Words for Collectors 2

Paul Dickson, a prolific author of books on words, has been collecting words for decades. The most common form of describing a person who collects something specific is to say: “He is a stamp collector” or “He is a baseball collector.” But to a word collector and lover, like Dickson, what is the fun in that? (By the way, a stamp collector is philatelist; a baseball card collector is a cartophile). Dickson, a self-confessed lexiconophilist, has even coined a term for the collection of collections: “philophily.” Unfortunately for Dickson, that word never made it into the Oxford English Dictionary. Below is a collection of some words that are indeed part of the English lexicon to describe different types of collectors, no matter how obscure:

Arenophile: beach sand
Brandophilist: cigar bands
Entredentolignumologist: toothpick boxes
Exlibrist: bookplates
Falerist: medals, badges, and pins
Grabatologist: neckties
Helixophile: corkscrews
Iconophile: book illustrations or engravings
Labeorphilist: beer bottles
Lotologist: lottery tickets
Pannapictagraphist: comic books
Paroemiographer: proverbs
Scutelliphile: souvenir patches and badges
Sucrologist: sugar packets
Tyrosemiophile: cheese labels

Read related post: Why Do People Collect Things?
Words for Collectors

For further reading: Words by Paul Dickson, Delacorte Press (1982)
oxforddictionaries.com/us/words/what-is-the-word-for-people-who-collect
http://mentalfloss.com/article/28228/20-obscure-words-describe-collectors
http://www.hintsandthings.co.uk/games/collectors.htm

The Most Expensive Baseball Card in the World

A cartophile is a collector of baseball cards. For dedicated cartophiles, the Holy Grail of baseball cards is the 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner Rookie baseball card. Having achieved almost mythical status, it is simply known as “The Card.”

From 1909 to 1911, the American Tobacco Company produced a series of baseball cards that featured colorful lithographic portraits of popular baseball players. The portrait was framed by white border that contained the athlete’s name and city of their team in black ink. On the back of each card, was an advertisement for one of 16 tobacco products. The T206 designation was assigned to the series in Jefferson Burdick’s American Card Catalog published in the 1930s.

The Wagner card is extremely rare. Today, out of perhaps 200 cards printed in the first production run, there are only 57 known original baseball cards; few are in mint condition. The Card features a color lithograph of Honus Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates against an orange background. At the bottom of the card are the words “Wagner, Pittsburg” printed in black ink, centered in the bottom white border. The back of most of the Wagner cards features an ad for Sweet Caporal, a tobacco product. The card was pulled from production (thus the short production run) because Wagner did not want his likeness used to market tobacco and/or he was not being compensated for advertising.

The most valuable Wagner card is known as the Gretzky T206 Honus Wagner baseball card. Back in 1985, the card sold for $25,000 to Jim Copeland, the owner of a sporting goods franchise. In 1991, Copeland sold the Wagner card to Wayne Gretzky, ice hockey Hall of Famer, and Bruce McNall, an owner of the Los Angeles Kings, for $451,000 (thus earning the name “Gretzky T206 Honus Wagner.”) In 1995, Gretzky and McNall sold the card to Walmart for $500,000. The card was given away in a promotion, and that winner auctioned off the card in 1996 for $640,000. In the years that followed, the card’s value increased geometrically. In 2000, the Wagner card sold for $1.265 million; in 2007 it sold for $2.35 million; and in 2008, it sold for $2.8 million, making it the most expensive baseball card in the world.

Read related post: The Most Expensive Watches in the World
The Most Expensive Painting
The Most Expensive Dust Jacket
The Most Expensive Postage Stamps
The Most Expensive Book in the World
Most Expensive Book Ever Sold
Most Expensive American Book
The Most Expensive Prescription Drugs

For further reading: http://www.cardboardconnection.com/card-t206-honus-wagner
http://www.sportscardfun.com/what-is-the-most-valuable-baseball-card.asp

Words for Collectors

Paul Dickson, a prolific author of books on words, has been collecting words for decades. The most common form of describing a person who collects something specific is to say: “He is a stamp collector” or “She is a postcard collector.” But to a word collector and lover, like Dickson, what is the fun in that? Dickson, a self-confessed lexiconophilist, has even coined a term for the collection of collections: “philophily.” Unfortunately for Dickson, that word never made it into the Oxford English Dictionary. Below is a collection of some words that are indeed part of the English lexicon to describe different types of collectors, no matter how rare:

arctophile: teddy bears
bibliopegist: fine book bindings
bibliophilist: books
cartophile: baseball cards
coleopterist: beetles
conchologist: sea shells
copocelphilist: key rings
deltiologist: postcards
dipterist: flies
dologist: bird eggs
lepidopterist: butterflies and moths
lexiconophilist: dictionaries
notaphilist: banknotes
numismatist: coins and banknotes
oologist: bird eggs
philatelist: stamps
philographist: autographs
phillumenist: matchboxes or matchbook labels
phonophile: vinyl records
plangonologist: dolls
scripophilist: old bond and share certificates
tegestologist: beer coaster
vectorist: subway tokens
vexillologist: flags or banners

Read related post: Why Do People Collect Things?
Words for Collectors 2

For further reading: Words by Paul Dickson, Delacorte Press (1982)
oxforddictionaries.com/us/words/what-is-the-word-for-people-who-collect