Sheridan Downey Mail Bid Sale No. 9, The Al C. Overton Reference Collection of United States Bust Half Dollars, 1794-1836

Sheridan Downey's Mail Bid Sale #9, featuring selections form the Al C. Overton reference collection. Glossy card covered. 51 pages plus photo plates. Includes a biography of Overton and further personal, descriptive information. Very tough to find, as the print run was stopped a little short and not all of these were distributed. Why? Simple. Sheridan had planned to offer the Overton Collection coins individually, but before this sale took place, he was presented with an offer for the collection en masse. Which he accepted. As one might imagine, this caused a bit of an issue with many devoted Overton die variety collectors. Hundreds of those collectors were seriously disappointed not to have a chance to get a coin from Al's collection. New Jersey native Lennie Schramm even awarded the "Open A Can of Worms" award to Sheridan, the first and only time that award was given...mostly in good humor. In any case, this is a catalog for a sale that mostly didn't happen. Of the 394 lots listed, about 300 of them were Overton coins, all of which were withdrawn from the sale. Thus, 90-some lots did sell, though they were all the property of various consignors, none of whom were named Overton or Parsley (Don and Bonnie Parsley, Al Overton's daughter and son-in-law, who had inherited the collection when Al died in 1972). The Overton Collection was sold intact to a buyer who stated that he would keep it intact, and add to it, and that his children and grand-children (who were at that time, unborn) would be able to enjoy it. That has been the case, as now we are nearly 27 years on, and the collection is still as tightly held, and is now, virtually complete. This is a very interesting story indeed, but it all started with this simple catalog in the summer of 1993. This copy is essentially as new, unmarked, complete and undamaged. Included are a cut-out Coin World article about the sale, the cancellation letter Downey sent out, and the Prices Realized list, which was woefully short. This catalog is famous, very scarce and important in the history of Bust half dollar collecting.