Chapman, Henry. Catalogue of the John Story Jenks Collection of Coins, Ancient Greek, Roman and the Entire World, Early American Colonial and State Issues and United States Patterns and the Regular Series. December 7-17, 1921. Philadelphia. Very Fine.Quarto. Hardbound in white full calf, lettered in gilt on the front cover and spine in the style of the original cloth-bound copies. Complete with 42 original photographic plates bound in at the end, but without the errata sheet and prices realized list. As an interesting aside, the prices realized list for the Jenks sale included a small piece of numismatic history, beyond the prices. The final lot, 7302, is noted on the price list as having been “presented to Henry Chapman by J.S. Jenks,” rather than sold. This lot was one of two custom-built fireproof safes with interior coin cabinets that were still on the second story of Jenks’ home, with the removal by “expert safe removers at buyers’ expense” stipulated in the catalog.<p>An incredible sale for its broad scope and size, extensive plates and remarkable total realization of $61,379.46. The Jenks sale, at 7,302 lots, was the largest ever conducted by the Chapman brothers, either on their own or in partnership. The next largest sale was George Earle’s collection at 3,875 lots. According to Adams, just 60 copies were printed with the original plates, as here, and they were a bit pricey at $20, when compared to the $1 price tag of the cloth-bound catalog alone. Naturally, Adams counted this among Henry Chapman’s “A+” catalogs (a ranking given to only three of his sales), and described it as “Henry Chapman’s magnum opus: Superb coins of the world plus U.S. all series, all expertly described.” This copy is bright and clean save for a few penciled notations at a few lots. Some of these are prices, others seem to be codes, perhaps of intended bids. A few very minor handling marks on the leather cover, but the gilt titles are bold and fresh.From the D. Brent Pogue Library.
