Introduction (cont.)

Several other publications were also very useful to me while researching or verifying information. The catalogues of the Armand Champa library sales were an important source of information on rare North American numismatic publications and were one of the first sources I scoured for material. Martin Gengerke's and Lorraine Durst's texts on American numismatic auctions enabled me to fill in missing details on many American auction sales including consignors, lots, Pages and other essential publication data. Unfortunately, neither of these two publications was particularly useful in terms of establishing Canadian content specifically.

I have been extremely fortunate that over the past twenty years numismatic libraries of unsurpassed quality have been auctioned by several firms including: George Kolbe; Charles Davis; Bowers & Merena; Remy Bourne; Frank Katen and others. The catalogues produced for these sales were of inestimable value to me for locating titles, publication data and/or comments regarding content for a large number of particularly rare or unusual publications. The previously mentioned Armand Champa library (catalogued by Charles Davis and auctioned by Bowers & Merena) and the Harry W. Bass Jr. library (catalogued and auctioned by George Kolbe) are undoubtedly the pre-eminent numismatic literature sales of the 20th century. I cannot foresee any other single collection of North American numismatic literature with either the quality or quantity of rare material represented in these two great libraries crossing the auction block at anytime in the near future - even if such a collection were to exist. We are truly fortunate that individuals such as George Kolbe, Remy Bourne and Charles Davis have dedicated their time and effort to annotating their sale catalogues in such exceptional detail not only for present-day numismatists but for future generations as well. Once again, I must re-iterate that the information contained in many of these sale catalogues made my work considerably easier.

As this text is a compilation, it is not a wholly original work. Many of the comments included in the text have been 'taken' from other sources; others are the authors' own. It would be impossible and impractical to attribute every statement in this document so we will not do so. Although we have identified sources for some of the information that came from texts previously mentioned above, comments that were originally part of a lot description in a particular numismatic or literature sale, or appearing in other bibliographic texts have not been separately identified. Not only would this have been very time-consuming, it would also have required many, many extra Pages for footnotes and would have served no practical purpose for the reader. We can only hope that no one (especially previous authors and cataloguers) will take offence as a result of this decision as no offence was intended.

The earliest publication included in this document is dated 1690 (see "LeBlanc, M.") and contains a reference to French Regime coinage minted specifically for the French colonies in North America. There are also a few references to titles published in the 18th century. Undoubtedly, the majority of entries are from the mid-to-late-20th century. Having said that, the reader will find a large number of texts published throughout the 19th century pertaining to American, British, French and worldwide numismatics. These early publications are all too often overlooked by modern researchers - often for no other reason than the fact that a modern text has been published which has superceded these earlier works. Unfortunately, many collectors fail to realize that these early works often contain information that cannot be found elsewhere. Contemporary texts published in the mid-19th century on French, British and American coins and tokens are important sources which vividly portray the political, economic and social conditions prevalent at a time when Canada's earliest official - and some of our most interesting unofficial - coinages were being minted.

Sadly, the modern trend is to collect numismatic items by using a particular cataloguer's publication as a checklist. For example, collectors of Canadian colonial coins and tokens often amass accumulations by Breton, Leroux or Charlton numbers - often to the exclusion of other texts. Very few collectors acquire the knowledge necessary to make new discoveries because they lack even the most basic reference library with which they can even begin conducting research. It is hoped that by publishing this text, new interest will be stimulated in original research as it becomes more obvious in which areas research remains to be done.

This document is not an all encompassing list of every numismatic book ever published. Many general titles are included that could perhaps have been omitted. Researchers should also remember that primarily only numismatic references are included in this bibliography, excluding many other sources that should be consulted in order to conduct thorough research on any subject. Such sources could include contemporary correspondence, diaries, journals, newspapers, atlases, business directories, municipal gazetteers, Parliamentary and legislative records at all levels of government, biographies, autobiographies, and other historical publications. The reader should also bear in mind that although there are literally thousands of important works which pertain to the numismatics of other countries, this bibliography is only concerned with those works containing information which is either directly or indirectly related to Canadian numismatics specifically. Having said this, every field of Canadian numismatics is represented in this text. Regardless of your specialty you are sure to discover numerous entries that will have been previously unknown to you.

The chapter on numismatic auction catalogues, although certainly incomplete, provides essential information that should assist any individual interested in a particular series to develop a general sense of the availability of certain material. For instance, the 1911 pattern dollar has only been sold once in a public auction sale (see "Rose, Frank" for details on this specific sale). In contrast, low-grade, circulated specimens of the 1921 fifty-cent piece (which is considered the key-date rarity of the entire circulating coinages of Canada) appear very frequently at auction while high-grade specimens appear very rarely. Collectors of tokens, historical and military medals, or paper money should also be able to identify important or key sales.

Throughout the 20th century the 'auction catalogue' has undergone a magnificent transformation. Illustrated or plated catalogues were particularly rare in 1900; today a catalogue without plates or illustrations would be very rare and it probably wouldn't be well received by collectors. Terse and unimaginative lot descriptions have been replaced by mini-novels. No one can doubt that cataloguers, such as John J. Ford, Q. David Bowers and David Akers, include such fascinating accounts of rare or unusual coins and collections in order to generate interest and elevate revenues. But in the end we are all the beneficiaries of their - seemingly microscopic - research.

In addition, auction catalogues are becoming more collectible in their own right - as witnessed by the number of numismatic literature auction sales where certain rare catalogues are being sold in the United States for phenomenal amounts of money. For instance, certain plated copies of the W.W.C. Wilson sale (see "Raymond, Wayte") are very rare and have sold recently for several thousands of dollars. Although the interest in old sale catalogues in Canada is much less considerable, it is expected that as collectors become more interested in developing their libraries and researching their collections these catalogues will become more popular than ever. Not only are these catalogues useful for ascertaining the availability and relative rarity of key items, but they can also be used to research pedigrees, which collectors are becoming interested in these days. Some early and many modern cataloguers mention former auction appearances or owners of specific lots in their sales and, even when this information has not been included, specimens of key pieces can often be traced through lot descriptions or comparisons against illustrations or plates.

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