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Lot 493
Marc Antony Æ Semis. Uncertain mint in Syria, 38-37 BC. Fleet Coinage. L. Bibulus M. f., praetor designatus. M•ANT•TER•COS•DES• ITER•ET•TER•III•VIR•R•P•C (NT ligate), bare head right / L•BIBVLVS•M•F•PR•DESIG, quinquereme right, with three oars and stern ending in boar’s head left. RPC 4092.1 = Amandry, Bronze I, Series I.E, 1. 6.00g, 20mm, 9h. Near Very Fine. Rare.
Lot 536
Roman Republic AV Half-Stater. Circa 216 BC. Laureate, Janiform head of the Dioscuri / Oath-taking scene: two warriors, one Roman and the other representing the Italian allies, standing facing each other, holding spears and touching with their swords a sacrificial pig held by a youth kneeling left between them; ROMA in exergue. Crawford 28/2; Sydenham 70; Bahrfeldt 2.2, pl. I, 13 (same dies); Biaggi 2; RBW 62. 3.43g, 15mm, 5h. Extremely Fine, and among the best preserved specimens known. Very Rare. From the collection of Gianfranco Galfetti; Privately purchased from Kunst und Münzen, Lugano in 1956. The first gold coinage ever issued by the Roman Republic, this half stater represents one of the most desperate moments in all of Roman history. The Second Punic War of 218-203 BC was waged at an unthinkable cost to Rome in terms of men, material and money. For nearly fifteen years the conflict was fought on Italian soil, bringing devastation to the peninsula on a scale it had never before endured. Yet the greatest shocks came in the opening phase of the war – Hannibal’s crossing of the Alps into the Po plain, considered one of the greatest achievements in military logistics, and the devastating defeats he inflicted on the Roman legions in a quick sequence of major battles, at the Trebia (December 218 BC), Lake Trasimene (June 217 BC), and Cannae (August 216 BC), brought Rome to her very knees. As a measure of the extent of the disaster, Hannibal had defeated the equivalent of eight consular armies (16 legions plus an equal number of allies), and within the space of just three campaign seasons, Rome had lost one-fifth of the entire population of male citizens over 17 years of age. Furthermore, the ruinous effect these defeats had on morale was such that most of southern Italy defected to Hannibal's cause, thus prolonging the war for a decade. In addition to the wholesale destruction of Rome’s armies, the most crucial damage inflicted by Hannibal’s invasion of Italy was the total collapse of Rome’s young monetary system. At that time, the Roman currency was based entirely on bronze, for which the demand in wartime was competing with the needs for weaponry. The weights of the bronze currency were radically decreased, and it therefore became necessary to make bronze convertible to silver, which, however, was also in short supply. The strain on the Roman treasury was extreme. The decision was therefore taken in c. 216 BC to issue a gold coinage as an attempt to provide further stability for and increase faith in the bronze coinage by creating the impression that bronze could be freely exchanged for gold, thus making the token bronze coinage acceptable. The types of this new gold coinage were evidently given some consideration, and in the event were highly appropriate. A Meadows (‘The Mars / eagle and thunderbolt gold and Ptolemaic involvement in the Second Punic War’ in Essays Hersh, 1998) writes: “the oath scene gold, as befitted its status as a creator of confidence in the new denominational system, was something of a showpiece. Its design reflected the ambience of ‘strength through co-operation’ that the Roman state sought to emphasise at the time of its production. That the unity of Rome and her allies was a very live issue in 216 BC is clear from the defections that followed the disastrous battle of Cannae in that very year.”
Lot 152
Macedon, Philippoi AV Stater. Circa 356-345 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress / Tripod with legs terminating in lion's paws, circular ornaments on top; ΦIΛIΠΠΩN upwards in left field, grape bunch to right. Bellinger, ANSMN 11, 33, 20. 8.63g, 18mm, 8h. Mint State. Extremely Rare. Originally a Thasian foundation, the town of Daton alternated between Athenian control for most of the fifth century, a brief period of local autonomy in the first half of the fourth century, and once more came under the control on Thasos in circa 360 BC when the local mines were recaptured with Athenian backing and the town was refounded with the new name of Krenides. Shortly thereafter however, in 356 Krenides was threatened by Thracians, and the citizens appealed to the rising power in the area, Philip of Macedon. Philip had conquered Amphipolis the year before, and he now took Krenides under his aegis. The city was strengthened greatly with new fortifications, enlarged with new colonists, and was renamed Philippoi in honour of the king. Having gained command of the Mount Pangeion region and the 1000 talents a year in gold that its mines provided, Philip at first permitted the city to continue striking coinage in its own name, using types that it had previously employed, in both gold and silver - it is to this period of production that the present coin belongs. For a time therefore, the coinage of Philippoi must have circulated alongside Philip’s royal coinage, however with the advent of Philip’s currency reforms of the 340s, gold production at Philippoi came to an end. Philip revolutionised the coinage of the kingdom of Macedon, which would eventually also supersede that of all Greece. Philip’s brother Perdikkas, though he had initially struck a silver coinage, was later like his elder brother Alexander II before him, only able to coin in bronze. Philip now had prodigious quantities of not only silver, but gold too in measure beyond what his brothers could have dreamed. Before Philip, gold coins issued by the Greeks had been extremely infrequent, and struck usually only in times of great emergency. Philip’s control of the Pangeion mines now enabled him to make Macedon the first state in the Greek world to issue gold uninterruptedly year on year, which he did with a new standardised Macedonian gold currency denominated in staters, hemistaters and quarter staters, as well as 1/8 and 1/12 fractions. This wealth would provide the driving force behind his successive conquests, expansion and diplomatic manoeuvres that enabled him to unify all Greece under Macedonian hegemony, and set the stage for his planned invasion of Persia. As for Philippoi, following its incorporation into the Kingdom of Macedon, it would next feature significantly on the pages of history only centuries later when in October 42 BC, on the plain to the west of the city, the legions of Octavian and Marc Antony faced those Brutus and Cassius to determine the fate of the Roman world.
Lot 806
Chinese Impressive and Superb 17th / 18th Century Gold Splashed Lidded Bronze Censer, In The Form of Large Pumpkin Decorated with Leafy Stems with Flank The Vessel and Handles, The Body Raised on Tripod Feet In The Form of Stemmed Pumpkin Pods, Which Also Extend From The Handles to The Cover. The Size of Censer Is 8 Inches High, Would Have Been Made For Someone of High Rank and Importance. Pumpkins Are Symbols of Prosperity, Abundance, Descendants Luck, Illustrious Children, Well Being and So on. The Censer as Wonderful Patina and Condition. Except For One Small Repair to Interior of Censer, Only Can Be Seen To Interior. Measures 1.5 x 1 Inches - Please See Photos.
Lot 105
Victorian - Very Fine British Empire Gilt Bronze Lidded Casket / Trinket Box - To Commemorate Queen Victorias 60 Years on The Throne, with Vignettes / Depicting Scenes of Justice, Law, Art and Industry The Front and Back Vignettes, Depicting Scenes of Victorian Empire From Africa, India and Egypt. The Cover with Victoria Flanked by Cherubs, The Casket Is In Wonderful Condition and Very Impressive In Its Detail. Size - 2.75 Inches High, 5.75 Inches Wide & 3 Inches In Depth.
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