Tom Eden said: “This was a wide-ranging two-day auction embracing everything from ancient Greek and Roman coins alongside Islamic, Oriental, British and Foreign coins, paper money and Renaissance medals and plaquettes. It was in the latter category that the top price of the sale was achieved, for the rare pair of plaquettes by Valerio Belli, lot 623. However, prices were generally solid across all areas including the British. Oriental coins sold extremely well, notably Lot 355, the very rare Rama V 5-tamlung Siamese bullet money of 1880. We now look forward to our sale of Medals, Orders and Decorations including the Peter Maren Collection on July 2.”
Prices shown include the Buyer’s Premium of 20%
SALE TOTAL: £727,506 ($1,134,909)
SOLD BY VALUE: 82%
Lot 623
Italy, Valerio Belli, The Entrance into Jerusalem and Christ in Limbo, a pair of trapezoidal bronze plaquettes, the former 63 x 100.8mm (Molinier 266; Bange 762; Gasparotto 53), the latter with artist’s signature VALER BELLVS VICETI, 62 x 100.4mm (Molinier 279; Bange 770; Gasparotto 60), each stamped with the initials B M for the collector Baron de Monville, each with solder marks on the reverse, very fine contemporary casts with uniform brown patinas Ex Baron de Monville collection (Paris, 24 January 1861), Spitzer collection and Morton & Eden sale, 18 April 2002, lot 537. These form part of a series of trapezoidal plaquettes of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ, referred to in the Kress catalogue, p. 10, of which The Entombment (Kress 10) is also from the de Monville collection. The Entrance into Jerusalem relates to a rock crystal engraving in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, which once formed part of a cross and two candlesticks, now dismantled.
Estimate: £2,000-2,500 SOLD FOR £32,400 ($50,544) Purchased by UK dealer
Lot 355
Siam (Thailand), Rama V (Chulalongkorn), ceremonial issue 5-tamlung (20-baht) bullet money (‘pot duang’), CS 1242 (AD 1880), Cho Rampevy, on the cremation of Somdet P’ra Deb Sirindhra, mother of Rama V, three countermarks consisting of ornate chakra wheel, Thai flower with date 1242 below, and ornate royal crown, 304g (cf Guehler pl. VII-VIII; KM. C191), toned, about extremely fine, very rare
Estimate: £4,000-6,000 SOLD FOR £20,400 ($31,824) Purchased by European dealer
Lot 387
Great Britain, Oliver Cromwell, broad of 20 shillings, 1656, by Thomas Simon, edge grained, 9.04g (S. 3225), a few surface marks from handling, generally good very fine and with much original colour
Estimate: £10,000-15,000 SOLD FOR £19,200 ($29, 952) Purchased by UK dealer
Lot 376
Great Britain, Mary, Fine sovereign of 30 shillings, 1553, privy mark pomegranate on both sides, 14.45g (SCBI Schneider 704, same obverse die, and 706, same reverse die; N. 1956; S. 2488), three small knocks or scrapes at 4 o’ clock on obverse, fine to good fine
Estimate: £7,000-10,000 SOLD FOR £15,600 ($24,336) Purchased by UK dealer
Lot 42
Ancient Greek, Attica, Athens, tetradrachm, c. 500 BC, archaic helmeted head of Athena right wearing crested Attic helmet, rev., owl standing right with head facing; three-leaved olive sprig behind, 17.38g (Seltman group L; Asyut 261, this piece, with enlargement on plate A), deep test cut but very fine and with a well-defined and well-centred head of Athena, very rare [ex Hugh Griffin collection]
Estimate: £2,000-3,000 SOLD FOR £14,400 ($22,467) Purchased by private collector
Lot 462
Great Britain, Charles I, Oxford mint (1642-46), pound, 1642, m.m. plume (on obverse), small equestrian portrait, horse walking over arms and cannon left, Oxford plume in field behind, rev., Declaration, Oxford plumes above, 119.35g (SCBI Brooker 860, same dies; Morr. B-2; N. 2398; S. 2940), minor flaws and marks including a small ‘x’ scratched in obverse field, very fine
Estimate: £5,000-7,000 SOLD FOR £13,800 ($21,528) Purchased by UK dealer
Lot 64
Cyprus, Salamis, Pnytagoras (351-332 BC), gold twelfth stater, crowned and draped bust of Aphrodite left with long hair, wearing beaded necklace and earring, rev., bust of Aphrodite left with long hair, wearing earring and crown with semicircular plates, ‘Ba’ in Cypriote characters in right field 0.68g (BMC -, type mentioned in Introduction p. cxi no 2; Babelon, Perses 628-9), extremely fine and very rare
Pnytagoras was the eldest son of Evagoras, King of Salamis and served under his father during the revolts against Persian rule. His rise to power is rather controversial and it is believed he was involved in a conspiracy that led to the assassination of his half uncle Evagoras II. Following the successful suppression of the Persian revolt, Artaxerxes III wanted to quickly move into Egypt and therefore had less interest in punishing the one remaining rebel king. Pnytagoras, although involved in the uprisings, submitted to the Persian King and paid regular tributes to the empire. Later in his rule, he allied himself with the Macedonians and participated in the important siege of Tyre in 332 BC.
Estimate: £6,000-8,000 SOLD FOR £12,000 ($18,720) Purchased by private collector
Lot 378
Great Britain, Elizabeth I, Second Period of Second Issue (1583-93), Fine sovereign of 30 shillings, m.m. tun (1592-93), 15.34g (SCBI Schneider 783, same dies; N. 2003; S. 2529), Queen’s face very weak and perhaps scratched; lightly tooled on portrait and thereby impaired but the throne, legends and reverse good very fine and the coin of full weight
Estimate: £6,000-8,000 SOLD FOR £12,000 ($18,720) Purchased by US dealer
Lot 118
Roman, Faustina Senior, wife of Antoninus Pius (died 141 AD), aureus, Rome, c. 141, draped bust of Faustina right, rev., AETER-NITAS, hexastyle temple in which is seated a figure of Faustina, 7.25g (RIC 354; Calico 1755; C. 64), scrape on reverse, otherwise about extremely fine and rare
Estimate: £7,000-10,000 SOLD FOR £10,800 ($16,848) Purchased by private collector
Lot 57
Ancient Greek, Elis, Olympia, hemidrachm, c. 420 BC = 90th Olympiad, eagle with closed wings, holding dead hare and tearing him with his beak, rev., thunderbolt with wings above and volutes below, all within circular dotted border, 2.89g (Seltman pl. VIII, 15 v.; BMC 30 v.), obverse countermark, otherwise about extremely fine and extremely rare
Ex BCD collection, Bank Leu 2004, lot 60; Hess 253, 1983, lot 199; Captain E.G. Spencer Churchill collection, Ars Classica XIII, 1928, lot 798
Estimate: £2,500-3,000 SOLD FOR £9,000 ($14,040) Purchased by private collector
