Auction catalog of a spectacular collection of Polish gold coins and medals.
Very rare.
The auction took place on November 9, 1962 in New York, organized by Coin Galleries(now Stack's). As part of it, the "POLISH GOLD" collection was separated and auctioned under numbers 278-424.
Referring to J. Strzałkowski's "Collections of Polish Coins and Medals," it was most likely the collection of either Adam Styka (1890-1959), a Polish painter working in Paris and New York, or his brother, Tadeusz Styka (1889-1954). According to Marek Kaleniecki, both brothers were collectors and this was most likely their joint collection, exhibited after the other brother, Adam, died in 1959.
The collection was amazing.
It contained as many as 146 items of Polish gold, including 31 that Count Emeryk Hutten-Czapski did not have in his collection!
The catalog has a total of 66 pages of text part and 26 pages of plates with photos of coins. The photos are of good quality and most are of Polish numismats. The auction of the Polish part was preceded by an extensive two-and-a-half-page introduction characterizing Polish minting. The entire collection named simply as "POLISH GOLD."
In the collection such amazing pieces as item 312 - 10 ducats of Sigismund III Vasa with a standing figure of the king in a side view - one of two pieces currently known. The third was still in Potocki's collection - now lost; a piece from this auction went to the Smithsonian Institution. Also auctioned at this auction was the only known (and possibly ever minted in a single piece) gold medal from the royal suite with Sigismund III Vasa, now adorning the collection of the Royal Castle in Warsaw. And there were as many as six ducats of Sigismund I the Old!
This is one of the most important auction catalogs in the bibliography of Polish numismatics.
Piece with a noticeably soaked cover (dampstain) and waviness from dampness of the first few pages, but otherwise the interior in very good condition; the Polish part without reservations.
Definitely recommended.
Format ~B5, complete with result list rebound on A4.
