The Famous BCD Library at Kolbe & Fanning

Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers announced their sale of the extraordinary BCD Library on numismatics of the ancient world, with the first sale to be held on Saturday, February 17. The BCD Library is famous for its extraordinary depth, particularly in works on ancient Greek coinage. Carefully formed over the course of half a century, the library has become a resource familiar to experts around the world through the generosity of the owner in making his library available for their use. This initial auction focuses most heavily on published collections, general works, periodicals, and landmark publications, with literally thousands of titles remaining for future offerings. Some highlights of this first sale include:

Lot 107.

• Lot 107: a complete set of the Zeitschrift für Numismatik (1874–1935), one of only a few such sets in private hands. Estimate: $30,000.
• Lot 126: J.N. Svoronos’s classic Journal international d’archéologie numismatique, a complete set of this important and well-illustrated publication. Estimate: $4,000.
• Lot 165: an original, first edition set of Joseph Eckhel’s Doctrina numorum veterum (1792–1798), finely bound in the 1840s by the London firm of Clarke & Bedford. Estimate: $1,500.
• Lot 177: T.E. Mionnet’s 1806–1837 Description de médailles antiques, grecques et romaines, complete in sixteen volumes including the supplement and plates. Estimate: $1,200.

Lot 197.

• Lot 197: the extremely rare folio volume (c. 1679) of 41 exceptional engraved plates depicting ancient coins in the collection of Louis XIV, part of the Cabinet du roi series. Estimate: $6,000.
• Lot 258: a complete, original set of Ernest Babelon’s Traité des monnaies grecques et romaines (1901–1932), one of the landmark works in Greek numismatics. Estimate: $7,500.
• Lot 311: Jean Babelon’s charming and very rare catalogue of the outstanding collection formed by Carlos de Beistegui, with 64 very fine plates. Estimate: $4,000.

Lot 327.

• Lot 327: three volumes bringing together 146 unpublished photographic prints depicting over 5000 ancient Greek coins in the collection of the British Museum. Estimate: $1,500.

Lot 353.

• Lot 353: Edward Newell’s copy of Bernhard von Köhne’s rare catalogue of the Prince Basil Kotchoubey collection, published in Saint Petersburg in 1857. Estimate: $3,000.
• Lot 518: the first edition of Svoronos’s 1890 Numismatique de la Crète ancienne, the author’s first major work and still a vitally important reference. Estimate: $2,500.