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 Replies: 12 / Views: 1,739 |
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Pillar of the Community
Czech Republic
803 Posts |
This was posted a while back on PCGS forums and I wanted to share it here, as well. Sotheby's has been engaged to liquidate the collection of late Archer M. Huntington, founder of the Hispanic Society of America. There are over 38,000 coins in the collection and it's liquidation caused some drama between HSA and ANS, who had the collection on display for a number of years. You can read the article here: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2...on-of-coins/When I was in NY for the NYINC last week, I had a chance to visit Sotheby's and see approx. 3,000 coins they had on display. Some of the pieces I saw were truly amazing. At the entrance there was a display with a beautiful Ferdinand and Isabella (1469-1504) 50 Excellentes. Struck around 1479 it was probably a presentation, or award piece to someone whom the King and Queen wished to honor. It's approximately 5 ounces and is believed to not only be unique, but also the largest gold coin of the 15th Century in existence. There were also 3 early 17th Century Royals on display! The War of Independence section of the preview was also pretty cool. Among various Zacatecas and Vargas pieces, there was a wonderful coin I was seeing "live" for the first time since I've started to collect W4I in 2006 - an 1811 Real Del Catorce (San Luis Potosi) 8 Reales. Another neat thing I saw in the collection was a crude barbaric counterfeit 8 Escudos in gold nested next to authentic examples. It was fun seeing that contrast in design right next to each other. |
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Valued Member
United States
89 Posts |
Off topic perhaps but how is Sotheby online bidding process and rules compared to HA? Has anyone participated in their online auctions'.
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Pillar of the Community
France
1591 Posts |
I'm not a client there, but I think I'll go and check that out, at least to have the auction catalog :D
Anyway, I fear most of the coins will be out of my reach.
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Pillar of the Community
France
1591 Posts |
If there is any client here, I see there are "preferred" logins, where you need a referral. I'm open :)
Else I'll register regularly.
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Pillar of the Community
 Czech Republic
803 Posts |
I believe there will not be a bidding on individual lots and the entire collection will be sold intact.
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Pillar of the Community
France
1591 Posts |
Oh, that's what I thought I had read ... I was hoping it would be the other way :(
Then I was correct, I'll miss a bit of money to participate :p
Edited by MathieuMa
01/10/2012 3:21 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
684 Posts |
There must be some covenant or condition to prevent them from selling individual lots. The pieces are worth more than the whole.
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Pillar of the Community
Czech Republic
803 Posts |
I think the Hispanic Society just needs the money and selling it as one large lot is the most convenient way to get paid.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1962 Posts |
Quote:
There must be some covenant or condition to prevent them from selling individual lots. The pieces are worth more than the whole. Quote:
I think the Hispanic Society just needs the money and selling it as one large lot is the most convenient way to get paid. The Hispanic Society is definitely hungry for the money, but I think Westwood is correct. The ANS has been fighting the Hispanic Society (their former sister organization) over this for several years now. In fact, Sotheby's was supposed to have auctioned the collection for the Hisp. Soc. two or three years ago, and I think it was to be in piecemeal fashion; the ANS took legal action to block it. The Hispanic Society won at least one legal round, but I'm not sure of exactly what happened after that. I remember reading that at the very least, the ANS desired that the collection not be broken up... so I'd bet they came to an agreement where ANS would stop trying to block the sale if Hisp. Soc. sold it in its entirety. However, if that were the case, what would prevent whoever ends up buying the collection from piecing it out later? Would this sale actually go so far as to require that any bidders sign a binding agreement to keep it intact in perpetuity? As if enough money wasn't being left on the table... |
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Pillar of the Community
Czech Republic
803 Posts |
It will most likely end up being bought by a coalition of dealers putting a big in for the whole thing, picking out a few thousand of the better coins and selling them as a dedicated collection auction and liquidating some of the lesser pieces in smaller lots.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
684 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
France
1591 Posts |
Frankly, I hope another museum would have enough money to buy it, at least partially ...
The collection seems to have unique coins, which deserve to be available to everyone.
I wish the collection would be in spain, where local authorities can get lots removed for historical reasons :(
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1962 Posts |
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Frankly, I hope another museum would have enough money to buy it, at least partially... That's part of the problem in selling it right now, INTACT. In addition to the obvious fact that selling as one big bulk lot will net a good bit less money then piecing the collection out... While the coin market seems to be doing just fine, museums across the globe generally don't have the most robust funding available right now for collection buying, considering their middling endowments and undoubtedly reduced donations. And again, I'd be very curious to know if there will be restrictions placed upon what the buyers can ultimately do with the collection... That would have a big impact on selling price. |
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Replies: 12 / Views: 1,739 |
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Posted 01/10/2012 12:03 pm
