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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;physics-fan3.14, post: 3244475, member: 19165&quot;]For older auctions, I agree that catalogues are a valuable resource. But with the rise of the internet, they are becoming less essential.</p><p><br /></p><p>First, many major auction houses have digital copies of their catalogues, and many auction houses also have archives of their sales on their website. To me, this is actually even more valuable than a printed catalogue, because it includes the prices realized. The digital method is also fully searchable, so you don&#039;t have to spend hours wading through dozens of books to trace what you want - three clicks and you&#039;re there.</p><p><br /></p><p>Second, even older catalogues are now becoming less important, because many of them are being scanned in and recorded in the Newman Numismatic Portal. This resource is incredibly valuable - I don&#039;t need to buy the entire run of B. Max Mehl catalogues, because its all right there.</p><p><br /></p><p>Third, storage becomes an issue when you amass a large number of catalogues. These things are not small, and will quickly take up a large amount of space. Sure, I&#039;ve bought a couple of catalogues for extremely important collections - but in order to develop a library of auction catalogues that will actually be useful, you&#039;re talking many, many feet of shelf space.</p><p><br /></p><p>Fourth, the pictures in printed catalogues are usually printed at life size. That is great for an overall view of the coin, but it really can&#039;t beat the magnified pictures available on most websites. Being able to zoom in on the picture gives you far more information than the small, often low quality picture you get in the paper copy.</p><p><br /></p><p>Fifth, auction catalogues can be quite expensive! If you are accumulating them for free by picking them up at a show, or if the auction house sends them to you to encourage bidding, then that is great. But if you want to buy older catalogues, be prepared to spend $10, $15, $25 or more for many of the bigger or more important catalogues. You may be able to get some free ones from people who just want to dump them, for the other reasons I&#039;ve listed above, but to seriously build a legitimate reference library like Doug mentions, be prepared to spend a significant amount of money.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, while Doug&#039;s advice is good, there are easier ways. When Doug started collecting, and for many old school collectors, the paper catalogues were the standard. However, most people just can&#039;t handle buying all the auction catalogues. For me, the practicality of the internet easily wins.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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