Parmelee Auction Fistfight and RCC
Mike Marotta
several times each over the past few days. It is true that you have
to have a thick skin to participate here. For myself, there are other
venues. Last month, I sent an article to THE CELATOR about medieval
Champagne (the place, whence the drink, though I neglected to mention
that aspect of their local culture). If I had posted any of it here,
what would I have gotten for my effort? Flamed. I used to post essays
under the rubric THIRD SIDE OF THE COIN and got more bricks than
bouquets. So, there is that constant disincentive. On the other
hand, when I wanted to research the topic for this post, I came to RCC
and used the Advanced Groups Search. So, there is a lot here in RCC
about the hobby. The question is: Has numismatics ever been any
different than it is today? As a corollary -- and the motivation for
this piece -- has RCC not always been just whatever we the posters
make it?
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.coins
From: merc...@well.com (Michael Edward Marotta)
Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2000 18:33:32 GMT
Local: Sat, Dec 16 2000 1:33 pm
Subject: Literature Dealers
For a slice through the middle of what numismatic literature is all
about, consider the Remy Bourne 12th public auction catalog of October
6-7, 2000. It is representative of the kinds of catalogs, books, and
other printed materials that all sellers of literature have to offer.
Probably the keystone is Smith's hand-priced copy of the Parmelee Sale
by New York Stamp and Coin June 25-27, 1890. At $1200, it is 12 times
more expensive than yet another MS-64 Morgan Dollar, but this was the
sale where Ed Frossard and Lyman Low got into a wrestling match
arguing over a Clover Leaf Cent.
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.coins
From: jstone9...@aol.com (JSTONE9352)
Date: 03 Feb 2002 13:09:51 GMT
Local: Sun, Feb 3 2002 8:09 am
Subject: Dealer fistfight at a coin auction
In reading the March 2002 Coinage magazine article about the Chapman
Brothers mention is made of the Parmelee Collection sold by Harlan P.
Smith in June 1890. A fistfight broke out between dealers Edouard
Frossard and Lyman Low during bidding for the 1793 Clover Leaf cent.
Has anyone read a contemporary account of what exactly happened?
These two dealers had a long standing feud and hated each other but an
actual fistfight at an auction seems pretty amazing. I wonder if
either dealer actually won the coin they were fighting over or if
someone else outbid them.
Has anyone ever heard of an actual fight breaking out at any other
auction? I expect tempers flare from time to time among the bidders
but an actual fight would probably be pretty rare.
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.paper-money, rec.collecting.coins
From: "Mike Marotta" <merc...@torchlake.com>
Date: 2 Apr 2006 00:43:51 -0800
Local: Sun, Apr 2 2006 3:43 am
Subject: Proposed MSNS Code of Ethics
In terms of our hobby, certainly, it was a plainer and simpler time
when all 100 numismatic _collectors_ could meet in Chicago. (The
numismatic _scholars_ had been meeting in New York for 50 years by
that time.) But even so, you cannot read the catalogs of Frossard and
the Chapman Brothers without seeing the Victorian roots of
Rec.Collecting.Coins. They accused each other of being fools and
crooks. We still cite Low numbers for Hard Times Tokens, even a
generation after Rulau's reworking of the study, and we forget that at
auction, Lyman Low was a real grappler. Imagine if QDB took a swing
at Greg Rohan some night at an ANA auction.
--------------------------------------------
The thing is though that everyone else came for the auction. If they
had wanted to see a wrestling match, there were other opportunities.
Mike M.
Michael E. Marotta
"Toehold"
Jud
Mike Marotta wrote:
Imagine if QDB took a swing
> at Greg Rohan some night at an ANA auction.
>
Although QDB is my sentimental favorite, my money would be on Greg
Rohan.
8-)
Mark B.
news:4cca513d-95d1-4439-8051-
Has numismatics ever been any
different than it is today?
Yes, several years ago, people were throwing their pennies in the trash.
Now they're just throwing them down in the street.