Collector's 700 'little records' to go to auction
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http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/730repo...s_video4.wmvPosted Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:28am AEST
Updated Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:46am AEST
On July 22, Dr Chapman will say goodbye to his prized collection.
On July 22, Dr Chapman will say goodbye to his prized collection.
One of the most important private collections of Australian historical coins and medals is about to go under the hammer in Melbourne.
The collection belongs to 80-year-old retired dentist Dr John Chapman, and includes what's claimed to be the first piece of Australian colonial art, the Charlotte Medal.
It was handcrafted by a convict while his ship, the Charlotte, sank at anchor in Botany Bay in January, 1788.
The entire 700-piece collection is expected to fetch around $1.8 million, but to many, the stories it tells are priceless.
"It's really intimate records of early Australian history. Little records enclosed in metal, really," Dr Chapman says.
These so-called little records are actually some of the most important pieces of Australian Colonial art, and its shining glory is the spectacular Charlotte Medal.
"It's the most wonderful piece I own, because apart from being a medal, it's the first piece of colonial art that exists," he said.
Fashioned from a metal kidney dish while the Charlotte sat at anchor with the First Fleet at Botany Bay in January, 1788, this gleaming metal disk predates white settlement, the work of an expert engraver and notorious forger, the convict Thomas Barrett.
"It was produced six days before Australia Day, while the First Fleet was anchored in Botany Bay," Dr Chapman said.
"Surgeon John White used that period to get Thomas Barrett to make a souvenir for him.
"He'll always be famous for having created this medal, but it's tragic in a way, because unfortunately he has the dubious distinction of being the first to be hanged in the new colony, because he stole food about a month after they landed."
Tidy investment
Back in 1981, Dr Chapman paid $15,000 for the Charlotte and people thought he was mad. But now, Thomas Barrett's legacy is about to make a different kind of history when it goes under the hammer in a couple of weeks.
"The catalogue and the estimator tells me it's worth [$750,000]," he said. "So, I didn't do so badly."
"It's the history behind it, really, as much as anything else, and the fact that it's unique [that raises the value]," John Sharples of the Melbourne Museum says.
"There's not going to be another one that will ever turn up. And, I suppose the price is similar to the price of a Victoria Cross because they're all unique too."
Alongside the Charlotte is another maritime story - the loss of the Lockhart near the Twelve Apostles on Victoria's West Coast in 1878 and the bravery of one surviving sailor, Tom Pearce.
"Of all the people aboard, there were only two saved: a sailor and one of the passengers, a young lady by the name of Eva Carmichael," Dr Chapman said.
"And, romantically, he put her in - took her ashore and wrapped her up and put her in a cave and then went off to get help. And he was awarded this medal for his efforts in rescuing Eva Carmichael."
Also opened to the highest bidder is a rare 1813 holy dollar.
"It is the first Australian coin - or the first coin produced in Australia. Most of them were eventually melted down," Mr Sharples said.
It was also the piece that gave Dr Chapman the collecting bug back in the 1960s.
'One of the great collectors'
"I knew nothing about numismatics or medals or coins or anything, but I wanted a holy dollar, and I saw one advertised by a dealer in Port Phillip arcade," he said.
"So I raced in there and I said, 'You're selling the holy dollar?' 'Yes,' [he said]. I said, 'I want the best one', and he brought them out. I said, 'Right, I'll have those'."
Mr Sharples said the purchase, seemingly out of the blue, is stuff of collector legend.
"There are many stories told about how he came from nowhere one day into the shop in Port Phillip arcade and bought this thing," he said.
"And after he'd left the shop, the dealer was ringing round saying, 'Who the hell is this person and should we trust him?' And he's turned out to be one the great collectors."
The result is this 700-piece collection, and 40 years later, this then-380-pound impulse purchase is likely to fetch around $200,000, although not everything up for auction has such hefty price tags or grand stories.
And so on July 22, one of our greatest collectors will say goodbye to his prized collection.
"Historically, I think probably once in roughly a century there's somebody who comes along with the knowledge and the enthusiasm and the money to be able to put something like this together," Mr Sharples said.
"And John, I think, is basically the person for the 20th century."
"It's lovely to think that the catalogue of their sale gives you a record of your collection, and also, you've ensured while you're still alive that they've gone to appreciative hands," Dr Chapman said.
"But whatever they pay, they've got a piece of history that they'll always be proud of and will always be of interest to future generations."
Posted 07/11/2008 4:12 pm
