Curtis JJ

Background: I've recently noticed four examples of an apparent cast fake, twice in major auctions (one still open now, the other was in May), and twice on RPC (including the "digital plate coin," also from previous auctions, one in 2010, one a few months ago). I'm sure they're all inadvertent and don't blame anyone for letting one slip through. Notification: I've informed RPC (too soon to respond), and the current auctioneer (my contact wrote back to concur, but it may take 1-2 days for the cataloger to examine & withdraw it). (I've saved photos and weights/diameters.) Concerns: More examples will no doubt be coming: They're appearing quickly, three this year that I've noticed (the fourth back in 2010). I can't find any reports on Forum or ForgeryNetwork. If there wasn't one at auction, I'd just post the images. But, the auctioneer is responding and no one besides the forger is being dishonest or incompetent, so I don't want to unnecessarily offend or disrupt. Questions: When and how does one go about sharing in that kind of situation? I could, for instance, wait until the coin in question has been withdrawn. And/or identify the others, but not the one currently up. And/or I could share all the images and weights but not identify any sellers.... Or share somewhere more task-specific, like Coin Forgery Discussion List (or whatever we're using these days...) Many thanks in advance.

Interesting article, I noticed one or two types I wasn't familiar with. M.M. certainly wasn't being shy, but here's one he didn't include: Priapus is known today for giving his name to a side-effect mentioned in Viagra and Cialis commercials (priapism), based on his exaggerated permanent erection. He was much more than crude humor and obscenity -- but he was that, too! Shouldn't have sold this one. Thought I'd get a replacement. Always loved how it looks like Septimius is looking at Priapus' phallus smiling. As Atia of the Julii said (on HBO): A large penis is always welcome! Septimius Severus AE Assarion. Moesia Inferior, Nikopolis as Istrum. Obv: AVT CEΠT CEVHΡO. Laureate head right. Rev: NIKOΠOΛITΩN ΠΡOC IC. Ithyphallic Priapus standing left. Ref: Moushmov 987; AMNG 1380; Sear GIC 2280 Prov: Chicago, April 2014, CICF Bourse; sold shortly after on vcoins or ebay.

DING DING DING DING!!! Lost provenance alert!!! That is one of Phil Peck's old envelopes (originally sold as "Morris Collection" at Heritage, his brother's name). I know this, originally, from @curtislclay's comment [CT Post 4263007, 18 Mar 2020]. Images below from from Glenn Simonelli [CT Thread 356841, 17 Mar 2020]. Unfortunately my Phil Peck coins were all slabbed by NGC (at the behest of Heritage), and the envelopes disposed of. Cut-and-paste from my "provenance glossary" below. This is one of the images from my small "collector label database" that I see most often. When I search ACSearch for "Morris" or "Peck" and "Theophilus" I don't see your coin, so it was either in a group lot, didn't make it into the Heritage sales, or he sold/traded/gifted it long ago to another collector. Photo Source: Glen Simonelli. Phil Peck (Philip C. Peck, New York, b. c. 1941/2). Graduated Princeton 1984 (where he was a friend of Curtis Clay). Brother of Morris Peck. The "Morris Collection" = that of Phil Peck, sold at Heritage beginning 2019. At least for ancients, all those I’ve personally seen were encapsulated for the Heritage sales by NGC c. 2019 and most (perhaps all?) note the provenance on the tag: “The Morris Collection” (example). But others have received them with Peck's envelopes (these were apparently discarded when others were encapsulated, which is a tragedy. Most or all of the collection was sold in four main groups: Morris Collection, Part I = Heritage Auction 271920 (26 May 2019); Morris Collection, Part II = Heritage Auction 271933 (18 Aug 2019); Morris Collection, Part III = Heritage Auction 61151 (26 Jan 2020); Morris Collection, Part IV = Heritage Auction 61160 (10 May 2020). Curator at the Chase Bank Money Museum from 1965 until until it closed permanently in 1977, its collection donated to the Smithsonian and ANS. Announced in Coin World (09/29/1965; pg. 86) [see also results here]: "Chase Money Museum Names Peck As Assistant Curator. Philip C Peck, a New York numismatist, has been appointed assistant curator of the Chase Manhattan Bank’s Money Museum at Rockefeller Center…" See also the announcement in the Princeton Alumni Weekly (v 66), 7 Dec 1965: p. 58. Quoting CC again from CT [CT Post 4195978 (curtisclay, 1 Mar 2020)]: (Question: Are Phil Peck & Morris Peck related to the Jeff Peck from Pennsylvania, active in the numismatic literature world [Jeffrey M. Peck, possibly born in Pittsburgh 1950]?)

Omg, why would some do that when, for that price, they could buy the world's best example of all the following -- and still have some left over: Kimon & Euainetos Dekadrachms, Alexander III & Athens Dekadrachms, Naxos Tetradrachm, EID MAR denarius, EID Mar aureus, Port of Ostia and Colosseum Sestertii, Constantine XI Stavraton, and a bunch of other great rarities.... No no no NO!!!

Unfortunately, I think both charge close to 50 Euros to ship books to the US. That's always a problem for Americans with newer books published in Europe, unless there's a N. American distributor, or until they make it to the used book market where some sellers ship for more like 20E or less. I'd love to order Burkhard Traeger's new book on Arkadien Münzen but it's 37-48E shipping (one MA-Shops vendor lists 10E, but when I asked he said it'd be 37E to USA). (I will say that when I've ordered multiple-lots of literature from Jacquier, and hopefully will again, it was still only 48E for the group -- including a coin, which had to be shipped separately. But I don't like paying that much for one book, especially when the book is that price or cheaper.)

Here's another Magnentius that's a seeming rarity, BEATITVDO PVBLICA, Aquileia, 351 (RIC 164): Roman Imperial. Magnentius AE3 (Half Centenionalis (?), 20mm, 2.4g, 6h). Aquileia, 351 CE. Obv: MAG MAGNENTIUS AVG. Bare head of Maxentius, draped, right. Rev: BEATITVDO PVBLICA. Magnentius in curule chair left, holding sceptre and raising right hand. Exergue: AQT Ref: RIC VIII Aquileia 164; Vagi 3299 (citing RIC VIII Aqu 164-166); Bastien 353; Cohen 1; Sear 18839. Prov: Uncertain group lot, c. 2000-2013.

I love the OP coin. I'm fascinated by Roman captives coinage, so I'm going to be obsessively looking for one of these. Here's a Constantius II that I've seen described as struck under Magnentius: Roman Imperial. Constantius II (337 – 360) AE Maiorina (5.97g, 24.5mm, 12h). Rome, under Magnentius, 350.Obverse: D N CONSTANTIVS P F AVG // A to left. Draped and cuirassed bust of Constantius to right, wearing laurel rosette diadem and holding globe in right hand.Reverse: GLORIA ROMANORVM // * in upper right field // R B in exergue. Constantius on horseback to right, his horse galloping right over a shield and broken spear, spearing kneeling barbarian enemy wearing a Phrygian helmet with outstretched arms.Reference: RIC VIII Rome 195-196, B.Pedigree: Ex-Antonio Hinojosa Pareja (Lucernae Numismática, Alcalá la Real, Spain), purchased c. 2009-2014. I've only got the one in the name of Constantius II, not the Magnentius of the same type, but here's something interesting about them from JPC Kent in RIC (p. 239-240). The fallen enemies depicted on the Constantius coins all have pointed caps/helmets (in the tradition of 3rd-4th century coins, suggesting an "Eastern" or Persian enemy), while the coins of Magnentius all depict bareheaded enemies (possibly "Western" enemies): Were they bareheaded because Magnentius' coins were depicting Germanic tribes -- maybe even the mercenaries used by Constantius II? He makes a similar suggestion about the Fallen Horseman types. This is from RIC VIII page 44, where Kent discusses a similar change in the imagery on Fallen Horsemen coinage. (I can't tell if he means after Magnentius’s death in 353, or after 350, when Magnentius was elevated and Constans assassinated? I find his volume confusing in places.) In any case, Constantius suddenly began issuing much larger numbers of the “variety 3” horseman (FH3 = Horseman turning and reaching back toward the soldier) until 361. Kent suggests this “variety 3” horseman might have represented Magnentius (i.e., his soldiers): This might be my only FH3 (soldier reaching up) from Constantinople (RIC 82), but I'm not sure it's from the issue Kent meant (he may have meant the later, smaller ones). This one is usually dated prior to 351, so it'd have to be in the narrow window c. 350/1 to apply here: Constantius II (Augustus, 337-361 CE) AE Centenionalis (7.67g, 25mm, 12h). Struck in Constantinople, 348-351. Obv: D N CONSTANTIVS P F AVG. Pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust, surrounded by border of dots. Rev: FEL TEMP REPARATIO // Γ to left // CONSЄ* in exergue. Soldier standing left, holding long oval shield with circular boss, and spearing fallen horseman; bearded horseman astride fallen horse, turning and reaching back with left arm (FH3), wearing short-brimmed (Scythian? Frankish?) helmet, ornate tunic, and trousers. "Centering dot" (?) between soldier and horse. Dotted border. Ref: RIC 82, LRBC 2026; cf. RIC 81 (FH4). NVMMVS BIBLE II NBD N° 61536 (this coin; LINK).Prov: Ex-Bertolami Fine Arts Auction 37 (19 Sept 2017), Lot #689 (corr. RIC 81) & e-92 (2 Oct 2020), Lot 1554 (corr., RIC 81, weight reported as 7.70g)

Speaking of Kirk Davis -- I think he's one of the very few coin dealers who still mails out small booklet-sized catalogs. They're one of my favorites of the FPL genre. Of the >79 since 1992, I've got ~50 (1995-2022; always happy to send a page scan to anyone checking refs.). I've tried to order a few coins (not as many as I'd like) from him over the years, since I hope he'll keep producing the catalogs and sending them to me (though I see it's been a couple years now...). I have bought one 12 Caesars coin from him (Catalog 74, Fall 2019, Lot 65) -- a Denarius, though, not a Sestertius... Just the (slightly) expandable thumbnails since it's a bit off-topic...

If I were going to buy just one Paduan, I think it'd be an Otho Sestertius, but I suspect that type is in demand for people wishing to complete just this kind of set. Personally, I've never been concerned with "sets," but I would like to have all 12 Caesars (and someday complete my fallen horseman mint set). I don't have Vitellius (sold my denarii 8-10 years ago) or Galba (well, Provincials and countermarks). Here are a few of my more presentable Sestertii from that period, though these are not the high demand types that people would buy for a 12 Caesars set (depending on how you count, this could be as few as one Twelve Caesars Sestertius): Tiberius / Divus Augustus (does this one count as two? 🙂 ) Æ Sestertius (35mm, 25.64 g, 7h). Rome mint. Struck under Tiberius, AD 22-23. RIC 49 (Tiberius). Ex CNG Keystone 4, 121; ANS (non-accessioned), Robert W. Bartlett (1931-2017) Bequest; Birkler & Waddell III (10th NYINC Show, 10 December 1981), lot 260. Claudius ("branch mint" or imitative), NCAPR countermark temp. Nero or possibly through Vespasian or later (?) (per CNG [as cataloged by Bill Dalzell - Ardatirion] & Richard Baker, suggesting later based on "the NCAPR-Vespasian" but I find that to be too much weight to put on a single coin that is only minimally published) Claudius (Augustus, 41-54 CE) AE Sestertius (35mm, 21.84g, 6h). Contemporary imitation or Western “Branch Mint” [NGC], c. 41/2 CE or later. Countermarked under Nero or Vespasian. Cf. RIC 99. Countermark: Pangerl 60; BMCRE I ("Introduction," p. xxxi);. Ex Al Kowsky Collection; Richard Baker Countermark Collection; CNG EA 439 (6 Mar 2019), Lot 224. Nero Claudius Drusus -- not a 12 Caesar, but struck under Claudius: Nero Claudius Drusus. AE Sestertius (34mm, 25.4g). RIC 109 (Claudius). Purchased from a collector in Yonkers, NY, 2015. Domitian Germania Capta type: Domitian AE Sestertius. Rome, 85 CE. RIC II.1 356 (on OCRE) Ex Ben Mous, 2021, from a private Washington State collection.

Interesting type! I was unaware of it. The political / economic transformation of Greece in the decades following 167 BCE / Third Macedonian War, makes for very interesting coinage, well deserving of study. So, you may ask, "How is your Roman Provincial Coin with a Temple from > 400 years later related?" I have a LOT more to say about the coin below, so I'll share my full writeup at some point. The coin celebrates the second Kabieric Pythiad in Thessalonica in 246 CE -- the Pythian Games in honor of local patron deity, Kabeiros. (I've never quite figured out the relationship between Kabeiros, the singular deity, and the Kabeiroi, plural. Much less their all their relationships with Dionysus & his maenads, Apollo, et al.) Similar issues from Thessalonica under Gordian III and the Phlippi (even their successors/overthrowers the Decii) sometimes depict Kabeiros inside the same temple shown on the reverse (usually with hammer and rhyton, a drinking horn) or Apollo holding Kabeiros. The message of the latter is that Apollo sanctions the local Pythiad, just as he sanctions the primary Pythian Games in Delphi. I have never seen the temple named in numismatic literature, commercial or scholarly (though I have yet to read Touratsoglou), but I'm of the strong opinion that this is likely a local temple of Kabeiros. I believe the curved features at the corners of the roof (only one clearly visible on this example, plus those on the apex) are "rhyta" (drinking horns, which are symbols of Kabeiros); on the apex, I believe the decoration to be crossed rhyta and hammer. When people talk about the Cult of Dionysus in ancient Thessalonica, I think there's a strong chance they meant the related Kabeiric worship. More to come, soon enough, in a different post ... Roman Provincial / Greek Imperial. Philip II (Caesar), under Philip I (Augustus). Macedon, Thessalonica AE Tetrassarion (26.5mm, 11.23g, 7h). Second Pythian Games issue, struck circa 246 CE. Obverse: · ΜΑΡ · ΙΟΥΛΙΟϹ · ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟϹ · ΚƐ (·) – Mar(cus) Julius Philippus Ca(esar). Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Philip II facing right, seen from rear. Reverse: ΘƐϹϹΑΛΟΝΙΚƐΩΝ ΝƐΩ / ·ΠΥΘΙΑΔΙ· / ·Β· – Of the Thessalonians, Neo(korate) / Pythian Games / #2. Temple (of Kabeiros?) with four side columns, on podium, to right, seen in 3/4 perspective. References: RPC VIII (Temp.) 69113 (this coin illustrated) ; Touratsoglou (Thessaloniki, 1988) 62 (Philip II); Varbanov (vol III, 2007) 4740; Moushmov –. Provenance: Ex-Dix, Noonan, Webb A7 (17 Mar 2009), Lot 1235; Pegasi MBS 22 (20 Apr 2010) Lots 383 (and later Pegasi/VAuctions sales through 2020); CNG e-Auction 489 (7 Apr 2021), Lot 272.

My opinion might be a bit different from most. For the second one, I can see a lot to appreciate. I might not call it "fine style" or pay to buy it, and I haven't studied or collected these myself, but I do love the unique styles of artistry from the various mints for Septimius tetradrachms. For that one (no. 2), it seems like a nice exemplar of the local style. On the reverse, I love the different ways the feathers were represented -- spirals, hash marks, dots, plus more realistic looking triangles/diamonds. On the portrait, I really enjoy seeing the eye / eyebrow / forehead construction, and the detail and sectioning of the beard. I also really like all the ones posted from everyone's collections. But, even though I've never bought one, I really favor the "weird" looking Septimius portraits over those with greater realism. (At least those well-executed for what they were.)

Disposition of the Heynen Collection: According to Elvira Clain-Stefanelli's Numismatic Bibliography (1985: p. 1463, no. 16558), the collection was: "In the: Landschaftsmuseum Krefeld-Burglinn." (I know nothing about the museum and didn't find a website on the first page of Google results.) @David Atherton reportedly has a coin ex-Heynen, a Domitian Sestertius, RIC 281 [FAC Gallery, might need a login?], maybe he'll know something: "Acquired from Olding, MA Shops, June 2019 = Olding, List 96, March 2019, Sammlung Fritz Reusing, no. 182. From the collection of Fritz Reusing (1874-1956), acquired from the Heynen Collection; inherited and continued by Reusing's nephew Paul Schürer (1890-1976)." I've seen one or two others mention a Heynen coin in private ownership. It's possible that Heynen sold, traded, or gifted some coins to friends during his lifetime but bequeathed the collection. Or Reusing could've traded the Landschaftsmuseum a rarity they needed for a duplicate. I don't believe Heynen is mentioned at all in John Spring's bibliography of Ancient Coin Auction Catalogues: 1880-1980. I've looked before, but can't find any personal info about Heynen -- not even a first name, much less dates of birth/death -- which is quite unusual. Hopefully the preface gives more; personally, I've never had the chance to look at a copy of the book. --- More Annotated Biblio: Also, for what it's worth, here's what BCD had to say about PRF's Heynen vol. in the 2017 BCD Library Duplicates Sale, Lot 1043: "A note from BCD: A quality publication of a private collection, rich in Roman coins but also including some Greek. Professor Franke has, as usual, done an excellent job and the photographs, on glossy paper, are amongst the best of that period." [Often BCD shares bit of his rare biographical knowledge not published elsewhere, but unfortunately not about the mysterious Heynen. The archived annual BCD Library Duplicates Sales since 2014, indexed on ACSearch, is always one of my first stops to find out about numis lit, and I highly recommend it as a great under-appreciated and free annotated bibliography of ancient coin literature of all types: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term="note+from+BCD"&category=8&order=1 ]

That's it! I'm sure it's been over 20 years since I went inside, but I think it's still there (I only visit Tucson a few weeks a year now but my family moved there when I was ~12 years old). Incidentally: Another Tucson ancient coin collector was James Pickering -- Jamesicus on Cointalk (unfortunately, I only learned of his location when he died a few months ago). (His memorial/obit thread: CT 395314, 11 April 2022. Coins from his collection have been sold at CNG & Ancient & Medieval Coins Canada.)

Appears you were fated to have one! I know this particular feeling well: Ever since I found out my Corinth Stater was in the Pozzi Collection (Ars Classica I, 1921), I've been trying to figure out where it was until 1991, when I bought it at Glass Shoppe Coins in Tucson, AZ (w/ no provenance whatsoever):

I'm a little perplexed by that statement (partly because it seems to misunderstand my point entirely). My point actually was, more or less, that "beauty is not quantifiable" (i.e., cross-cultural comparisons requires standards other than beauty). My point (well, it's not my own, but my understanding of anthropology/history of art): If you want to understand how and why different cultures' (or the same culture's, at different times) coins or other artworks have very different qualities (i.e., the characteristics), simply trying to rank which ones are more beautiful is not going to be a successful approach. Instead, one good alternative is to incorporate the cultures' own standards and intentions: What were their priorities? How much did they care about artistry? What were their resources and infrastructure for art or coinage? Those are empirical phenomenon (and completely separate from judging what is or isn't beautiful): Did they have institutions for, or invest lots of time in, mentoring new generations of engravers (as the Greeks did)? Were individual dies very technically elaborate, taking a very long time to produce (because they valued beauty highly)? Or were they engraved hastily with the intent of functionality (either because they lacked resources, or, as for some actors at some points in Byzantine history, because they were actually rather hostile to material artistry and beauty)? To your point: if you believe beauty has nothing to do with "quality of materials," I don't understand why artists would devote so much energy and expense to them..? (One reads that old painters searched far and wide for just the right pigments and became expert in producing their own materials.) Obviously having the right materials isn't enough; but if it had little-no-relation to whether the final product turned out to be beautiful, it's hard to imagine all the effort and expense. Likewise, I'm finding it hard to imagine why you think investing "time and care" into artwork is unrelated to whether is turns out well. If it didn't, I can't understand why artists often spend many years creating their masterpieces, rather than just banging them out in an afternoon.

Coryssa.org has to be one of the most valuable but little-known ancient coin resources. Most people don't know about it, so I always mention it when an opportunity presents. So glad you've already found some of yours indexed there! If Ras ever decides to stop the project, I hope someone will take it up so it won't vanish!

I'd be curious to see also! It's an interesting group to have for one's only three physical books, @Prieure de Sion! But my selections have always been a bit eclectic too. Franke is always good & the pair of German catalogs of Roman look interesting - haven't seen that one before!

Thank you, much! I also have lots of old German collection tags that need deciphering, so I have no doubt it will come in very handy (I can never resist a pun). I would definitely never trade away all the great digital works now available for a hard copy-only library! (Though if I use things often enough sometimes I'll print important pages or plates or articles.) The big question for me is always when is it worth it to save the PDF, or just the links. There are thousands out there (single references [books, articles & many many auction catalogs]; journal websites or large directories/ databases of texts online [e.g. Digital Library Numis, JSTOR]; and authors' sites [e.g., many scholars on Academia.edu]). The documents can disappear, of course, so I download anything important that I use regularly. But a proper reference library must also include many texts you've never read. I've been considering just keeping an exeternal drive or two dedicated to PDFs of 1-2k or more auction catalogs from the late 19th-20th centuries. (I'm working on an annotated bibliography and would hate to lose access to them [I've shared a small chunk, ~2-3% of the project, on my website, important "20th Cent. Sales of Alexandrian Coins Online"].)

@NewStyleKing = John, I think I found them indexed on coryssa.org (Rasiel Suarez's database of ~2 million ancient coin sales on Ebay). I found 970 coins for seller "numismatiklanz" coded as "Attica" by Suarez (searching only in Greek coins). Most are classical but I also see many New Styles. The system takes a while to learn, so don't hesitate to message me if you have questions. Not sure if this link will work or if you have to repeat the search (first page is 2022, last page is 2012 I think): https://www.coryssa.org/index.php/subcategory/greek/subcategory_id/6002/page/0/search_seller/on/keywords/numismatiklanz/search2/yes/date_to/2022-08-26/use_checkboxes/0/period/greek I've actually found many of my coins on Coryssa. (It can also be used as database for finding forgeries.)

As promised… Brief background on Numismatik Lanz (1947-pres.), Hermann Lanz (1910-1998), Ernst Lanz (1945-1989), and Hubert Lanz (1943-): All literature above is ex-Lanz Numismatik from the recent sales of the firm's library at G. Hirsch (e-Auction 7 [23 Jan 2022] & e-Auction 10 [17 Jul 2022]). Most or much of it is from Hermann Lanz's (1910-1998) library, often with prior owners recorded as well, and inherited by his son, Hubert Lanz. Numismatik Lanz was founded by Hermann Lanz in 1947 (also a founder of the International Association of Professional Numismatists [IAPN] in 1951.) He's also very well known for his famous collection of Celtic coins, cataloged by M. Kostial (1997/2003, Kelten im Osten...). It serves as one of the major references in the field. For a time, Hermann's son Ernst H. Lanz (1945-1989) was the primary cataloger for the firm. He was murdered during a robbery at the Graz office, after which Hubert (born 1945) may have become the firm's principal. Looking only at the last decade, one might not realize what an important numismatic firm Lanz once was in the second half of the 20th century, and early 21st. Even recently under Hubert, between 1998 and 2002, Lanz was responsible for several classic sales: Leo Benz (1909-1996) collection in three sales (Lanz 88, 94 and 100; see below); BCD Collection's first two sales, BCD Korinth (Lanz 105) and BCD Euobia (111); two others I'm familiar with are Sammlung Erich Karl (Lanz 131, Münzen von Karien) and Slg. Friedinger-Pranter (Lanz 155, 156 [part]). Many of their catalogs still serve as important numismatic research literature, which is the firm's most important legacy for my interests, and how I usually think of it and those who ran it. (Please don't hesitate to suggest corrections or additions.)

All literature below is from two recent auctions of the Numismatik Lanz Library. All of them had "something extra" that I wanted... (For anyone unfamiliar with Numismatik Lanz or its founder Hermann Lanz [1910-1998], or only recently so -- e.g., only the ebay sales under Hubert Lanz -- in the first comment below I'm adding some quick background, as well as I can. Others know/knew them better, so please don't hesitate to correct anything.) Just one coin! "Baumreiter" Drachm. (3.35g, 15mm, 10h). Photo by Roma Numismatics. Ex Hermann Lanz (1910 - 1998) Collection. Kostial - Lanz 422 (this coin), exhibited at the SMB in 1997. Things I love about buying used literature from working numismatic libraries ... Unique & interesting “object biographies”: Knowing when, why, how, and by whom an object or document was produced or used. I bought a couple of Hermann Lanz’s original BMC volumes in the first sale. The BMC Corinth included the bookplate of Sir George Francis Hill (1867-1948) & Mary Paul Hill. G.F. Hill authored or edited several BMC vols. & was Director of the BMC (1931-1936). Below, HARDCOVER copies of Leo Benz I, II, III (didn't know that existed!) Hubert Lanz’s custom hardcover set of Leo Benz catalogs: Lanz Auctions 88 (1998), 94 (1999), 100 (2000). Has anyone seen hardbound Leo Benz (or other Lanz catalogs) before? Part of the Lanz Library sale also included a partial set (94 & 100 only); mine was described as having binding repaired with tape, but I removed the tape easily & found no damage whatsoever. Coins & books that “belong together”: The “plate coins” alongside the author’s/cataloger’s own personal copy, or a copy owned by someone otherwise connected to the objects’ biographies. Sammlung Leo Benz (1909-1996) was one of Lanz Numismatik’s finest & proudest series of sales. My collection includes an L. Julius Caesar Cupids Denarius (Lanz 88, 407). Pictured above on the plates in Hubert Lanz’s custom bound hardcover catalog. BCD and CNG didn’t realize it, but BCD Peloponnesos II 2327 was previously in the “Sammlung Kommerzienrat H. Otto, Stuttgart” [Heinrich Otto, Jr. (1856-1931)], sold at Hess 207 (1931), Lot 493. Probably acquired by (or for) John A. Sawhill (1892-1976), who eventually bequeathed it to James Madison University. JMU auctioned it, and BCD bought it. The coin is pictured above with Hermann Lanz’s (Inv. No. 1567) copy of the catalog. Another connection: BCD worked closely with Lanz Numismatik, where the first two sales of his collection were held: BCD Korinth (Lanz 105) & BCD Euboia (Lanz 111). Other historical details about scholarship or commerce: Auction catalogs with buyers “hand-named,” live, in the margins; a dedication from one well-known numismatist to another; scholarly or commercial correspondence. Hermann Lanz’s (mostly) hand-named copy of the Kunstfreundes Sale (Hess-Leu 1974). Finding a copy of the catalog isn't unusual, but finding one with the names of buyers written down live in the margins is! I’ve covered them up since I don’t know what’s public. (Note: Those are estimates shown; actual prices were MUCH higher.) (Before this the only named copy I’d heard of was: BCD Library Duplicates II, 214 [mine was ~20 times cheaper!].) Fascinating surprises inside: Annotations in the text; documents or photos laid in; author signatures or numismatic bookplates. Interesting French-annotated plates from Munzhandlung Basel No. 6 (1936) -- an important auction of Alexandrian coins and Roman Republican. I bet someone out there somewhere knows who did that to the plates. I've seen it before on other catalogs. Grierson’s (1966) Bibliographie Numismatique was heavily annotated inside, especially the section on ancient coin auction catalogs. A remarkable bonus is a second set of annotations on the auction catalog section. The (partially) annotated text had been photocopied; new notes continued to be added both to the book and the photocopy, apparently in at least two different hands. Could these be Hermann’s, Ernst's, and/or Hubert’s annotations? “Object biography,” continued: Having a connection to previous generations of collectors, sellers, and/or scholars. (On this topic, see the excellent article by William Daehn, “An Old Book Brings Old and New Collectors Together,” The Asylum [Numismatic Bibliomania Society] Vol XIX, No 4, pp. 120-126. That topic could equally well apply to collectors of coins.) Hermann Lanz (1910-1998) Library Stamps & Inv. Nos. He always used red. Still working out the mysteries, but seems he also used red in to annotate text. Who are these ones? Maybe Hermann, Ernst Lanz, or Hubert Lanz? Or previous owners, Gitta Kastner or Ernst Holzer? Offprint by @curtislclay, dedicated to Luke Scholing of Jacques Schulman, Amsterdam (who, I believe, left to start Medusa Galleries, c. 1980-2000+, with his wife [?] Lauranne in Florida). BEST FOR LAST! (Well, maybe tied for second-best...) Also from the first Lanz Lib. sale: A surprisingly tall book! The 1871 catalog of coins in Friedrich Imhoof-Blumer (1839-1920) collection, beautifully signed by Imhoof-Blumer, with handwritten dedication to the Winterthur Kunstverein Museum Library. Choix de Monnaies Grecques du Cabinet de F. Imhoof-Blumer is available online at many locations (public domain). And engraved plates signed by the great Léon Dardel (1814 - ?) !! Give me used books like these over new ones any day!

I'll share this one "in the wild" find since I just received its catalog in the mail yesterday (Adolph Hess 207, 1 Dec 1931, Slg. H Otto) [*Biblio below]. The catalog also has an interesting provenance of its own: ex-Hermann Lanz (1910-1998) Library (with his stamp and inv. no. 1756 on the cover). I will admit I took special pride in finding this provenance since BCD had missed it, even with his library of Greek numismatic literature and sale catalogs of legendary scale. (I'll take my small victories where I find them! I also have a number of ex-BCD Library Duplicates catalogs and books.) CNG missed it too, as did Kuenker when they resold it later. The earlier provenance that I found: Adolph Hess Nachf. Katalog 207 (Lucerne, 1 December 1931), Lot 493 [illustrated on Plate 12]; "Sammlung Kommerzienrat H. Otto, Stuttgart" = Heinrich Otto, Jr. (1856-1931), a German textile magnate. BCD Peloponnesos II (CNG Auction 81, Lot 2327) had the provenance to Stack's, 15 Mar 1979. BCD/CNG also neglected to mention the consignor, James Madison University Foundation, and that it came from the John A Sawhill (1892-1976) Collection. Stack's gave no prior provenance (or illustration). On archive: Stack’s 15 Mar 1979 (JMU-Sawhill Coll.) Here's the coin in my copy of BCD Pelo. II: My photo: The Hess 207 catalog is available from Uni Heidelberg (and elsewhere), but I still like physical copies, especially if they come from notable numismatic libraries or collectors. Here's the Lanz copy of Hess 207, which I just photographed: (By the way, if anyone has seen a "named" copy of Hess 207, please let me know! Some of my ex-Lanz catalogs were hand-named, but not this one.) * BIBLIOGRAPHIC, Hess Auction 207 = Clain-Stefanelli 1755; Spring 331; For Otto bio: see also Poinsignon Library, III (Künker 357, 7-9 Dec 2021) 3944 & 3964 (Hess 230: Swabian etc.); online at Heidelberg, also ACSearch Lib. & Archive.org. Those are both excellent finds! That Claudius is one of the few types of Roman Imperial AR Denarius that made it into auction catalogs pre-WWII. One of the interesting things you learn from reading large numbers of old auction catalogs is how much attitudes about what counts as a desirable coin have changed, as well as the supply. Until well into the post-WWII period AR Denarii were highly underrepresented in auction catalogs. RIC was dominated by AV Aureii and, interestingly, large bronzes. There might be a couple dozen Sestertii illustrated, while maybe just a few of the 50-100 mint state denarii that could've fit in the same space would be illustrated. There were exceptions of course, some of them big ones. I think American catalogs may have illustrated more denarii than European. But most of the "Pozzi style" (i.e., fully illustrated) collections were Greek.

Here's one that I don't think has been posted. Crispus RIC 188. Cripus Silvered AE Follis (19.5mm, 3.14g, 6h) from London, c. 320 CE. CRISPVS NOBIL C. Helmeted cuirassed bust right. VIRTVS EXERCIT. Captives & vexillum, VOT XX. Ex: PLON. Cloke & Toone Plate Coin (C & T 9.02.016); ex collection of the authors, acq. from Dei Gratia Coins at York Coin Fair, 15 Jan 2010; and ex Paul DiMarzio Londinium Collection (CNG e-Auction 516, Lot 631).

Will you please stop with this Salton - Selton nonsense already? For people who don’t know the context, maybe it’s not as obvious what’s going on here. I think you deserve patience and compassion and a certain degree of leeway. But this comes up all the time. And, as I finally said last time, it is offensive. Why do you keep singling out those two people for personal attack? What’s not obvious to me is whether you truly don’t know much about them, or if you’re only pretending to not know, and in fact having some personal reason to despise them. Your preoccupation with them certainly begs the question. Almost everything you say about them is not only demonstrably false, but almost the opposite of the truth. Of all the things you’ve said about them, I only remembering reading two that seemed true: that they’re Jewish and had an expensive coin collection. And even if your complaints were accurate -- they're not -- they would just as well apply to many, many collectors. It really begs the question, why have you been singling out that particular couple for insult for the past several months (on Forum, then starting here)? Whatever the actual reason, it's clear by now that you're not going to say it any more explicitly, and that's a good thing. Either way, I find it offensive that you keep insulting and attacking the reputation of, or sometimes just making snide remarks and insinuations about, a couple who are no longer alive to defend themselves. And have said so before. I have no interest in discussing this kind of thing. I'm not asking you to stick to some high standard of conduct. I just want you to stop naming and insulting specific people (or making it clear that you're attacking specific individuals without naming them, as you've done before as well).

Well done! Those discoveries can be some of the most rewarding things about collecting coins for me. It's very satisfying to find a connection to previous generations of collectors, especially multiple links in the chain, and when there's a lot known about those collectors and they've made some kind of lasting contribution to the field. Naturally, it's even more rewarding to find a lost provenance yourself, "in the wild," than to buy one with the provenance already known. (That's fun too, of course!) I don't have any Vierordt or Phil DeVicci coins (that I know of), though I've bid on several. (DeVicci had an excellent collection -- his collection of Brockages is unbelievable, with many great rarities.) His Alexandrian Collection: CNG 53 (15 March 2000); DeVicci Brockages: CNG 54, lots 1-79 (14 June 2004). For Jack Frazer's Bio: Triton XXIII Catalog page 10 I have at least one coin ex Jack A Frazer, a Justinian I AV Tremissis that I bought at CNG in 2019. The provenance was given to Harlan J Berk sale #27 in 1983. I'd certainly love to find more provenance on this one, and I've kept my eyes open, but before 1983 it's not the kind of coin that would've made it in any catalog besides a small dealer's Fixed Price List: Justinian AV Tremissis (17mm, 1.45 g, 6h). Constantinople, c. 527-565. Obv: D N IVSTINIANVS PP AV. Diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right. Rev: VICTORIA AVGVSTORVM. Victory advancing right, head left, holding wreath and globus cruciger; star to right; CONOB. Ref: DOC 19; Sear Byz 145. Prov: Ex Jack A. Frazer Collection (CNG EA 455 [30 Oct 2019], 394), acquired from Harlan J. Berk Buy-Bid Sale #27 (13 Sep 1983), Lot 8.