Collectors of Old Master prints and drawings often had hundreds or thousands of works on paper in their collections to keep track of at a time when inventories were painstakingly made by hand in ledger books. As part of this process, a stamp or seal was put on the back of each work of art to identify the owner, sometimes accompanied by a hand-written inventory number. Royal collections were inventoried and documented in the same way, often with a royal wax seal added to the collection number. These marks have been recorded over time and enable scholarly research into the history and provenance of important works on paper. In the absence of old inventory records or royal archives, collectors' marks can help identify a work of art and can add value if it is determined that the mark is that of a prestigious or royal collection, or from a prominent historic figure.

Dutch collector and connoisseur Frederick Johannes "Frits" Lugt (1884-1970) is the best-known and most thorough compiler of collectors' marks. In 1921, Lugt completed Les Marques de collections de dessins et d'estampes, an essential research tool for art historians and collectors.

To read the complete article, see:
Documenting History: Collectors' Marks, Stamps and Seals(https://www.stairgalleries.com/news-insights/insights/collectorsmarks/)

New Buyer Discovers Microscopic "D" Counterstamp!

The private buyer of the Dexter Dollar from the dealers who purchased the Charles M. Williams collection was Harold S. Bareford, a lawyer who became General Counsel for Warner Bros. Pictures. Bareford reportedly paid $10,000 for the rarity in 1949.

He held the dollar for many years, with Stack's auctioning the Bareford Collection in 1981. The catalog description for the Dexter Dollar included this important news:

To read the complete article, see:
New Buyer Discovers Microscopic "D" Counterstamp!(https://1804dollar.com/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
VOCABULARY TERM: COLLECTOR'S MARK(https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n06a16.html)