| Naville Numismatics Ltd. > Auction 85 | Auction date: 19 November 2023 |
| Lot number: 671 Price realized: 650 GBP (Approx. 808 USD / 742 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Commercial weight of 1 Uncia IV-VI century AD, Æ 27.00 mm., 26.76 g. Two diademed, draped, and cuirassed imperial busts; ΓA below. Rev. Blank. cf. Bendall 75 for similar. Extremely rare. with areas of green and red patina; the top surface reveals the design with its original colors of golden-brown (bronze), red (copper), and shiny grey (silver). Extremely fine Starting price: 100 GBP |  |
Match 1:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Triton XXVII | Auction date: 9 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 465 Price realized: Unsold | |
| Lot description: MYSIA, Pergamum. Valerian I. AD 253-260. Æ Medallion (43mm, 31.84 g, 12h). Olympic Games issue. Aur(elios) Damas, Strategos and Asiarch. Struck AD 253 or 257. AYT • K • Π • ΛIK • OY AΛЄPIANOC •, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / ЄΠI C AYP • ΔAMA •/A ΠЄPΓA(MH)NΩN, • ΠΡΩTΩN • Γ •/ NЄΩKOPΩ/N, wreath with OΛ/YMΠ/IΛ in three lines, flanked by two prize crowns, each containing a palm frond; all set on prize table; below, urn, flanked on either side by a purse and whip. Weisser – (cf. 2533, Gallienus); Von Fritze, Pergamon, p. 81 and pl. IX, 4; RPC X Online 62133; SNG BN 2293 (same dies); SNG Leypold –; SNG von Aulock 7518 (same dies). Brown patina, rough surfaces, once gilt with traces remaining. Near VF. Very rare. Ex J. P. Righetti Collection, no. 0369. By the mid second century BC, Pergamum had become the the most important center of sport and physical education in the Hellenistic east. Its Nikephoria games, held every three years, had nearly the prestige and appeal of great Panhellenic games, including the Olympics, upon which they were modeled. By the second century AD, the Olympic name had even been "franchised," in a manner still poorly understood, for use at sporting contests far removed from the original quadrennial festival still held at the ancestral home of Elis, Olympia. The contests at Pergamum now honored the Roman emperors and bore the name Olympic, as attested by the reverse of this remarkable medallion, which shows the prizes awarded to the victors in the various athletic, equestrian and artistic contests, all arrayed on and around a table. The laurel wreath enclosing the name "Olympia" was likely for the winner of the premier event of the games, possibly the "stadion" foot race. Estimate: 1000 USD |  |
Match 2:
| Spink > Auction 24121 | Auction date: 9 April 2024 |
| Lot number: 245 Price realized: Unsold | |
| Lot description: Roman Empire, a Selection of Provincial Bronze (9): i) Claudius, AE, Phrygia, Hierapolis, laureate head right, countermarked with the head of Helios, right, rev. Apollo standing right, holding plectrum and cithara, 4.15g (SNG Copenhagen 453; Countermark Howgego 11; RPC 2969), fine; ii) Nero, AE, Iconium, laureate head of Nero right, rev. veiled head of Perseus right, with harpa over shoulder, 4.93g (RPC 3545), softened but fine; iii) Lucius Verus, AE Medallion, Pontus, Cilicia, Tarsus, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, rev. two emperors, togate and carrying scrolls, facing one another and shaking hands, SEBASTON in exergue, 20.37g (Unpublished), some lamination, bright patina, fine, a rare and unpublished variety; iv) Commodus AE, Mysia, c. 184-190, draped and laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, rev. galley with rowers, 19.30g (RPC Temp. 2329), fine; v) Caracalla, AE, Pontus, Amasia, c. 205-208, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, rev. high altar with sacred tree to left, 14.01g (BMC 32; Dalaison 385), rare, nice portrait and patina, good fine; vi) Gordian (AD 238-244), AE 25, Capadoccia, Yr 6=AD 243, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, rev. Argaeus set on altar, date in exergue, 11.05g (RPC 3381), red patina, good fine; vii) Gordian, another, Pontus, Neocaesarea, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, rev. Prize urn containing two palms on an altar decorated with a palm on the front, 15.74g (Falghera 2103), green patina, deposits, fine; viii) Herennia Etruscilla AE 31, Phrygia, Alexandros, son of Tieios, first archon, diademed and draped bust right, rev. Tyche standing facing, head to left, holding rudder and cornucopiae,12.84g (RPC 840; SNG von Aulock 3885; SNG Leypold 1690), fine; ix) another, Vespasian(?), 3.90g, fine (9).. Estimate: £200 - £300 |  |
Match 3:
| Spink > Auction 24121 | Auction date: 9 April 2024 |
| Lot number: 253 Price realized: 180 GBP (Approx. 228 USD / 210 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: a Group Roman and Byzantine of Silver and Bronze (6): i) Hadrian (AD 117-138), AR Denarius AD 125-128, HADRIANUS AUGUSTUS, laureate head right, rev. COS III, Victory standing right, right hand on head, left hand holding palm, 3.55g (RIC 182; BMC 422), well centred, patchy patina, good fine ii) Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus (AD 193-211), (2): AR Antoninianius, struck under Caracalla AD 216, diademed and draped bust right on crescent, rev. VENVS GENETRIX, Venus seated left extending right and and holding sceptre in left, 4.97g (RIC 388a), well centred, good detail, toned with slight inconsistancy, very fine; iii) AR Denarius, IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust right, rev. MATER DEVM, Cybele, turreted, entrhoned left between two lions, leaning on drum and holding branch and sceptre, 3.57g (RIC 564; BMC 51), toned, well centred, good detail, very fine (2); iv) Nero (AD 54-68), AE Billon Tetradrachm, Alexandria AD 66, NERO KLAV KAIS SEB GER, radiate bust left, rev. THEOS SEBASTOS, radiate bust of Augustus right, 12.58g (Milne 251; RPC 5284), significant softening, patchy patina with limited areas of verdegris, good fine; v) Tacitus (AD 275-276), AE Potin Tetradrachm, Alexandria, AK KL TAKITOS SEB, laureate draped and cuirassed bust right, rev. ETOYS, eagle standing right, head left with wreath in its beak, A in right field, 8.70g (Milne 4502), lovely patina with good detail, good very fine; vi) Byzantine Empire, Anonymous, AE Follis, attributed to Michael IV (AD 1010-1041), Christ Antiponetes standing facing wearing Nimbus, pallium and colobium, raising hand in benediction and book of gospels, rev. jewelled cross with pellet at each extremity, 6.98g (Sear Class C 1825), dark patina with some softening, very fine; (6).. v) Purchased from Spink, 29 January 1952, 2s., Previously purchased by Spink from the L. A. Lawrence Collection, Roman Part II, Glendining, 17 January 1951, lot 1358 (part), 'all fair' - £1 Estimate: £240 - £280 |  |
Match 4:
| Naville Numismatics Ltd. > Auction 88 | Auction date: 7 April 2024 |
| Lot number: 440 Price realized: Unsold | |
| Lot description: Hadrian, 117-138 Sestertius, work of the 'Alphaeus master' Rome circa 133-135, Æ 34.00 mm., 21.24 g. Bare-headed and draped bust r. Rev. Pax standing l., holding branch and cornucopiae; S-C across fields. C 1016. BMC 1528. RIC 2167 (these dies) cf. NAC 54, 432 (these dies and sold for 95'000 CHF) Excessively Rare; the work of the 'Alphaeus master'. An extraordinary portrait work of an excellent master engraver. Brown tone, bold portrait, minor areas of corrosions and cuprite gently levelled out in parts, otherwise Good very fine Among the great prizes of Roman coinage are medallic sestertii which Charles Seltman attributed to an artist he dubbed the 'Alphaeus Master'. This engraver may have been the sculptor Antonianus of Aphrodisias, whose style epitomised the Hadrianic revival of Greek classicism, but with that speculation aside we may say he is the most celebrated die engraver of the Roman period to have been identified by his body of work. We might suspect he was a member of the inner circle of Hadrian, an emperor who was so completely infatuated with Greek art and culture that he would have made Greece his home had his obligations not interfered. He became familiar with Athens as a young man, and in 112 was elected archon of the city; as emperor he travelled to Greece in 124/5, 128 and 131, typically residing in his favourite city, Athens. This sestertius very likely was struck in 135 for Hadrian's vicennalia (20th anniversary). The selection of Pax as the reverse type may well be a reference to the emperor's hope for a speedy end to the Bar Kochba War in Judaea – a traumatic event that tarnished the last years of Hadrian's life. Toynbee describes these sestertii as 'medallic coins', for in her view they pair a regular reverse die for a sestertius with a portrait die intended to produce bronze medallions. Though it cannot be disproven that the reverse die was intended for standard coinage (after all, it does include SC in the inscription), the artistry is of such a high calibre it is hard to imagine that it was ever intended to produce regular-issue sestertii. Two bronze medallions in Gnecchi (pl. 42, nos. 3, 4) bear portraits that Toynbee rightly ascribes to the Alphaeus Master. The first is of a different die than the one used for the Pax sestertius and is paired with an anepigraphic reverse displaying the birds of the Capitoline Triad; the second appears to share the obverse die of the Pax sestertius, though in this case it is paired with an anepigraphic reverse showing a bridge with its span decorated with eight columns. Among other imperial issues produced by the Alphaeus Master we should add a bronze medallion showing on its reverse the forest-god Silvanus bringing a goat before a temple entrance (NAC 15, lot 355) and a silver medallion showing Athena and Poseidon in their competition to be the patron of Athens (NAC 18, lot 519). Other portraits of Hadrian of different composition might also be considered, as should some unusually refined reverse dies for bronze medallions (for example, Gnecchi II pl. 38, nos. 5 and 6; pl. 40, nos. 5-8; pl. 41, no. 2; and pl. 42, nos. 1 and 5). Starting price: 7000 GBP |  |
Match 5:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Triton XXVII | Auction date: 9 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 874 Price realized: 6,000 USD (Approx. 5,495 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Carausius. Romano-British Emperor, AD 286-293. AR Denarius (20mm, 4.81 g, 6h). 'RSR' mint. IMP CARAVSIVS P F AVG, laureate and draped bust right / FELIC ITA AVG, galley on waves, with mast and four rowers, sailing right; RSR. RIC V.5 86 (forthcoming); RIC V 560; Shiel 47; RSC 50. Toned, light porosity, light scratches mostly under tone, metal flaw at edge. Near EF. Well struck and in good metal. A detailed specimen of a very difficult issue. Very rare, only 9 examples noted in RIC V.5. From the Dr. Malcolm Lyne Collection, purchased from Baldwin's, 16 December 2003. Sir Arthur Evans suggested in 1928 that the 'RSR' mark in the exergue "[can] be explained as R[ationalis], S[ummae] R[ei] rather than a local mint mark" (as cited in Shiel 1977). Shiel followed Evans' explanation and suggested that "one would expect to find such an officer based at the administrative centre of the area concerned, in this case London, and so the denarii ... must have been produced there also" (Shiel, 98). Alternatively, Guy de la Bédoyère proposed a more literary explanation for the three letters in his article "Carausius and the Marks RSR and I.N.P.C.D.A." in NC 1998. His explanation draws upon the enigmatic letters INPCDA found on a pair of large bronze Carausius medallions and extrapolates from the two sets of exergual letters that they are a reference to a passage from Virgil's Ecologues iv.6-7 which reads "Redeunt Saturnia Regna, Iam Nova Progenies Caelo Demittitur Alto" (de la Bédoyère, 82). De la Bédoyère suggests that perhaps at the least the RSR-marked silver denarii of Carausius were likely not intended for widespread general circulation but were instead donatives for the state's elite (ibid, 85). The substantial weight of the denarii and their metal quality lends some credence to this hypothesis. Both Evans' and de la Bédoyère's explanations are offered here for this intriguing and artistic series. The Coinage of Carausius from the Dr. Malcolm Lyne Collection When one considers the coinage of the Romano-British Empire led by the rebels Carausius and Allectus, the following adjectives do not usually come to mind: stunning, captivating, intriguing, entrancing, and more. However, the collection of Romano-British coinage that Dr. Malcolm Lyne has assembled is without doubt one of the finest known today. Perhaps never before has such an extensive and high-quality offering of the coinage of Carausius appeared on the market in a single sale. These extremely difficult issues are rarely encountered in excellent states of preservation or with many of the incredible pedigrees that are found within Dr. Lyne's collection. Furthermore, these coins have been studied by the author of the upcoming RIC V.5, Sam Moorhead, who has graciously provided critical updated catalog numbers and rarity information. As the numismatic community awaits the upcoming new versions of RIC 5, a preview of the wealth of information to come can be found here. It should be noted that it has been ninety years since the original publication of the old RIC V.2 in 1933. However, many issues in this collection that were known then remain incredible rarities. Some of these issues that were either formerly unknown or known from precious few examples are today still unique, extremely rare, or very rare. Furthermore, many them are not only near peer-less in rarity, but are also incredibly attractive specimens. On top of these desirable traits, there are also outstanding pedigrees attached from famous collections. Many of these old pedigrees feature the names of famous numismatists who studied and wrote on the coinage of Carausius in the 20 th century. Additionally, some of the coins found in this section are appearing here again for the first time in a generation making this a rare opportunity to acquire seldom encountered or even unique issues. This sale and its pedigree name are certain to be remembered in future work as a major moment for the coinage of Carausius. Estimate: 5000 USD |  |
