financial crisis or a perceived one, the government has re-fixed the price. The government has been playing with the prices of PM's forever it seems. Their bag of tricks though is getting low. IMHO.
