Nikodeimos

I've actually dealt with André before - bought my Gelon II 8 litrai piece from him and sold him a whole bunch of books. I really have nothing bad to say about him - he proved to be trustworthy and genuinly passionate about coins. His auction also contains good material with provenances, not the latest shipment from Turkey.

Thank you all!

Hey y’all! Got another coin I’d like to share with you. It’s definitely one of my favorite purchases of the past year, so let’s dive right into it. SICILY. Syracuse. Gelon, son of Hieron II, 275-215 BC. 8 Litrai (Silver, 21 mm, 6.69 g, 1 h), circa 218/7-215 BC. Diademed head of Gelon to left; to right, bow. Rev. ΣΥΡAKΩΣIOI - ΓEΛONOΣ Nike driving quadriga galloping to right, holding reins in both hands; to right, BA; between the horses' legs, K. Greek Coins and Their Parent Cities (1902), 339 (this coin). HGC 2, 1561. Beautifully toned and with a superb pedigree. Some delamination and with a small die break on the obverse, otherwise, good very fine. Privately acquired from Numismatic Fine Art on 29 June 2024, ex Chaponnière & Firmenich 18, 25 May 2024, 2, Tradart Genève, 16 November 1995, 29, Glendining & Empire Coins, 9 October 1989, 620, from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum, Sotheby & Co Zürich, 4 April 1973, 273, previously privately acquired by J.P. Morgan from the John Ward (1832-1912) collection and from the collection of Hyman Montagu (1844-1895), Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 11 December 1894, 67 (acquired by W.T. Ready for 2 pounds 18 shillings). This coin was struck right at the start of the Second Punic War (218-201 BC). Syracuse, as Sicily’s greatest city, naturally could not afford to stay neutral in the conflict, and Hiero II, an old general of Pyrrhus of Epirus, and his son, Gelon II, pursued a decidedly pro-Roman course. While this was sensible policy in hindsight, Hannibal’s invasion of Italy saw one Roman legion slaughtered after the other. It is no wonder then that some in Syracuse were getting serious doubts about their Roman allies. Still, Hieron and Gelon remained steadfast (though Livy claimed Gelon was ready to abandon Rome), but the latter died in 215 and was soon followed by his father. This put Gelon’s infant son, Hieronymos, on the throne, and pro-Carthaginian courtiers managed to maneuver the city into switching sides. In 213, the Romans besieged the city, and despite its spirited defense, supported by none other than Archimedes (who eventually lost his life to a Roman legionary), the city was captured, losing its independence forever. Because he never ruled alone, little is known about Gelon II. He was married to a daughter of Pyrrhos, and ancient sources describe him as a conscientious man who respected his father’s rule and carried himself with dignity. The aforementioned Archimedes also dedicated one of his mathematical treatises to him. While it is an attractive piece, what makes it even more desirable is its (very) long provenance chain. It was first part of Hyman Montagu’s (1844-1895) collection, the Greek part of which was sold with Sotheby’s in 1894. A British Jew, Montagu was a very successful solicitor specialized in bankruptcy, and it appears to have made him a fortune, as he acquired a large collection of Greek, Roman, Byzantine and English coins. He was not a senseless buyer, however, but rather had a keen eye and an evident passion for coins, as evidenced by his numismatic publications. His mania as a collector is further shown by the fact that his collection of Greek coins was assembled in merely five years, but still ranked as one of the major collections of its kind at the time. From the Montagu sale the coin passed through the hands of William Talbot Ready, sometime employee of the British Museum, who was himself a collector and dealer. He in turn sold the coin on to John Ward. (An annotated copy of the Montagu sale mentioning the coin was bought by W. T. Ready) John Ward (1832-1912) came from a business family specialized in stationery and lithography. He quickly managed to develop the business, but a falling out with his family members led him to leave the firm, and it seems he devoted much of his time to traveling instead, particularly to Greece, Sicily and Egypt. He published several books, one of which, Pyramids and Progress (1900) guides the reader through ancient and modern Egypt, with special attention for the way the British had improved the country’s situation (whether the Egyptians agreed is another question). In 1902, his collection of Greek coins was catalogued by John Hill of the British Museum. It was not unusual in that time for private collectors to have their collections published in such a manner (the same happened for great names such as Vlasto, Pozzi and Weber) – the resulting book, Greek Coins and Their Parent Cities, is more than just a catalog, however: it is also a history of the Greek world enlivened by colorful anthropological anecdotes about its modern inhabitants. (no. 339, my coin in the 1902 catalog of John Ward's collection) After John Ward passed away in 1912, his collection was in turn acquired en bloc by none other than J. P. Morgan. Money, of course, was no obstacle to Mr. Morgan and a real quest was going on to bring the collections of the American museums on the same level as the European ones. As such, the collection was donated to the Metropolitan Museum. There it, and my coin, stayed for another 60 years, before the Met decided to sell off part of its coin collection, including the pieces formerly belonging to John Ward. Since then, the coin passed through three more auctions and one dealer’s hands to finally wind up in my collection. (The Sotheby's catalog of the John Ward collection - funnily enough, the photos are of inferior quality to the 1902 catalog) (In the 1995 Tradart catalog) Hope you guys enjoyed the read, and as always, if you have anything cool to share, go for it!

51 Gallery sold one or two of these a couple years back. Still very much regret not buying one.

@Deinomenid Dear me! I checked the Lockett tickets, but rather than checking the silver, I only looked at the bronzes (which of course didn't contain my piece) - thank you very much for saving me from my own haste! @kirispupis Ah, you have Apollo's sister there! Both Artemis and Apollo were connected to the island, though I haven't been able to find out much more. @AncientOne That must be rare!

Hello everyone! Now that there's a bit of a lull in auctions during the summer months, there's no better time to organize the collection and post some coins online. One piece I picked up in Nomos 33 is quite a nice one. ISLANDS OFF ELIS, Zakynthos. Circa 456-370 BC. Drachm (Silver, 15 mm, 3.72 g, 10 h). Laureate head of Apollo to right, bow and quiver over his left shoulder. Rev. ZA Tripod with three rings and struts; in field to right, head of a rooster to right. BMC 12. HGC 6, 222. SNG Newcastle 360. Very rare. Beautifully toned and with an illustrious pedigree. Struck on a slightly short flan and with a few edge bumps, otherwise, very fine. From the Jonathan Kagan Collection, Nomos 33, 9 June 2024, 1209, EDIT: that of Richard Cyrill Lockett (1873-1950), Glendining's, 27 May 1959, 1978 (part of) (thanks @Deinomenid!), that of Julius Wertheim, Ars Classica XII, 18-23 October 1926, 1562 (sold for 40 francs to Baldwin's against Ratto), from the stock of Zschiesche & Köder, Leipzig, Helbing 1913, 9 April 1913, 447 and from the collection of Consul Eduard F. Weber (1830-1907), Hirsch XII, 16 November 1908, 1969. Zakynthos, a prime holiday destination today, had a very long history of settlement, from the Neolithicum through the Mycenean period and beyond. It came to play a role in the struggle between Sparta and Athens in the 5th century BC, as the island possessed tar pits, which were crucial to the Athenian war fleet. The Zakynthians staunchly supported Athens, even its disastrous Sicilian Expedition, but in the end, like their ally, they were bested by the Spartans. In the Hellenistic period, the island came under Antigonid control, before the Romans definitively conquered it in 191 BC. It would later play an important role in Venice's control of the Mediterranean and was heavily fought over between the Republic and the Ottoman Empire. As for the coin's provenance (I found the Helbing and Ars Classica provenances with CoinCabinet.io), let's start with Julius (or Jules) Wertheim. Granted, the Ars Classica XII catalog contained multiple collections - that of E. Bissen of Copenhagen, a part of that of J. Wertheim of Berlin, a part of that of Arthur Evans (Cretan coins) and Parthian coins from the Petrowicz collection, amongst others. Thankfully, Alan Walker was kind enough to find out for me that the coin indeed came from the collection of Julius Wertheim. I couldn't find much about him on the internet - he was a member of the German Archaeological Society and the Viennese Numismatic Society, a freemason, and he owned a factory in the Greifswalder Strasse in Berlin. His name, however, implies that he was related to the great Jewish Wertheim family (someone correct me if it isn't so), which owned several department stores across Germany before they were seized by the Nazis. The Ars Classica catalog, at any rate, states that his Greek collection was especially strong in Syracusan coins. Next, Zschiesche & Köder was a numismatic firm founded by Carl Christian Zschiesche (1819–1885) together with Carl Eduard Köder (circa 1820-1880) in Leipzig. They produced a number of fixed price lists before being dissolved in 1910 (though one of their employees, Friedrich Redder, later continued with his own firm), their stock being sold with Helbing in 1911-1913. Finally, Consul Eduard F. Weber (1830-1907, not to be confused with Sir Hermann Weber!) was a German businessman and politician who collected coins and paintings, especially those of great painters from the Low Countries, Germany and Italy. His father, David Friedrich Weber, had a successful firm specialized in trade with South America, and as a young boy of nine, Eduard joined his parents on a two-year long trip to Italy, where he was no doubt deeply impressed by the country's antiquities. He became a very successful businessman in his own right, founding his own firm in Chile in 1856 and another in his home city of Hamburg in 1862. During the next decades, he held several public offices in the city and was appointed consul for Hawaii, a position he 'inherited' from his father-in-law. After his death in 1907, his collection of paintings was offered to the city of Hamburg for 2.5 million marks, but the sale fell through - a great loss, as they brought the substantially higher sum of 4.4 million marks in an auction a while later. His coin collection, on the other hand, was sold with Hirsch in two auctions in 1908-1909. It would be interesting to find out where the coin went after Baldwin's bought it in 1926. Something more to research! And if you guys have any coins from the aforementioned collections or from Zakynthos, I'd be delighted if you share them.

Welcome! That Severus Alexander looks quite crisp.

I actually had some success with the provenance tool. I'm mainly paying for the collection organizer but being able to make use of the provenance searcher as much as I want is really neat too. For this coin it found three provenances: Hirsch XII 1909 (Konsul Eduard Weber - already had that one), Helbing 1913 and Ars Classica XII (1926). For this coin it found two provenances: one to 1902 (the Hill catalog of the John Ward collection, already had that one - curiously, the provenance searcher calls it a 1970s pedigree, perhaps because it's using a later reprint) and Glendining & Empire Coins, 9 October 1989, 620. It may need some more work, but the potential is most definitely there. I also like how quick it actually goes. EDIT: It quite handily found the Münzhandlung Basel I 1934 pedigree for my Lucilla too

Lovely Tissaphernes! At uni, I used to read Xenophon's narrative of Tissaphernes' betrayal with my students, always accompanied by a photo of one of his coins. I really like the Groschen too.

Very interesting! I have a transcription and translation laying about of a brief Ptolemaic royal decree forbidding fishing for three species of sacred fish, including the Oxyrhynchos. I really ought to make work of publishing it.

@Meander That is a very impressive pedigree and a very beautiful piece. Congratulations!

I had several coins on my watch list, though I'm holding out for another auction. Honestly, I was very impressed with the offering. A year or two ago, I felt there was a bit of a slump in CNG's e-auctions, but the quality has improved dramatically. @ela126 That is definitely one of the most charming types in the whole of Byzantine coinage. Congratulations!

@Carausius Yes, the coin is in the plates in the auction catalog, so certainly ex Münzhandlung Basel I 1934:

@rNumis At this point, I'm not sure of anything! The foreword is unambiguous: it speaks of a collection formed 'about the middle of the previous century' (um die Mitte des vorigen Jahrhunderts). Perhaps it's a good idea reproducing the text here: This precludes Christian August von Waldeck-Pyrmont even more (even if the 18th century was meant, which is unlikely), as he was only born in 1744 (unless he became a serious collector very early on!) Moreover, the foreword says the collection was never published, but a part of the Waldeck collection was, in fact, studied by Friedländer in 1863 (without any mention of the highlights mentioned in the foreword). I did some digging and the first mention I could find of the connection between the sale of 1934 and Waldeck is a Bank Leu/Hess catalog of 1971. Is that were the mistake (if it is a mistake) might have crept in?

Hello everyone! I recently acquired a coin which is ex Münzhandlung Basel I 1934, and am in desperate need of your expertise. I bought the piece as being ex Waldeck - however, upon closer scrutiny, Münzhandlung Basel I does not appear to be the Waldeck collection, the first part of which was auctioned in Münzhandlung Basel III. The foreword of the 1934 catalog states the following: - It's a collection formed by someone of high nobility in the mid 19th century. - The coins were mainly acquired during travels in Italy. - The collection consists of bronze coins. - The collection was never published in any way. Clearly, this is problematic for the Waldeck collection, which was mainly formed in the 18th century, also included other metals and had some pieces published by Friedländer, who visited the collection in the mid 19th century. A few entries on acsearch have Münzhandlung Basel I 1934 = Waldeck, but I think they have been misled by Spring, who has it like that in his catalog but probably mistakenly so. So my question for you all is: does anyone happen to know who the collection of Roman bronzes sold in Münzhandlung Basel I 1934 belonged to?