AUCTION SALE CATALOG COVERS AS ART

The commercial nature of the auction business leaves little time for artistic concern, and the catalog covers of the larger firms typically feature only a basic array of the current offerings with a monochrome background. The auction catalog is ultimately a for-profit sales tool, though to be sure many resources are committed to accurate photography and authoritative descriptions. Non-profit organizations have more latitude as volunteer efforts don’t share the same commercial concerns. The auction sale catalogs of Early American Coppers (EAC) for many years incorporated artwork by Steve Fischer. The 1992 EAC sale, held in St. Louis, featured a catalog cover with St. Louis landmarks (the Arch, and Busch Stadium, seemingly filled with a small number of extremely large copper coins), while the 1997 Las Vegas edition depicts a showgirl dancing precariously on a large cent. Recently, Kagin’s has sponsored a contest for catalog cover design, including this September 2017 winning entry, designed by Sandra Deiana. Billed as Kagin’s Auctions Cover Artist Series, this is a welcome trend in the field of auction catalog publication.

Link to Early American Coppers auction sale catalogs on NNP:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctioncompanydetail/510682

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web