Cult of beauty - Minerva

Coin sales
The world’s foremost dealers, auctioneers and collectors attended the 39 th New York
International Numismatic Convention held in January, Max Tursi reports on some of
the notable coins sold during a frenetic series of auctions
The Convention, held as usual in the prestigious premises of
the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, included a four-day trade fair and
a number of collateral auctions held before, during and after
the bourse. It proved to be a very busy week for dealers and
collectors alike. Every event was a success, confirming the healthy and
vibrant state of the numismatic market. The sales were very well attended
and almost every lot was fiercely contested. The high-end material, which
is now almost exclusively sold at auction, performed exceptionally well.
Triton
Impressive though they were, the Heritage
results were to be eclipsed during the following
two days by the staggering Triton XIV sale of
the Classical Numismatic Group. The auction,
which consisted of 1844 lots, had a pre-sale estimate
of $4.6 million but realised over $12 million
(including a 15 percent buyer’s premium).
The number of lots sold was a remarkable 98
percent. The cover coin of the sale was lot 60, an
extremely rare tetradrachm issued in 357/6 BC
by the city of Amphipolis, in Macedon, which
Fig 1. Amphipolis silver tetradrachm, 357/6 BC.
Fig 2. Demetrios Poliorketes gold stater, c. 294/3 BC.
Fig 3. Athens silver dekadrachm, 469-460 BC.
realised $700,000 and more than trebled its
$200,000 estimate. A true masterpiece of classical
numismatic art, this coin is part of a series
called the ‘Parthenon Group’, so named because
the obverse head was inspired by the seated
Apollo of the east frieze of the Parthenon (Fig
1). The reference reflected pro-Athenian feelings
during a dire moment for Amphipolis in
357 BC, when the city was placed under siege
by Philip II (r. 359–336 BC) and was desperately
seeking military assistance from Athens.
Fig 4. Rhodes silver tetradrachm, 408/4 BC.
The bidding has produced some incredible – and on occasion bizarre –
results, and many records were crushed over the course of the week. Heritage
opened the auction on 2–3 January with a strong catalogue consisting of
ancient and world coins. Top sellers in the ancient section were a beautiful
Gela tetradrachm (415–405 BC) a Carthage shekel (213–210 BC) and a
Ptolemy VI (r. 180–145 BC) oktodrachm, all three of which sold for the
same price of $46,000. The sale, which featured many world coin rarities,
realised $9.3 million (including a 15 percent buyer’s premium).
Fig 5. King Eukratides gold stater, 170–45 BC.
Fig 6. Julius Caesar silver denarius, c. 40 BC.
One of five known staters of the Macedonian
king Demetrios Poliorketes (r. 294–88 BC),
issued at Pella during the first two years of his
reign, created a feverish bidding battle bringing
$180,000 from an estimate of $10,000 (Fig 2).
Lot 124 was an imposing Athenian dekadrachm
(469–460 BC), in very fine condition (Fig 3). It
almost doubled the estimate of $200,000, with
a final hammer price of $375,000. Lot 328 was
one of the earliest issues of the city of Rhodes,
formed by the synoecism of the cities of Ialysos,
Fig 7. Claudius gold aureus, AD 41-2.
Fig 8. Claudius gold aureus, AD 46/7.
Fig 9. Constantius II gold medallion, AD 343/4.
54 Minerva May/June 2010