CATALOGUE OF THE NUMISMATIC COLLECTION FORMED BY JOSEPH J. MICKLEY, ESQ

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The One Hundred Greatest Items Of United States Numismatic Literature Rank: Number 71

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Adams 17, Clain-Stefanelli 12029, Davis 1158, Gengerke 17

Mickley was the first blockbuster sale in American numismatics and as such tells us a great deal about what was important to collectors of the era. For starters, there was no quibble with quantity, thirty-three hundred plus lots being sold over six evening sessions. Ancients, and European coins and medals fill the first half of the catalog, setting the stage for a small American federal offering of only a few hundred lots. But what lots! The listing of pre-1858 proof sets by year is a gauche display of collecting prowess, and one sees also the genesis of variety collecting, particularly among the copper pieces. The usual rarities, necessarily a much shorter list in 1867, are all here, from the 1804 dollar to the 1827 quarter and so on. American patterns, colonials, and medals follow. Finally, a tip of the hat is given to present-day bibliophiles at the end of the sale, over a hundred lots, so that today we can peer back in time and see what the numismatist Mickley kept on his bookshelf – an assemblage worth studying with a copy of Attinelli's Numisgraphics (#59) at hand. Much later, in 1996, Charles Davis produced a named and priced hardbound reprint of Mickley which is a faithful reproduction of the original.

Pre Sale Edition

WOODWARD, W. Elliot. CATALOGUE OF THE NUMISMATIC COLLECTION FORMED BY JOSEPH J. MICKLEY, ESQ.
New York: October 28 - November 2, 1867
196pp, 3,349 lots, no price list issued
Octavo: 25.5 x 16 cm
Softbound: Printed tan card covers

Woodward's Seventeenth Sale as well as Tenth Semi-Annual Sale

Gengerke 17: DNHA
Adams 17

Post Sale Priced Edition

WOODWARD, W. Elliot. PRICED CATALOGUE OF THE NUMISMATIC COLLECTION FORMED BY JOSEPH J. MICKLEY, ESQ., OF PHILADELPHIA; SOLD FOR ACCOUNT OF W. ELLIOT WOODWARD OF ROXBURY, MASS.
New York: October 28 - November 2, 1867
196pp, 3,349 lots, priced catalog
Octavo: 27 x 17 cm
Softbound: Printed tan card covers

Woodward's Seventeenth Sale as well as Tenth Semi-Annual Sale

Limited to 60 copies. Printed on extra heavy tinted paper. ^[1]

1996 Reprint

Wendham, MA: Charles Davis, 1996
220pp, 3,026 lots, price list bound in
Octavo
Hardbound: Blue cloth, lettered in gilt

Supplement of buyer's names and prices bound in.

1996 Deluxe Reprint

Wendham, MA: Charles Davis, 1996
220pp, 3,026 lots, price list bound in
Octavo
Hardbound: Tan half calf, red leather spine label, decorated in blind and gilt, lettered in gilt

Supplement of buyer's names and prices bound in. Limited to 15 copies.

References

1. ↑ ATTINELLI, Emmanuel J., Numisgraphics, New York: 1876.