A Brief History of Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. On the Occasion of CNG’s Auction 100
Original sign for Victor England, Ltd.
The beginnings of Classical Numismatic Group can be traced back to the spring of 1975, when Victor England graduated from the University of Denver and decided to enter the rare coin business. Victor first pursued the path of dealing in United States, ancient, and world coins, but after attending a coin show in Biloxi, Mississippi, and realizing that his merchandise was about the same as every other dealer’s, he decided to switch his focus entirely to ancient, medieval, and world coinage. He decided it was more fun to sell history than to argue about the nuances of grading U.S. coins. Victor England Ltd. was started in Denver, Colorado out of an office on South University Boulevard, not far from his alma mater. Victor almost immediately began publishing fixed price lists and mail bid auction sales, and by the time he published Volume II, No. 5, he had announced his relocation to San Francisco, California. Business was conducted out of Suite 717, at 500 Sansome Street, and soon Victor hired his first numismatic employee, Stephen M. Huston. After a crippling burglary in February of 1980 at the Sansome street office, Victor again relocated back to Denver. He reestablished his business in Denver during the summer of 1980, and would remain in the Denver area until the fall of 1983, when he decided to once again relocate, this time to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where his parents still lived and where Victor had attended high school before he left for the University of Denver back in 1971. Victor married in 1983, and he and Cathy decided that Lancaster County was the place to start their family.
Quarryville, PA office (1983-1993)
San Fransisco, CA office (1978-1980)
Victor purchased a home in the rural community of Quarryville, Pennsylvania, which would become the base of his operations for the next ten years. In 1986, Victor decided to enter the competitive world of coin auctions. To that end, he hired Karen L. Zander to be his office manager, and formed Classical Numismatic Auctions, Ltd., which conducted its first auction on 1 May 1987 in New York City at the Sheraton Center Hotel & Towers, familiar to many as the home of the New York International Numismatic Convention since the early 1970s. The auctioneer for the first sale was Herbert J. Kreindler, a noted dealer in ancient coins, and this relationship with Herb has continued to this day. Other important influences on Victor’s early career were Charles H. Wolfe, Sr., John Barton (Owl Ltd.), Thomas P. McKenna, and Joel Malter.
Victor decided he needed help to continue the auction sales, and Kerry K. Wetterstrom joined the firm in time for the next sale held on 7 November 1987, this time in conjunction with the Grand Central Coin Convention, held across the street from the Sheraton at the Omni Park Hotel. As the number of auctions increased, both public and mail bid only sales (yes, Virginia, this was before the Internet), additional employees were added: first Peter L. Lampinen in late 1989, and then Dawn Ahlgren in mid 1990. The next step in the evolution of what was to become CNG started with conversations at several coin shows in the late 1980s between Victor and Eric J. McFadden. Eric was based in Southern California; he had studied Classics at Pomona College and Oxford University (where he was president of the Oxford University Numismatic Society), and he had worked as a volunteer at the Getty Museum organizing the museum’s coin collection. Eric then worked at Numismatic Fine Arts, Inc. in the late 1970’s and early 1980s. He left NFA to obtain his law degree from Harvard Law School, where he paid his expenses by dealing part-time in ancient coins. Eric continued to deal in ancient coins during his four years as an attorney, and eventually realized that he preferred the ancient coin field to a law career. In 1990, Victor and Eric decided to join forces as partners. 4