Karl writes in the introduction to his list:

Establishing a 'first' requires a solid definition as well as a good bit of investigation. The Heritage CD probably is a first among the major U.S. numismatic auction houses; have any other firms around the world issued one? Should the definition exclude web-based catalogs? For example, Dennis Kroh's Empire Numismatics dropped print catalogs in favor of online sales a year or two ago.

What about a CD which duplicates web site listings? One firm, Cybercoins, offers a CD of their web site to people who want faster access to pictures and other content than they can get via modems; Will numismatic CD's become obsolete as fast internet connections become more prevalent?

Your editor's guess is that the numismatic CD is an interim step, but one which will continue to have a place as a fixed long-term record of electronic information, which changes and disappears quickly on the web. Case in point: Empire Coins ceased operations January 1, 2000; Dennis now focusses on another business, Empire Arms. Empire Coins catalogs are still available on the web, but for how long?