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Special Edition of the 1909 Benson Sale

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:400.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 USD
Special Edition of the 1909 Benson Sale
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.
Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge. CATALOGUE OF THE VALUABLE COLLECTION OF GREEK COINS FORMED BY THE LATE FRANK SHERMAN BENSON, ESQ. OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, COMPRISING CHOICE AND INTERESTING EXAMPLES OF THE ANCIENT COINAGES OF ITALY AND SICILY, GREECE AND THE ISLANDS, ASIA MINOR, &C. SYRIA, EGYPT, ZEUGITANA, &C. London, Feb. 3-11, 1909. Crown 4to, recent tan quarter calf, gilt; black lettering piece, gilt; original printed card covers bound in. iv, 110, (2) pages; 808 lots; 26 fine plates, each present in two versions, with white and yellow backgrounds. Only slight signs of interior wear; binding new. Illustrated Copy on Vellum--Price One Guinea, according to the front card cover. While an inked note on an opening page states that this is "One of 50 special copies," no copy we have ever handled has included duplicate plates such as appear in this copy. The plates are arranged in order, with the first version of Plate I being on a white background, followed by the second version of Plate I on a yellow background, then the first Plate II being on white, and so forth. This arrangement is as issued, as this copy was acquired before the binding was executed. Most interesting. Handsomely printed on japon vellum, a durable, strong paper with a mottled surface resembling vellum. Clain-Stefanelli 1943. Daehn 2106: "one of the most important collections of Greek coins in private hands in the United States." Grierson 280. Spring 797 [also listed under "Most important sales of ancient Greek coins"].