(1002) The Front Page: Volume 2 Issue 10: Last Revision: 12/20/07
While some the coins were retreads from the great JB Parker Collection Sale in 1998, many of the coins in this collection had never been seen at public auction before. The last four mints (Mexico City, Oaxaca, San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas) represented in this collection were the highlights of the collection and showed where the owner’s true colors resided. For example: One of three reported Oaxaca @ 1858 AE (the “A” inside the “O”) 8 Reales and surely the finest known was hammered down for $46,000 after spirited bidding on an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. A second example, the ex JB Parker Zacatecas ZS 1870 YH, also sold for $46,000, this coin was originally purchased by the collector for $28,600 in the Parker Sale. As a side note: both of these coins were purchased by Houston Texas coin dealer Jed Crump for an anonymous client.
While record prices abounded, there were still many bargains to be had, I know because I bought a few. The last auction of this collection was well attended; many collectors and dealers from the US and Mexico attended along with some good book prices. Several of the Mexicans bought heavily; some said they were repatriating coins lost to gringos many years ago.
This sale could well be the classic auction for Cap & Ray 8 Reales for years to come. Rumor has it that Rick Ponterio may do a reprint of all three sales in a special edition book for purchasers of the coins. Good move Rick, but don’t limit the distribution of the book to the purchasers only because this will become the next classic piece of work much like the Henry Christensen 1958 book of his sale was … and still is.
The prices paid for higher quality and rarer coins sold in the fall auction season in Mexico gave an indication that prices seem to be climbing at a faster and higher rate than those that were in the US auctions.
This has caused some concern for dealers and collectors in the United Sates as material that usually travels north of the border from these sales didn't happen as much this fall.
Is this the first sign of a changing trend, or is a single occurrence? This is another of those things that only time will tell. Maybe the Mexican collectors are really tired of all of their country's better coins reside in the US.
Well it turns out we weren’t the only ones complaining because eBay is starting to react, even if they aren’t addressing the Mexican Coin problem at this time. They have announced new selling procedures that aren’t making everyone happy. If you buy, or sell on eBay you should check out these news rules.
Maybe, sometime in the future after the dust settles, eBay will do something about the counterfeit and fake Mexican coins being created in China and the Far East if enough people complain?
The first quarter of the year have been busy international coin show months in the USA for years; the Florida FUN Show in January, Long Beach, generally in February, and the Chicago (CICS) in March.. Once NYINC plunked down into January the US international coin show circuit really became crowded during the first part of the year. The Houston Money Show became lost as far as being a national or international show. Where in the past there had been good public auctions at the show, they disappeared. There always seemed to be a large crowd at the old location, The Adam's Mark Hotel. But at the new location, Houston's Brown Convention Center, people seemed to get lost in the giant enclosure, and dealer booths filled up less than half of the allocated space.
Now, with the move to early December, the Houston Money Show has a chance to become a first-rate international coin show, or at least so for Latin American and Mexican Numismatic World. Heritage must see something in Houston in December because they had a public auction there for the first time. According to the Heritage Website it was a successful one too. We saw many dealers at the December show who didn't attend the show in January. All of them that I talked to said they would be back next year.
Houston in December has a lot going for it; good weather, great shopping, wonderful food, great medical facilities, and an international airport that has direct flights to most of Latin America. This is what Latin American collectors and dealers are looking for. If the Houston Coin Club and the dealers that attend this show get on the bandwagon this show could eventually eclipse Long Beach in May as the greatest show on earth for Mexican and Latin American Numismatics. But of course this is only one man's opinion!
Dave and I sighted up for our booth at the 2008 Houston Money Show before we left town, look forward to seeing you there next year.
The problems we found while reading the translations of Volume III are much greater than we first thought. Dr Pradeau originally wrote the text for all three volumes in English and they were then translated into Spanish. It seems that these Spanish translations while good, were not great. Our little wordsmith, Dave Busse, finally yelled, “calf-rope” during early November and we have finally made a deal with a Mexico City professional translator to finish up the revisions of all three volumes.
We are now getting quotes from printers and publishers, here and in Mexico, for a limited edition of 200 printed books, 24 will be leather bound and the remaining will have cloth covers without dust covers as we want to maintain the look of the originals. We are still undecided about how to handle the plates; do we make another book or plate the coins in one of the three volumes? If you have any suggestions we would love to hear from you. Keep in mind the price, because if we go to another book it will cost more. Currently our goal is still to have the books available for sale by Christmas of 2008, so you can get your significant other to buy you a present that you really want.
One of our readers also suggested that we offer the translations on CDs, what do you think?
I wondered what had happened to make this drastic of a change? Long story, short version: Someone had taken the time to convert this English internet publication into Spanish. I don't know who did it, nor exactly how they did it, but it was done shortly after Issue 7 was posted.
I would like to thank whoever did it for doing it. At this time I can tell you it was done by some internet provider in Cuernavaca Mexico. And if you would like to know how to find the Spanish version of Mexican Coin Magic, contact me at Mexcoinmagic@aol.com and I will give you an address to reach it.
That’s all for now…
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