Today marks my 2 year anniversary of collecting Spanish Royal and goverment documents/manuscripts. 2 years ago today i stopped a focus of coins and switched to these as they were more rare and elusive. Last week i was able to take a group picture of the collection which includes 106 royal documents signed by the king/queen and 69 colonial governor/spanish inquisition\ pope documents concerning the realm. Some notable pieces were the abolishment of slavery, abolishment of the 1820 constitution, abolishment of the inquisition, invasion of napoleon, beatification of a saint, creation of holidays and goverments and the births marriages n deaths of kings and queens.
I am speechless that you could accomplish this particular collection of antique documents in a mere two years.
I was amazed as well. Over half came from a seller that a old collecter had died and his family sold his off. But many of them had minor/low moderate insect damage (silverfish). Not a cheap hobby though. Most people actually find it boring and cant believe the cost of a piece of paper. I think they fail to see the history in them.
I was also very lucky as my translator is a ex priest from the phils who can read spanish and latin and has great knowledge of the Catholic church and its processes. Greatly needed for these as 85% are concerning the church in some fashion. So he is able to explain the processes in-depth which is invaluable.
I purchased a piece at auction 2 years ago today it was with a old spanish gold 1/2 escudo. It sat a while then i did research which sparked my interest then in april 2016 i found and started buying them in larger numbers. About 95% of the pieces were purchased un the last 15 months. They range in dates from 1591-1910. With most being in the range of 1790-1850.
Holy Patootie that's quite a collection in such a short time!!! Good for you!!! How did you get rid of the silverfish???? AND it looks to be VERY well organized!!!! NICE, VERY nice!!!!!!!
Some one else got rid of them before i obtained them but unfortunately the damage was done. I probably spent about an hour or two on each piece cutting pvc and acid free mylar to fit them, sealing them up, doing reasearch, translations, and labeling them. I figured if i didnt do this upfront i would have a scattered mess i. The long run. I put them in A2 size folders in the dark after all is said and done. Some pieces i was able to find CDV for the people concerned. I think my favorite part is the wax/other impression seals on the documents. Maybe only 10% of documents i own have them.