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DELUXE LEATHERBOUND NEWCOMB ON 1801–03 CENTS

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:5,000.00 USD Estimated At:7,500.00 USD
DELUXE LEATHERBOUND NEWCOMB ON 1801–03 CENTS
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Newcomb, Howard R. THE UNITED STATES CENTS OF THE YEARS 1801–1802–1803. Detroit: Liberty Printing Co., 1925. 4to [31 by 24.5 cm], original black full morocco, bordered on both sides with double gilt fillets; gilt inner dentelles; title in gilt on the upper cover; four raised spine bands with double gilt rules on either side; original green silk marker with the cardboard cent gauge attached. 85, (1) pages; 5 fine photographic plates with tissue guards [plates included in pagination]; erratum slip tipped in on page 73. Slight wear to extremities and corners. Near fine. The Deluxe Leatherbound Edition, one of only ten copies issued. This special edition was little known until the appearance of the striking full-color illustration on the cover of the 1986 Robinson Brown, Jr. sale catalogue, reportedly depicting the R.E. Naftzger copy. Until the appearance of an inscribed copy, the exact number of deluxe copies made appears to have been unknown and, of the ten copies issued, about half are currently known to have survived. Concerning Newcomb and this work, Dr. Sheldon wrote: “during the first quarter of the twentieth century and until his death in 1945, Howard R. Newcomb was so closely identified with the big cents that to mention cents was to mention Newcomb… The United States Cents of the Years 1801–1802–1803… marks a milestone in the cent literature. Approaching a field which had been left almost in chaos by the Doughty book, Newcomb assembled a vast quantity of numismatic material, ordered and reordered it, finally set up a new classificational system and a list which seemed adequate; and after testing the new list for upwards of a decade, published. The verdict of time on this work has been favorable.” Ex Kolbe Sale 50, lot 456; ex Armand Champa (Davis/Bowers Sale I, lot 421).