THE COIN COLLECTOR - World eBook Library

THE COLLECTOR SERIES
have recently reawakened the interest in Greek coins,
and the Richardson cabinet of English ones went a
little tamely ; this was partly because several collectors
of such things are dead or have withdrawn, and partly
because the sale was merely a portion of the property,
and that of a living person. The vast and varied
numismatic treasures of the continent of Europe are
still, in the main, a terra incognita to English and
American collectors. Some say they may have their
turn, and they will be found almost incapable of
exhaustion.
The formation of priced lists of coins in Numismatic
Manuals is, on the grounds above stated, shown there-
fore to be at best of very slight utility, and more
often a source of error and trouble. It may gratify a
possessor to read in a book or in a newspaper that some
specimen which he acquired for a very moderate sum
has realised a much larger one ; but the price is a
feature which is well known to rely on—(1) the condi-
tion ; (2) the type ; (3) the prior owner. Which of
these factors is the most influential, it might be pre-
sumptuous to attempt to decide. Even condition is a
relative term. The auctioneer tells you that a piece
is " fmefor the coin
;
,1
and this is apt to be most true
when a coin has been struck on impure material by an
unskilful moneyer, or when, as in so many of the colo-
nial coins of all countries, siege-pieces, or currency of
troubled and insecure reigns, the flan is too small for
the die. At any rate, condition has of late com-
manded more general respect in England, France, and
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