KOLBE & FANNING SALE 176 HIGHLIGHTS

Kolbe and Fanning Book Sale 176 Highlights Cover

The 50th anniversary auction of Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers is being held on Saturday, February 28, 2026. The sale celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first mail-bid sale held by our founder, George Frederick Kolbe, on February 28, 1976. The sale features a wide array of rare and out-of-print works on ancient, world and U.S. numismatics, including a selection of works from Kolbe's personal library.

Lot 5: a complete set of Numismatic Notes and Monographs, comprising 172 monographs published on a variety of numismatic subjects by the ANS from 1920 to 2020

Lot 84: a handsome volume of 1840–1848 London numismatic auction catalogues, bound with the rare 1841 descriptive catalogue of the James Robinson collection

Lot 198: the extraordinary copy of Chretien de Mechel's important early work on Hedlinger's medals, in a beautiful fine binding, from the Prince Fürstenberg Library at Donaueschingen

Lot 217: a complete set of C. Hearn Nunn's rarely offered periodicals, the Numismatic Quarterly and the Numismatic Magazine, finely bound, from the library of S.H. Hamer

Lot 309: the Stack Family Library's copy of Henry Chapman's 1909 catalogue of the Andrew Zabriskie collection, with 13 fine photographic plates

Lot 311: an original plated copy of the catalogue of Clarence S. Bement's outstanding collection of American coins, from the library of John J. Ford, Jr.

Lot 340: a small-format copy of Eckfeldt & Du Bois's 1850 New Varieties of Gold and Silver Coins, with actual samples of California gold mounted within, ex the George F. Kolbe Library

Lot 344: Tom Elder's important 1910 catalogue of the Peter Mougey collection, with an impressive 42 photographic plates, from the Eric P. Newman Library

Lot 350: William Sumner Appleton's copy of Joseph B. Felt's 1839 Historical Account of Massachusetts Currency, acquired by Appleton when he only 16 years old

Lot 412: a plated copy of the catalogue of Lorin G. Parmelee's magnificent collection of American coins, sold by the New York Coin & Stamp Company in 1890.

When registering to bid, please review your contact and payment information, especially shipping address, to ensure that your lots are shipped quickly and correctly.

Bids may be placed via post, email or phone, as well as online. Kolbe & Fanning use Auction Mobility as our third-party online bidding platform. Auction Mobility is an app-based platform allowing users the ability to participate in the sale through phones, tablets and computers. To register for the sale, bidders must go to bid.numislit.com and sign up. Once you have set up an account, you may browse lots, place advance bids, or participate in the live sale online. Those wishing to participate on their devices can download the Kolbe & Fanning app through the Apple or Google Play Store.

The printed catalogue is being mailed to all active customers on our mailing list. As international mail speeds have been inconsistent, we encourage our foreign clients to consult the electronic catalogue in case their printed catalogue does not arrive promptly. A PDF of the printed catalogue has been posted to our main website at numislit.com for those who prefer that format. Bids placed via post, email, fax, or phone must be received by February 27, the day before the sale, in order for them to be processed. Advance absentee bids may also be placed at any time online at bid.numislit.com. Live internet bidding will be available during the sale itself through the same platform.

Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers LLC, is licensed by the State of Ohio Department of Agriculture (license 2025000025) as an auctioneer, and is bonded as required by law in favor of the State of Ohio.

For more information, please see the Kolbe & Fanning website at numislit.com or email David Fanning at df@numislit.com. To register for the sale, go to bid.numislit.com. We look forward to your participation.

I know we are smack dab in the age of the internet and anti-book. Someone forgot to tell me though with an ever growing library and research center. If you are like me and love the written word on actual paper then check out K&F's 176th auction with 447 lots. Despite having over 4,000 titles already scanned from the S&S Library, I still relish in checking my references in the actual paper form. It makes attribution so much easier (at least for me).

What I love about the K&F auctions are the beautiful, and in many instances, first edition copies, many owned by some of the numismatic greats. We are a niche industry but if you collect, there is nothing close to the satisfaction of owning a book by a well-known and sourced numismatist/scholar. A few highlights include lot 5, a complete set of a 100 year period (1920-2020) of the ANS Numismatic Notes and Monographs. The series starts in 1920 in a smaller version sextodecimo in printed card covers with Sidney P. Noe's Coin Hoards. After the 109th issue the books become objectively larger to an octavo size. There is a lot of interesting information held in this series.

Lot 34, the eight volume set of Joseph Eckhel's magnus opus on numismatics. Eckhel's works, from 1828, are considered among the most important and groundbreaking works in the field of numismatics as we know it. First edition.

Lot 43, the beautiful antiquarian set of Hubertus Goltzius, five volumes from 1708. If you want to see some gorgeous woodcut works of art that can be affordably owned you'll want to check this out.

Lot 132, for those that collect British trade tokens (otherwise known as Condor tokens), an original Dalton and Hamer is imperative (1910-1918). This lot also comes with a handwritten letter (photocopied here) from Hamer.

Lot 148, Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, the definitive work on Byzantine coinage. This is a must-have set for anyone interested in coins of that period.

Lot 177, George Hill's two volume set on Italian Medals of the Renaissance before Cellini. It is a wonderful book showcasing medals from the time period of 1390 to approximately 1530.

Lot 284, a cool photograph that proves that numismatics was a man's world. This photograph from the 1912 ANA convention is a very interesting piece of history from an organization that still is the backbone of modern numismatics. There are also a number of deluxe editions of numismatic sales from the George Kolbe library. George recently passed away which created a major loss in the world of numismatic booksellers.

Lot 385 is a wonderful hard bound set of the K&F auctions from 2009-2025. Lot 411, a two volume set of Washington medals from Neil Musante covering the period 1777-1890. Lot 419, a complete set, 1980-2024 of the NBS Aslyum, something that all numismatic bibliophiles should have.

There are also a few duplicates being sold from the S&&S Library (we have many) so they can be found within the auction as well.