COMPLIMENTARY COPY
Dime Struck On A Nail Brings $42,300 At Auction
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 5, 2016 • VOL. 47, NO. 6
Taking In The View: 19th-Century Stereoview Photographs From Our Files By Andrew Richmond Stereoview photographs (also called stereoscopic photographs or stereographs) did not come into existence until the 1850s, but, as is often the case with scientific advancements, the imaginative vision that gave birth to them was in place years earlier, in this case more than 200 years earlier. As far back as the early 17th century, visionaries were making drawings of what would develop into the stereoviewer, but stereoviewers (or stereoscopes) would not become a reality until the early 19th century. Stereoviews are composed of two images that are nearly identical, images that are taken from Seven exterior and interior views of viewpoints that are a few inches Washington, D.C. by the Bell Brothers, 1860apart, and then mounted on cards. 80. Prices on some subjects can be very reaBy viewing them through lenses set sonable. This group brought less than $50 in about eye-width apart, the brain is 2014 at Stereographica. tricked into combining the images in a way that creates a three-dimensional effect. (All the technology that drives 3-D movies today is largely derived from and built upon the same principles and technology that led to stereoviews.) Sir David Brewster designed the classic box-shape stereoviewer and Sir Charles Wheatstone created the first stereoview in 1833. For the 20 years or so before photography became more widely available, stereoviews were typically drawings. Oliver Wendell This is an unusual series of the Great Solar Eclipse of Holmes’ invention of a 1869, photographed by A.K.P. Trask. These four stereoviews brought $176 in 2014 at Stereographica. Continued on page 2
A singular and spectacular U.S. Mint error coin, a Roosevelt Dime struck on a zinc-coated six penny nail graded MS65 PCGS sold for $42,300 on Jan. 6, in Heritage Auctions’ Florida United Numismatists (FUN) U.S. Coins Signature Auction in Tampa, Fla. The pre-auction estimate on the “coin” was $10,000+. It was purchased by a prominent American collector of many kinds of collectibles across a wide range of categories. “Significant error coins are among the most sought-after in the hobby, as evidenced by the spirited bidding among collectors over this coin,” said Greg Rohan, President of Heritage Auctions, “This is certainly among the most unique and mysterious errors to ever come to auction. The truth is, no one really knows how or why it was struck.”
What is known is that the zinccoated six penny nail found its way into the coinage production line during the minting of Roosevelt dimes. The specimen is undated and apparently escaped through normal distribution channels. This coin struck onto a nail is not the first coin to have such a distinction. A few examples of cents struck onto nails were discovered in the 1970s. The total number of similar errors, including this one, is thought to be approximately six. For more information, visit www.HA.com.
AAN Current News
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Masterful Art Nouveau Posters Offered Through Swann Galleries on page 6
Henry Ossawa Tanner Painting Brings $84,000 For the third year in a row, Nadeau’s Auction Gallery sailed past the $1 million mark at its annual New Year’s Day auction, posting a $1.25 million+ gross at the Jan. 1 event and cementing its reputation as Connecticut’s only auction house that consistently conducts sales that surpass $1 million. This year’s auction featured 650 lots in a wide array of categories. The top lot of the auction was an original oil-on-artist board painting by one of America’s first internationally renowned African-American artists, Henry Ossawa (H.O.) Tanner (1859-1937). The work, titled “Flight into Egypt” sold for $84,000 following a fierce bidding war. The painting was signed
Winterthur Celebrates Cataloguing Milestone on page 8
This original oil painting by the renowned late 19th/early 20th-century African-American artist Henry Ossawa (H.O.) Tanner sold for $84,000.
Firearms And Militaria Auction Delivers on page 8
by Tanner in the lower right and measured 17.5-by-20-inches. All prices quoted include a 20 percent buyer’s premium. The auction was held in Nadeau’s gallery, located at 25 Meadow Road in Windsor, Conn. A standing-room only crowd of over 350 people packed the showroom, while 2,000 registered bidders participated online, through Continued on page 2
New Book On Corkscrews Released on page 14
In This Issue
Stereoviews captured America from coast to coast. This view by Watkins depicts San Francisco’s iconic streetcars, and it sold for $413, also in 2014 at Stereographica.
This R. J. Horner Victorian oak safe cabinet with carved winged griffins back-splash and a carved face on the door garnered $12,000.
This Steinway & Sons East Indian rosewood grand piano, Model L (Crown Jewel Collection) with a high-gloss finish and matching bench breezed to $24,000.
SHOPS, SHOWS & MARKETS . . . . . . . . . . starting on page 3 SHOPS DIRECTORY . . . . . . . . . on page 5 AUCTIONEER DIRECTORY . . . . on page 12 EVENT & AUCTION CALENDAR . on page 9
FEATURED AUCTION: Morphy’s Auction - January 9 and 10 in Denver, Pennsylvania - page 18
AUCTION SALE BILLS . . . starting on page 9 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . on page 19