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BUSHNELL WITH SET OF ORIGINAL PLATES

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:1,250.00 USD Estimated At:2,000.00 USD
BUSHNELL WITH SET OF ORIGINAL PLATES
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Chapman, S.H. and H. CATALOGUE OF THE CELEBRATED AND VALUABLE COLLECTION OF AMERICAN COINS AND MEDALS OF THE LATE CHARLES I. BUSHNELL, ESQ. OF NEW YORK. New York: Bangs, June 20–24, 1882. 4to, original gilt-printed white paper covers. 142 pages; 3000 lots. Supplement to the Good Samaritan shilling text included; prices realized list laid in. Covers town, taped and worn; text block also in need of repair. Good. [with] Set of 12 original very fine loose phototype plates. Plates fine or nearly so. One of the landmarks of American numismatic literature. The Bushnell collection was the stuff of fables, being well-known, yet little seen. After Bushnell’s death in 1880, a number of prominent dealers attempted to obtain the collection, but it was the Chapman brothers who, to the surprise of many, made off with the prize. Of the five hundred copies of the Bushnell catalogue printed, one hundred were supposedly issued with plates. Judging from their frequency of appearance on the market, it is probable that fewer were actually distributed. Five of the plates depict colonials, along with early patterns; three illustrate medals; one depicts Washington pieces; one illustrates rare United States gold and silver coins; and two depict cents and half cents. The Bushnell sale was the first large format auction catalogue issued by the Chapmans with plates. It established the brothers as the dominant force in American numismatics, a position they were to occupy both collectively and independently for the following half century. Unmercifully criticized at the time for various typographical and factual errors, passions soon cooled and a landmark catalogue remained. The brothers had set a new standard: oversize format, thick paper, new type, gilt letters, photographically produced plates and detailed if sometimes controversial descriptions. All were welcomed innovations and the furor raised at the time has secured the Bushnell sale catalogue a greater fame. Even today it remains a landmark in American numismatics, remarkable for its rare and unique colonial coins, Washingtonia, and historical American medals and tokens. In these areas, its value in terms of research and pedigree information is unsurpassed. Adams 9 (A+ overall, rated A in large cents, colonials, medals, tokens, patterns, Washingtonia and comments). The catalogue is ex the library of the Western Pennsylvania Numismatic Society. Davis 180.