I went to an auction of ancient Chinese cash coins at the Jack Tar Hotel, on Van Ness Avenue, in San Francisco, CA in the early 1970's. Anybody remember the name of the auction? It was named for the collector whose coins were being auctioned. I much appreciate the help. Peggy
Hi Peggy. I don't post often here at CT (I mostly look for topics related to S. Korean coins, and I post some of my updates to my S. Korea collection), but I saw your post, and I was reminded that I have a copy of "World Coins" (a monthly coin magazine published in Sidney, Ohio) from August 1971. I purchased this issue online as I noticed that it had an article on Korean struck coins (late 1800s to 1910) that has lots of good information on this topic. I notice that the magazine has LOTS of ads for coin shops and upcoming (in 1971) auctions. I don't notice the exact auction to which you were referring in this particular issue, but there are several LA and some San Francisco addresses for shows and shops. One of these is an ad for an auction of Mexican coins from the F.C.C. Boyd collection that was to take place in Oct-Nov of that year in San Francisco. The auction was called "Pradeau-Bothamley", the "Pradeau" was Dr. A. F. Pradeau, who wrote a Spanish-language book on Mexican coins. Some of the coins from his book were for sale at this auction. I'm just relating this to you, because, perhaps you could find these old back-issues of "World Coins" or similar publications at a university library. If you know the month and year you're looking for, I'm pretty certain that it was advertised in this magazine, as these kind of auctions are exactly what you see in the magazine that I have. I will do some searching of my own. If I come up with anything, I'll let you know. Mark
Thanks so much for your kind attention Mark. I do remember the publication "World Coins". I'm quite sure I subscribed to it myself. Unfortunately I do not remember exactly when the auction took place. Only where I went to attend and what I bought. Imagine being so foolish as to spend a tidy sum on a very rare collectible and not retain records. Unfortunately there was a divorce in the interim and things got scrambled. I have found Scott Semans still selling ancient Chinese, and he doesn't remember. Still looking for Les Snell, of the Martini Spring, who was dealing ancient Chinese in the SF Bay Area at the time and must remember. I'm sure it will come. The sale was a huge deal at the time for ancient Asian collectors. Thanks again Mark, Peggy
Well, good luck Peggy. I'm sure you're better off finding information from someone who was around at the time. I've attached a photo from Facebook of someone going by the name "Les Snell". Take a look. Is that him? Anyway, I could not find any libraries with copies of "World Coins" magazine, but I did find some for sale at Abe books and Amazon. Take a look at these links if you'd like. http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00B89TQNO/ref=dp_olp_used_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=used http://www.abebooks.co.uk/World-Coins-Devoted-Foreign-Ancient-September/3540543649/bd I don't think that buying several volumes of the magazine at a few hundred dollars each would be really wise, but it does show that these magazines are still around. I am CERTAIN that this coin show was advertised in World Coins. I will keep looking through WorldCat and other library databases to see if there is a library that has this title in their collection. It would be nice if others who read this post would try to see if they, too, could find copies of this magazine from the early 70s. Too bad you don't know the exact YEAR. That would narrow it down considerably! Anyway, Cheers. Mark
Thanks Mark. That's way more than I would expect as a newbie on this forum. I did the same search for Les Snell and I don't think the current "hits" are the Les I remember. You're correct. I am not inclined to pay $$$ for old World Coins magazines on the off chance they might contain a reference to the auction I am seeking. I agree it's unfortunate that I don't remember the exact YEAR. I'm not really even sure if the early 70s is a good description of the general time frame...That's the best I can do. Thanks again Mark, Peggy
