Trying to track down a possible AH provenance

[CPK]

As the title says, I'm trying to track down a possible provenance for my Akragas hemidrachm. The coin came in a white cardboard holder with "LEU 63" written in one corner. I've looked this up on rnumis, but the Bank Leu Auction 63 consisted of German coinage, no ancients.

I found the coin on Coryssa, sold by an eBay seller in 2014, but unfortunately the listing did not contain any additional information.

Would anyone have any ideas what the "LEU 63" could mean? Or any other suggestions? Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated!

Here is the cardboard holder the coin came in:

 

Thanks!

[CPK]

Here is the coin in question.

SICILY, AKRAGAS
AR Hemidrachm (14.76mm, 1.86g, 2h)
Struck 420-406 BC
Obverse: Eagle facing left, standing on and tearing at hare
Reverse: Crab; below, fish swimming right
References: SNG ANS 1003-9
Well-centered strike with attractive toning.
The ancient city of Akragas came into being around 582 BC, as a colony founded by Greeks from Gela, a city about 40 miles to the east. The site was well-chosen, strategically located on a high plateau near the Hypsas and Acragas rivers and controlling a vast and rich agricultural area.
By the 5th century BC, Akragas had become the second-largest city on the island (behind Syracuse), with a population of perhaps 200,000 people, and had become a leader in the art and culture of the Classical period. Part of that artistic brilliance was manifested in the city’s coinage, which includes some of the most beautiful and recognized coins of the ancient world. This coin, though small, showcases that artistic talent with finely rendered naturalistic images of various creatures, notably the crab, which was the symbol of the ancient city.

[-monolith-]

Possibly Lot 63, search Leu's past auctions for Lot(s) 63.

Edited December 22, 2024 by -monolith-

[Alegandron]

Here is another version of the Killer Rabbit hunting and taking down the Eagle…

Sicily Akragas AE Trias 23mm 8.5g 287-241 BCE Beardless Zeus Hellanios 2 Eagles tearing at rabbit hare in talons HGC 2 159

[Phil Anthos]

Be vewwwy quiet...

[Phil Davis]

It might have been purchased privately from Bank Leu in 1963.

[CPK]

29 minutes ago, Phil Davis said:

It might have been purchased privately from Bank Leu in 1963.

Were they a fixed price dealer as well?

[TIF]

I like Phil's theory. 

As you probably did, I virtually thumbed through the Leu auction 63 catalog to see if any ancients were lurking amongst the German coins.  Nope.  

I also checked ACsearch for any Akragas/Agrigentum coins in any Leu auction-- no matches.

I widened the ACsearch search to allow all auction houses, Akragas hemidrachm/Agrigentum hemidrachm-- no matches.  I even squinted at the group lots but didn't see any likely matches.  Thought about dropping the denomination from the search term, but there were too many hits.

Nice coin, by the way.  Great centering, even wear, still has good detail.

Edited December 22, 2024 by TIF

[Phil Davis]

2 hours ago, CPK said:

Were they a fixed price dealer as well?

Occasional fixed price lists, but I don't know that they ever got as high as 63. I have some; not complete, but probably enough to say if 63 is even possible.

[rNumis]

Possibly referencing Hess-Leu (3) March 1956, Lot 63. Same type, but different example.

Gallica link is here rNumis » Auctions of Hess Leu

 

Edited December 22, 2024 by rNumis

[Phil Davis]

I checked what I have. The latest numbered one is list 22 from 1987. A lot of their lists, including all the later ones I have, weren't numbered at all, just indicated a season and a year. Bottom line, I'm pretty sure there never was a list 63. RNumis' suggestion is intriguing and possible, but I lean towards my original thought.

[CPK]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate all the suggestions.

2 hours ago, rNumis said:

Possibly referencing Hess-Leu (3) March 1956, Lot 63. Same type, but different example.

Gallica link is here rNumis » Auctions of Hess Leu

 

It's possible but seems odd to me that someone would use just a random sale list rather than a standard reference work to label the coin. Still, that is about the closest match so far and it would be quite a coincidence if it was unrelated.

5 minutes ago, Phil Davis said:

I checked what I have. The latest numbered one is list 22 from 1987. A lot of their lists, including all the later ones I have, weren't numbered at all, just indicated a season and a year. Bottom line, I'm pretty sure there never was a list 63. RNumis' suggestion is intriguing and possible, but I lean towards my original thought.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a sales list from 1963, at least on rnumis.

[rNumis]

11 minutes ago, CPK said:

It's possible but seems odd to me that someone would use just a random sale list rather than a standard reference work to label the coin. Still, that is about the closest match so far and it would be quite a coincidence if it was unrelated.

Yes, I agree it's not the greatest lead, but also agree it seems too much of a coincidence. Could be though. I couldn't find a lot 63 match in any other Leu or Hess-Leu sale, nor a match in any 1963 sale. That's as close as I can get 

 🤷‍♂️

[CPK]

1 minute ago, rNumis said:

Yes, I agree it's not the greatest lead, but also agree it seems too much of a coincidence. Could be though. I couldn't find a lot 63 match in any other Leu or Hess-Leu sale, nor a match in any 1963 sale. That's as close as I can get 

 🤷‍♂️

Thanks for checking!

[DonnaML]

The photo of that Lot 63 is small, but I don't see how it could be the same coin. It's way too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence, so either someone was innocently mistaken, or someone was trying to pass the coin off as ex-Leu at a time when it wasn't so easy to check.

Edited December 23, 2024 by DonnaML

[rNumis]

Thanks for the image Donna. Actually, now I look more closely, the Hess-Leu coin has the fish swimming L, not R.

 

Edited December 23, 2024 by rNumis

[DANTE]

Alternatively, it could simply be the collector referring to the Leu coin as a reference/comparison to his own coin.

Edited December 23, 2024 by DANTE

[DonnaML]

5 minutes ago, DANTE said:

Alternatively, it could simply be the collector referring to the Leu coin as a reference/comparison to his own coin.

That's the kind and charitable interpretation!

[-monolith-]

15 hours ago, DonnaML said:

That's the kind and charitable interpretation!

I second that theory.

[HumbleScribe]

Do you have access to Westermark? It would be worth finding the reference for your coin there and looking at the list of cited examples to see whether anything is relevant to the annotation on the holder

[rNumis]

Good suggestion. Westermark is online here The Coinage of Akragas c. 510–406 BC. Part 1 : Text and Plates  (you can find Part 2 there too with the lists of examples). I didn't immediately see any further leads re: Leu/63  in the Hemidrachms section, but it was only a quick look.

Edited December 24, 2024 by rNumis

[HumbleScribe]

Thank you @rNumis. I didn’t know Westermark was available online 

[jtlart]

This is probably crazy but could the Leu possibly be a reference to Leuchtturm Publishing House .They produce the Lighthouse Matrix holder you posted (Logo at top). There also appears to be faint writing around the edge of the circle possibly erased.For years I saved all kinds of empty flips to temporarily house coins to keep them safe until I could attribute them .

[ajax]

On 12/22/2024 at 12:55 AM, CPK said:

As the title says, I'm trying to track down a possible provenance for my Akragas hemidrachm. The coin came in a white cardboard holder with "LEU 63" written in one corner. I've looked this up on rnumis, but the Bank Leu Auction 63 consisted of German coinage, no ancients.

I found the coin on Coryssa, sold by an eBay seller in 2014, but unfortunately the listing did not contain any additional information.

Would anyone have any ideas what the "LEU 63" could mean? Or any other suggestions? Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated!

Here is the cardboard holder the coin came in:

 

Thanks!

Hmm, I don't think your coin is one that would typically appear in a Leu auction, as they had typically offered much more expensive coins. If it was a purchase from the Leu stock, then the 63 might be the price paid ? Having said that, provenance would be nice to have but don't get disappointed if you can't find one. Just enjoy your coin.