Deciphering a Ticket ...

[David Soknacki]

Hello

1.      I write to ask if anyone Numis Forums member can fill in some of the gaps on a coin I recently purchased from NAC’s Autumn Sale, catalogued as from the ‘Mentor’ collection

1.      We know a fair bit about the coin already. It’s from Abdera in Thrace, an octodrachm minted sometime during the period 500 to 480 BC.  And since its from the Asyut hoard (number 130 in that catalogue), we know it was discovered probably in the summer of 1969.  Apparently about 500 coins from that hoard came to be recorded in London the next year.

2.      As many Numis Forums members are well aware, NAC’s recent auction generated a fair amount of publicity. From those threads and the introduction to various catalogues, it seems that the ‘Mentor’ of this collection was George Muller, a director of Spink from the 1950s to 1982.

3.      I am hoping that there are forum members – perhaps other purchasers of ‘Mentor’ collection material – that can help decoding the ticket that came with the coin:

1.      Specifically

a)      My guess is that ‘1340’ at the top is the collector’s inventory number

b)      Off to the right is something that looks like “JAR4” over a 72. But that "A" looks much like the "M" in "May" to the left.  I guess that 1972 could be a purchase date, but have no idea what "JAR4" means

c)      And on the other side is what looks like code for the purchase price in GBP: AA77

2.      Prior to posting this request I did check out a number of lists about tickets, here, at Coin Talk, and at the British Numismatic Society. No luck.

 

I’d greatly appreciate it if any members can help figuring out the code on this ticket, or correct any errors in my detective work so far.

Thanks so much.

D