In 1972, our predecessor firm Bowers and Ruddy presented their first public auction, which featured The Armand Champa Collection and other important properties. The catalog bore the company name as American Auction Association. This name would also be used on the next four auction catalogs produced by Dave Bowers and Jim Ruddy before they began to use “Bowers and Ruddy Galleries” on the Austin Collection catalog in May 1974.
This first sale was held at the Holiday Inn in Hollywood California where the firm was located and contained over 1,200 lots. Mr. Champa would return to Dave Bowers more than two decades later to auction his incredible numismatic library in a series of four sales offered by Bowers and Merena Galleries in 1994 and 1995.
To view The Armand Champa Collection and other catalogs by Bowers and Ruddy Galleries, click here.
