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Liquidation of Numismatic Gallery

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:1,400.00 USD Estimated At:2,000.00 USD
Liquidation of Numismatic Gallery
A buyer’s premium of 18% will be added to the cost of all lots purchased by absentee bidders. The premium is reduced to 15% for floor bidders. See shipping info and full terms.
Kosoff, A., and Abner Kreisberg. A SUBSTANTIAL BODY OF CORRESPONDENCE, MAINLY BETWEEN THE PRINCIPALS OF NUMISMATIC GALLERY, CONCERNING ITS LIQUIDATION. (Encino) and Beverly Hills, July 1954-February 1956. Approximately 70 pieces, including letters, memos, inventories, invoices, etc. The letters generated by Abner Kreisberg are generally typewritten on official stationery, signed "Abner" in ink. Abe Kosoff's responses are generally present in carbon copy on yellow stock, unsigned. Overall near fine condition. The breakup of this prestigious numismatic firm was announced in an advertisement in the August, 1954 issue of The Numismatist: "A. Kosoff and Abner Kreisberg Announce That Each Is Now Operating Independently In The Rare Coin Business. Numismatic Gallery Will continue to function in matters of joint interest." Several months earlier, in Cairo, Egypt, perhaps the most celebrated numismatic auction sale of all time had taken place. Kosoff personally attended the sale while Kreisberg minded the store. The bizarre details of the sale of King Farouk's coins are recounted in considerable detail in Abe Kosoff Remembers..., a long-running series of articles originally appearing in Coin World and later reprinted in a single volume. Disagreements arising from the convoluted way in which the sale was conducted and numerous side deals made during it and thereafter apparently precipitated the breakup, though none of this is mentioned in Kosoff's reminiscences nor in the current archive. [online description truncated: see PDF or printed catalogue for full description]