by Jacqueline van Driessche
October 9, 2014 – The coin cabinet of the Royal Library of Belgium is most fortunate to possess the coin collection and the library of Lucien de Hirsch, given to the Belgian state by his mother in 1899. Among the treasures of his library one finds a full set of 409 catalogues produced by Sotheby’s for the years 1833-1869.
These catalogues, which once belonged to Benjamin Nightingale and then to Charles Richard Taylor, have all been annotated with for each coin the realized price and the name of the buyer. This is of crucial evidence to rebuild the vibrant network of coin collectors, dealers and auctioneers active in London at that time.
About 900 names have been recorded and are now listed on the website of the Brussels coin cabinet which may be consulted online.