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Notes from the 2016 U.S. Mexican Numismatic Association Convention in Scottsdale, Arizona

12 Oct

hurricane-imageLast week Dan, Connor Falk (our new employee) and I traveled to Arizona ahead of Hurricane Matthew to show auction lots for our upcoming Auction #20 (more to follow on that tomorrow!) and give some presentations. We were a little unsure about leaving with a potentially dangerous storm bearing down on us, but when the going gets tough, the tough leave town. As it turned out, Matthew took an eastward jog and spared most of the central Florida area.

The U.S. Mexican Numismatic Association convention in Scottsdale is always a great time to reconnect with friends and colleagues. Connor and I got to meet Don and Lois Bailey, Mexican numismatic legends. All three of us enjoyed spending time with Ute Wartenberg Kagan, the longtime executive director of the American Numismatic Society who brought

connor-falk-with-don-bailey-at-us-mex-2016

Connor Falk with Don Bailey

important Mexican coins from the vast collection at the Society. She will also attend our Auction #20, so if you’re attending it as well, you’ll want to meet and talk with her.

cori-downing-and-ute-wartenberg-kagan-us-mex-2016

Ute Wartenberg Kagan and Cori Downing

Augi, who stayed in Florida to make sure the hurricane didn’t blow away our office, won an award at the convention for his well-received book, The “Tumbaga” Saga, Treasure of the Conquistadors. We’re fortunate to have a very cool “Tumbaga” bar (Lot 210) in the Auction. Dan took an award for his participation in the Counterfeit Forum last year and did so again this year. The presentation was extremely well received. I spoke on the Charles and Joanna coinage from the Mexico City mint, sharing some new research I’ve undertaken.

augi-garcia-us-mex-award-2016dan-sedwick-award-us-mex-2016

All in all, it was a quick respite from the desk and chair. If you’re a collector of Mexican coins, you should become a member of the U.S. Mexican Numismatic Association and attend next year’s convention.

dan-sedwick-connor-falk-and-cori-downing-at-us-mex-2016

 

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The Office Travels to the U.S. Mexican Numismatic Association Fourth Annual Convention in Scottsdale, Arizona

19 Oct
US Mexican Association image

U.S. Mexican Numismatic Association

 

 

Last week Dan, Augi and I traveled to Phoenix for the U.S. Mexican Numismatic Association Fourth Annual Convention in Scottsdale from Thursday, October 15 to Saturday, October 17. While the show is small, some of the most influential dealers and auctioneers in the business attend. The convention is open to members of the U.S. Mexican Numismatic Association who were treated to both great “coin watching” and a good selection of outstanding seminars hosted by experts in the field, including Dan. Dan spoke about counterfeit coins to a packed house, so obviously there’s lots of interest in the subject. One gentleman who stopped by our table afterward mentioned that he had inadvertently bought a fake coin many years ago, but between buying The Practical Book of Cobs and listening to the lecture, he had a much better idea of what to look for when buying a coin. We also stressed to him the importance of buying and selling coins through bona fide dealers, i.e. dealers who display knowledge and answer your questions intelligently.

We had a table at the convention where we were busy showing auction lots for our upcomingDan with Customer at US Mex Show 2015 Treasure, World & U.S. Coin  Auction 18 to be held in Orlando, Florida on October 29, 2015.  The hearts and royals were a big hit, as they created an impressive display. We may never see so many of both in the same auction again! 

Another treat was when I got to meet the Executive Director of the American Numismatic Society, Ute Wartenberg Kagan, who was assisted at her table by Matt Wittmann, Assistant Curator of American Coins and Currency. It is vital that organizations like the U.S. Mexican Numismatic Association and the American Numismatic Society thrive because they are repositories of knowledge and numismatic material that the average collector might never be able to access otherwise. Collecting is about learning as much as it is about owning.

Ute, Matt and Cori at US Mex Show

While it was a long way to go for a show, I’m glad we were once again able to go. Every show is an opportunity to buy, sell, meet people, show auction lots, and learn!

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Two Esteemed Guests (and Friends) Visit Our Office

18 Jun
Jorge Proctor, Agustin Garcia-Barneche, Cori Sedwick Downing (Me), Dan Sedwick, and Glenn Stephen Murray Fantom,

Jorge Proctor, Agustin Garcia-Barneche, Cori Sedwick Downing (Me), Dan Sedwick, and Glenn Stephen Murray Fantom.

Yesterday we had the pleasure of spending some time with Glenn Stephen Murray Fantom and Jorge Proctor at our office. Both are avid researchers and writers in the field of Spanish colonial coinage and mints. Glenn is the president of the Friends of the Segovia Mint Association (Amigos de la casa de moneda de Segovia) and has worked tirelessly to rehabilitate the Segovia mint building in Spain. He’s written extensively about mints in Spain, particularly the Segovia mint or Real Ingenio which operated from 1583 to 1869. In 2009 Glenn was awarded the Grand Premio Union Europea de Patrimonio Cultural/Europa Nostra for his dedication to restoring the Segovia mint after which he published Las acuñaciones de moneda en Segovia, desde 30 a. C. hasta 1869, en conmemoración de la obra de rehabilitación del Real Ingenio de la Moneda de Segovia.  We have copies of this terrific resource book for sale!

Dan Sedwick and Glenn Stephen Murray Fantom

Dan Sedwick and Glenn Stephen Murray Fantom

Jorge Proctor with Glenn Stephen Murray Fantom and book (2)

Jorge Proctor with Glenn Stephen Murray Fantom

As many know, Jorge Proctor’s focus has been on reading and transcribing original records from such venerated repositories as the Archives of the Indies housed in Seville, Spain. He’s a detective and numismatist rolled into one! Jorge has written the definitive book on the Panama mint called The Forgotten Mint of Colonial Panama: A Look Into the Production of Coins in America During the 16th Century and Panama’s Spanish Royal House for Minting Coins. A copy of this book is rare and scarce. Lately Jorge has turned his considerable attention to the assayers at the Mexico City mint and others with a recent article entitled “The Assayers of the Mint of Mexico During the 16th Century Pillars Coinage, 1536-1571 (?)” which was published in the January/February 2015 Numismatics International Bulletin and “Who Were Mexico City Mint Assayers L and J (1677-1723)?” which was published in the June 2015 U.S. Mexico Numismatic Association journal. And Jorge is one of the fastest talkers I know, both in Spanish and English!

It was a fortuitous series of events that led to Glenn and Jorge being able to spend an afternoon with us in Winter Park and we hope they’ll come back again soon with more news from Spain and beyond.

Glenn Stephen Murray Fantom and Jorge Proctor with gold bar

Glenn Stephen Murray Fantom and Jorge Proctor with gold bar

An interesting side note this week: If you’ve opened up your June 2015 copy of The Numismatist, the monthly publication of the American Numismatic Association, you may have seen an article about us on p. 23! It’s called “Golden Cobs” and highlights our Treasure Auction #16 last November. Thanks to Andy Smith for writing the artThe Numismatist, June 2015icle.

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Assayer P Coins minted under Charles and Joanna from the Mexico City Mint

21 Jan

Did you know that the Banco de Mexico has photos of almost all of their Charles and Joanna coin holdings online? A friend pointed me to the site last year, and I have been slowly incorporating these coins into my census database of both early and late series Charles and Joanna coins of all denominations. I’ll share more surprises from the Banco de Mexico’s large and beautiful trove of coins in later blogs, but for now I want to tell you something about Assayer P coins.

It finally dawned on me that there is a distinction between earlier and later coins minted under Assayer P, and you can tell this in several ways, but the most distinguishing characteristic can be found in the pillars-side legend. If you have any of these coins, take a look. Does the legend begin with HISPANIE or HISPANIARVM? If it’s HISPANIE, then you have a coin of the earlier variety.

To confuse matters more, there are a couple of varieties of HISPANIE.

Lot 251, Sedwick Treasure Auction #15, May 2014

Lot 251, Sedwick Treasure Auction #15, May 2014

I’m not sure which coins were made before the others, but one variety (pictured above) is KIS : PANIE (note the K instead of H) and the other is simply HISPANIE. You can even see that the KIS : PANIE variety is followed by INDIAR : AM instead of INDIARVM! Below is an example of HISPANIE with no funny letters.

Lot 252, Sedwick Treasure Auction #15, May 2014

Lot 252, Sedwick Treasure Auction #15, May 2014

The later varieties (see below) all use HISPANIARVM ET INDIARVM. It doesn’t matter which way the rhomboid panel points–left or right–or what sort of ornaments were used as stops between words.

Lot 253, Sedwick Treasure Auction #15, May 2014

Lot 253, Sedwick Treasure Auction #15, May 2014

Why were coins with HISPANIE minted before coins with HISPANIARVM? You have to go back to Assayer R, the predecessor to Assayer P and look at his coins. He used HISPANIE (with often a retrograde N), and it stands to reason that when Assayer P took over at the mint, he started with HISPANIE before settling on the more common HISPANIARVM.

You can also see the HISPANIE vs. HISPANIARVM varieties on 1 and 2 reales denominations.

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