We found 596772 price guide item(s) matching your search
There are 596772 lots that match your search criteria. Subscribe now to get instant access to the full price guide service.
Click here to subscribe- List
- Grid
-
596772 item(s)/page
Lot 103
A Second World War Battle of Britain and gallantry medal group, comprising Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar to Group Captain E. Norman Ryder, the cross engraved April 3rd 1940, with 1939-1945 Star and Battle of Britain clasp, Aircrew Europe Star, 1939-1945 War Medal with Oak Leaf, Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal and a Dutch Order of Orange-Nassau Knight's Cross (Military Division). The group also includes a cased Caterpillar Club badge to F/Lt E. Ryder D.F.C, Order of Orange-Nassau lapel pin, guilloche-enamelled silver RAF lapel badge retailed by Gieves of London, and an enamelled 56 Squadron lapel badge, together with two RAF Pilot's Flying Log Books covering the period August 24th 1936 until July 1963, a letter dated 1st December 1940 which accompanied the Iron Cross belonging to Feldwebel Wilhelm Erdniss, various original Wartime and later photographs, a signed Battle of Britain 50th Anniversary menu, a page of typed observations by Ryder on the Battle of Britain written 52 years in retrospect entitled 'A Tall Order', the Grant of Commander of the British Empire, signed by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Grant of the Order of Orange Nassau, an original charcoal and chalk framed and mounted portrait of Ryder by Captain Cuthbert Orde, dated 4th January 1941, 36 x 28 cm, and featured in his volume ‘Pilots of Fighter Command, Sixty-Four Portraits’, published 1942, together with sundry ephemera and books, including a post-War scrapbook archive pertaining to the 50th Anniversary Bleriot Air Race, containing photographs, ephemera, and pasted press clippings complied by Ryder, alongside an RAF produced film of the race, and a reel-to-reel sound tape of the dinner given for Lord Brabazon by the Royal Aero Club (for which Ryder was later Secretary General), including speeches by 'Freddie' Gough and the Duke of Edinburgh. Ryder both captained the winning team and participated in the event as a contestant. The scrap book contains many original photographs of the event and contestants, together with items such as Ryder's Competitor's License, congratulatory letters and a menu for the Celebration Dinner given by the Royal Aero Club.Edgar Norman Ryder was born at Risalpur, India on the 28th November 1914 where his father was a serving Army officer, although at the age of 10 he moved to England where he attended St. Albans School in Hertfordshire. In 1931 he joined the Royal Fusiliers at Hounslow and served until 1934 when he became a mathematics master at Tredennick School in Worcester. Two years later Ryder joined the RAF on a short service commission, first posted to 9 Flight Training School Thornaby, and then in June 1937 joining 41 Squadron at Catterick. It was from this squadron that three years later, on 3rd April 1940, Ryder took off alone in bad visibility and low cloud to investigate enemy aircraft attacking fishing boats in the North Sea off Whitby. He soon sighted a Heinkel 111 and shot it down into the sea off Redcar, the crew later being rescued by trawler. Ryder's own aircraft was hit in the exchange and he too was forced to land at sea. The spitfire he was flying immediately sank, and at a considerable depth he managed to extricate himself and struggle to the surface, where has was rescued by the trawler Alaskan, which he had been sent to defend. For this action he was awarded the DFC on 15th April 1940. This is reported to have been the first occasion on which a Spitfire was crash-landed at sea with the pilot surviving, and was also the first RAF aircraft lost due to enemy action in the defense of Great Britain during World War Two. Ryder himself however, with typical modesty, maintained that he was simply the first Spitfire pilot to be shot down during the war. In the September of 1940 Ryder and No 41 Squadron moved to Hornchurch, at which time was subject to up to five Luftwaffe raids daily. “It wasn’t long” said Ryder, then a Flight Commander “before we founded the Honourable Order of Fog Worshippers. We all bowed down, touching the ground with our foreheads three times, praying for the fog that would give us a break. Ryder recorded some of his thoughts on the Battle of Britain in a type-written document included in this lot, which he entitled 'A Tall Order'. "We had to weave our way through the lower bomber formations to gain the height to take on our true assignment - the 109 escort, and did so in line astern; this is when the weak link really became serious - if a pilot broke the line, those following would naturally follow, and the poor chap ahead of the weak link had no back cover and DID NOT KNOW IT. I lost a good friend in this fashion. […] My rule was that [new recruits] stayed with me to the point of attack, and then broke off to return to base - this to be done three times. […] One’s eyes became skinned in time, and then you could see things you had no hope of doing so in the early stages. Some would return with bullet holes in their Spits, yet professed to having seen or felt nothing, those who didn’t return - the same explanation possibly.” In November of 1940 Ryder was involved in another noteworthy incident when he shot down an Me109 piloted by Feldwebel Wilhelm Erdniss, which crash landed at Horton Park. Erdniss was arrested at the scene of the crash, where he was found attempting to bury his Iron Cross, for fear of it falling into enemy hands. Once in custody he requested that it be given to the man who had shot him down. Erdniss was aged 28, had six years’ service with the Luftwaffe and is described in the letter which accompanied the Iron Cross on its delivery to Ryder as 'a very good type, indeed rather a fine fellow’. Ryder held on to the cross until after the war, when in 1956 he sought out Erdniss in Germany and returned the decoration so graciously given. The event was captured by Movietone News footage in a segment entitled ‘War-Time Echo’ which can still be viewed via the internet. In January 1941 Ryder was given command of 56 Squadron at North Weald, moving in the role of Wing Commander to the Kenley Wing in the June of that same year. It was during this period that he was awarded a bar to his DFC, gazetted on 29th July 1941 for being ‘on operations continually since the outbreak of war and (showing) extraordinary powers of endurance.’ At Kenley his role was to lead Circus missions over Northern France, which he carried out over the summer of that year until being downed over France on the 31st October. On this date Ryder led two squadrons (485 New Zealand and 602) as a close escort to Hurricane II bombers attacking barges along the Bourboug Canal, just inland from Dunkirk. This was a low Ramrod operation, known as Circus 109. The operation was completed but Ryder’s Spitfire V (a presentation aircraft named Southland II) was hit by ground fire and he was forced to land. Ryder was captured and taken to Stalag Luft III (later the scene of the Great Escape). After six months’ captivity he was interned at Oflag XXIB, Schubin. From this latter camp Ryder managed to escape in 1943, hiding in a heavy box at the back of a truck. He was recaptured two days later when he was discovered selecting an aeroplane to steal, and was sent back to Stalag Luft III for his efforts. His final five months as POW were spent in Stalag IIIA in Luckenwald. For distinguished service as a POW Ryder received a Mention Despatches, gazetted 28th December 1945.After the war Ryder was offered a permanent commission with the RAF. He was made a member of the Order of Orange-Nassau for service with the Netherlands Air Force, and January 1958 he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Ryder took early retirement from the RAF on 28th October 1960 as a Group Captain, and subsequently settled in Arizona, USA with his wife Jeanne, where he died in 1995 aged 81
Lot 305
A quantity of Commonwealth First Day Covers, predominantly New Zealand and Australia including 1940's/1950's New Zealand Health Stamps, Australia George VI and Elizabeth II coronation issues, postally used Scott's Base Ross Independency 1957, Melbourne Olympics 1956, Southern Rhodesia Elizabeth II coronation etc
Lot 170
Attica, Athens AR New Style Tetradrachm. Circa 154-3 BC. Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with vine tendril and Pegasos / Owl standing right, head facing, on amphora; AΘE across, monograms flanking, caps of the Dioskouroi to right; all within wreath. Thompson 61 (this obv. die). 17.05g, 34mm, 12h. Very Fine. Beautifully toned. Rare early issue. An obverse die of excellent style, vastly superior to the usual New Style tetradrachms. Ex Münzen & Medaillen List 483, November 1985, lot 28; Ex Münzen & Medaillen List 416, October 1979, lot 8. In approximately 165 BC, Athens introduced a new series of silver tetradrachm, referred to today as 'New Style Coinage'. At the time, it represented a landmark change in the coinage of Athens. Although the types had not changed, and still depicted Athena on the obverse and an owl on the reverse, this new coinage saw a marked change in the artistic styles employed in the engraving. The traditional, more archaising devices that had been the norm during the previous three centuries were replaced with a contemporary interpretation of the Athena Parthenos of Pheidias, wearing her triple-crested Attic helmet adorned on its visor with the foreparts of four or more horses, and a flying Pegasos on the bowl. On the reverse, the owl was now shown standing on a horizontal amphora, with a profligacy of magistrates’ names, symbols, and other letters occupying every available space, all enclosed within a large olive wreath. These new depictions were facilitated by, or more likely the result of, the coins’ oversized flans which were broader and thinner, offering the engraver a larger canvas upon which to work, while also requiring some innovative thinking to make use of the space. The new coinage was produced on a large scale, and this apparent improvement in Athens’ economy is attributed to the city’s recovery of the port of Delos in 166 BC. As with the fifth century issues, the new coinage became an important and respected trade currency, as attested by the hoard deposits throughout the Mediterranean, and indeed the broad, thin flan also gained favour at other cities, which began to issue similar tetradrachms in imitation. The series reached a zenith in the early first century BC, but Sulla’s capture of Athens in the spring of 86 BC was a severe shock to the city’s prosperity, and caused a dramatic reduction in the issue of coinage. Until this point, the coins had been produced in an unbroken annual cycle, but there were thereafter only a few sporadic issues, and the series ceased entirely in 50-40 BC.
Lot 16
Lucania, Herakleia AR Stater. Circa 330 BC. Head of Athena right, wearing single-pendant earring, necklace, and crested Attic helmet decorated with Skylla throwing stone held in right hand; EY to right / |-HPAKΛEIΩN, Herakles wrestling the Nemean lion: Herakles stands facing, head and upper body turned to left, right hand holding club behind body, left hand grasping lion’s throat; fluted jug beneath. [Club and AΠΟΛ to left]. Work 47 (same dies); Van Keuren 51 (same obv. die); HN Italy 1378; SNG ANS 66; SNG Lloyd -; Basel -; Bement 138 (same obv. die); Gulbenkian -; Hunterian 7 (same dies); McClean 825 (same obv. die); Weber 706 (same dies). 7.76g, 21mm, 4h. Good Extremely Fine. Rare. An excellent example of this type, one of the finest to have come to the market in the past fifteen years. From the Ambrose Collection; Ex Gemini VII, 9 January 2011, lot 30. The flourishing of an artistic culture in Herakleia is attested by the beauty and variety of its coinage, and that they survive in relative profusion is demonstrative of the wealth and commercial importance of the city. Despite this, it is not often that one encounters them in as good a state of preservation as is the case with the present coin. The depiction of Herakles on the reverse of this coin places the hero in a typical fighting stance of the Greek martial discipline Pankration, or Pammachon (total combat) as it was earlier known. Indeed, this fighting style was said to have been the invention of Herakles and Theseus as a result of their using both wresting and boxing in their encounters with opponents. The stance portrayed on this coin is paralleled on an Attic black-figure vase in the BM depicting two competitors, one in a choke hold similar to that of the lion here. The composition of this design is very deliberate - as the lion leaps forwards, Herakles who had been facing the lion, turns his body sideways. The myths tell us that Herakles had first stunned the beast with his club, and now he dodges the lion's bite and reaches his right arm around its head to place it in a choke hold. Impressively careful attention has been paid to the detail on this die, including realistic rendering of the hero's musculature, which has been engraved in fine style.
Lot 237
Ionia, Achaemenid Period AR Tetrobol. Spithridates, Satrap of Lydia and Ionia, under Darius III. 335-334 BC. Head of satrap left, wearing Persian headdress / Forepart of Pegasos right, ΣΠI - ΘPI behind and below. BMC 18. Traité II 2, pl. LXXXIX, 1-3. L. Mildenberg, Vestigia Leonis, p. 9, pl. III, 26. W. Wroth, NC (1900), pp. 289-90, no. 23. H.A. Cahn, Revue des etudes anciennes 91 (1989), pp. 97-105. C. Harrison in: Oikistes. Studies in Honor of A.J. Graham (Leiden, 2002), pp. 301-319. J. Bodzek, Israel Numismatic Review 3 (2008), pp. 4-6. 3.04g, 15mm, 7h. Good Very Fine. Extremely rare portrait of the satrap Spithridates. Spithridates acted as a satrap of Lydia and Ionia under the rein of King Darios II. He participated as a commander for the Persian forces at the Battle of Granicus in 334 BC, the first significant battle between Alexander the Great and the Persian Empire. During this battle, Spithridates spotted an opportunity to strike Alexander. Arrian (I. 15) narrates as follows: “Alexander’s spear being shattered in the conflict, he asked Aretis, one of the royal guards, whose duty it was to assist the king to mount his horse, for another spear. But this man’s spear had also been broken whilst he was in the thickest of the struggle, and he was conspicuous fighting with the half of his broken spear. Showing this to Alexander, he bade him ask some one else for one. Then Demaratos, a man of Corinth, one of his personal Companions, gave him his own spear; which he had no sooner taken than seeing Mithridates, the son-in-law of Darios, riding far in front of the others, and leading with him a body of cavalry arranged like a wedge, he rode on in front of the others, and hitting at the face of Mithridates with his spear, struck him to the ground. But hereupon, Rhoesaces rode up to Alexander and struck at his head with his sword, but though it shore off a piece of his helmet, the helmet broke the force of the blow. This man too Alexander struck to the ground, striking him in the chest through the breastplate with his lance. And now Spithridates from behind had already raised aloft his sword against the king, when Kleitos, son of Dropidas, anticipated his blow, and hitting him on the arm, cut it off, sword and all.” If not for the intervention of Kleitos that day, history would have taken a very different course. Alexander’s invasion of Persia would have been a dismal failure, cut short just days after crossing the Hellespont. Tens of thousands of Greek and Macedonian soldiers would have been left leaderless in Asia Minor, and the Hellenisation of the East would almost certainly never have come to pass.
Lot 61
North Africa, Carthage EL Trihemistater. First Punic War, circa 264-241 BC. Head of Tanit left, wearing wreath of grain ears, triple-pendant earring, and necklace with nine pendants / Horse standing right; ouraios above. Jenkins & Lewis 438ff. 10.60g, 23mm, 12h. Good Very Fine, hairline flan crack. Rare. From the Alban Collection.
Lot 6
Carthaginian Spain, Barcid Dominion AR Dishekel. South-western region of Gadir, circa 237-228 BC. Diademed male head (Hamilcar?) to left, with hanging ties / Prow of galley to right, with rostra, oars, two shields on deck and a wreathed forepost, to which is attached a pennant; seahorse in exergue. MHC, Class II, 14 (same dies); ACIP 542; AB 481. 14.72g, 27mm, 11h. Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare, and among the finest known examples. In 237 BC Hamilcar Barca, after having lost the First Punic War against Rome, but having won the Mercenary War against the Libyans, disembarked at Gadir with a Carthaginian expedition with the purpose of “re-establishing Carthaginian authority in Iberia” (Polybios, Histories, 2.1.6), and within 9 years he had expanded the territory of Carthage well into the Iberian peninsula, securing control of the southern mining district of Baetica and Sierra Morena, before dying in battle in 228. Hamilcar was succeeded by his son-in-law Hasdrubal the Fair who expanded the new province by skilful diplomacy and consolidated it with the foundation of Akra Leuka, Mahon and finally in 227, Qart Hadasht (Latin: Carthago Nova) as his capital. After his untimely death in 221 he was succeeded by Hannibal (247-182), oldest son of Hamilcar Barca, and Hamilcar’s second son Hasdrubal (245-207 BC). The Barcids now wielded control over much of the mineral rich Mediterranean side of the peninsula until 219 when Hannibal made the fateful move of taking and sacking Saguntum, a well established Roman ally. The wholesale slaughter of this Roman ally’s population, and the arrogance with which the Roman ambassadors sent to Carthage to seek redress were met, led directly to the Second Punic War: the great statesman Quintus Fabius, speaking to the Carthaginian senate, gathered a fold of his toga to his chest and held it out, saying “Here, we bring you peace and war. Take which you will.” The Carthaginians replied “Whichever you please - we do not care.” Fabius let the fold drop and proclaimed “We give you war.” The obverse of this coinage is popularly believed to depict Hamilcar Barca (or depict his features assimilated into Herakles-Melqart), who had after 247 commanded Carthage’s fleet and army in the Sicilian theatre of the First Punic War. The reverse of this type clearly alludes to the Carthaginian tradition of being a primarily naval power, and probably more specifically, to a renewed strengthening of the fleet, which had been so devasatated in the war - according to Polybius’ estimates, Carthage had lost 500 ships and he commented that the war was, at the time, the most destructive in terms of casualties in the history of warfare, including the battles of Alexander the Great. Yet despite rebuilding their ships, Carthage’s naval supremacy and the confidence to use them aggressively had been broken. Although Hamilcar himself had been an able admiral, after his death Carthaginian commanders (including his sons) appear not to have been sufficiently confident to aggressively challenge the Romans at sea in the Second Punic War, which in contrast to the preceding war, was largely a land-based conflict.
Lot 747
Hadrian AV Aureus. Rome, AD 125-128. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS, laureate head right / Hadrian on horseback right, raising right hand; COS III across field. RIC 186c; Calicó 1218a. 7.13g, 20mm, 5h. Near Mint State. Well struck from dies of very fine style, perfectly centred and displaying brilliant lustre. Certainly among the finest surviving aurei of Hadrian. This very attractive equestrian aureus was struck to mark the triumphant return to Rome of the emperor, and shows him riding into the city accepting the honours and praise of the people. Mattingly and Sydenham argue that during his four year absence from Rome there had been little change in the coinage, no development of style, and the mint had been virtually inactive. However, upon his return there was a great new output of coinage, of which this is a stunning example. For his new coinage, Hadrian drops the long legends favoured by his predecessor Trajan, preferring to simplify them to HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS on the obverse and COS III on the reverse. This new obverse legend very distinctly calls into mind the coinage of the first emperor Augustus, while the new, larger and more gracious style of imperial portrait that fills the fields of the flan is a complete change from the small, careful and cramped types of Trajan. Reverse types such as this one complement the new style and the result is a very attractive and artistic coin. Hadrian’s reign was dominated by his extensive travels across the provinces, and indeed he spent more than half of his reign outside of Italy. A known Hellenophile, shortly before the return to Rome that prompted the issue of coinage to which this aureus belongs the emperor had toured Greece and this, coupled with his studies in Greek academia, art and sculpture led the change to the very Hellenistic design we see here, a piece which can be seen as the product of the highest flourishing of Roman art and sculpture. Although no sculpture or written record of such survives, it is quite probable that this reverse type was modelled on an equestrian statue of Hadrian that stood in Rome and that is lost to us today. We know that numerous equestrian statues of emperors once graced Rome, and we know that equestrian statues of Hadrian in particular existed – sources corroborate one at Aelia Capitolina on the Temple Mount directly above the Holy of Holies, and another is known to have adorned the Milion built by Constantine I at Constantinople, which along with an equestrian statue of Trajan, must have been removed from its original location and placed there. Indeed, if it were the case that this coin depicts a now lost sculpture, this missing statue would easily fit into a series of imperial equestrian statues that are both well-attested and displayed on the Roman coinage, beginning with the sculpture of Augustus that can be seen on denarii of 16 BC struck under the moneyer L. Vinicius (RIC 362), through Domitian's addition to the Forum Romanum in AD 91 and Trajan's own statue in the Forum Traiani. All of these followed a traditional mode, of which the gilt bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius, which was also featured on that emperor’s coinage and which is preserved in the Capitoline Museum, is the sole surviving example.
Lot 262
Ionia, Samos EL Stater. Euboic-Samian standard. Circa 600 BC. Uncertain amorphous type / Two parallel rectangular incuses with broken surfaces. E.S.G. Robinson. "Some Electrum and Gold Greek Coins" in Centennial Publication of the American Numismatic Society, New York, 1958, 8, and pl. 29, 8; Weidauer 195-196; ACGC 66 (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford [Loan collection], found in Samos); Barron p. 15; ATEC 88. 17.45g, 21mm. Good Very Fine. Extremely Rare. C. Kraay (Archaic and Classical Greek Coins, 1976) ascribed these coins to a period in Samian history of prosperity and creativity around the end of the seventh century or early sixth century BC; in contrast to much of the contemporary early electrum coinage of Asia Minor whose mints remain uncertain or debated, the early coinage of Samos has been identified to its mint thanks to a locally discovered hoard and other finds of single coins on that island. Operating on a different weight standard (the Euboic-Samian, rather than Milesian) to much of Ionia, the Samian electrum stands apart; it is also distinguished by the use of two parallel rectangular punches on the staters, one rectangle and one square on the half stater, and a square only on smaller denominations. The nature of the obverse is the most unusual feature of this coinage however, since though the Samians were renowned artists and artificers, it is but an incoherent design of amorphous shapes. While many numismatists have attempted to read meaning into and find patterns within these shapes, it seems likely that they do not represent anything particular, and such efforts are akin to ascribing shapes to cloud formations. Rather, these amorphous obverses should be viewed in the same class as the striated pattern staters of Ephesos. A later type features a facing lion's head emerging from the incoherent background, which Kraay notes is 'reminiscent of the similar head which is the first step towards a reverse type on the Athenian Wappenmünzen'.
Lot 1124
Justinian II AV Solidus. First reign, Constantinople, AD 687-692. D IVSTINIANVS PE AV, bust facing, with short beard, wearing chlamys and crown decorated with cross on circlet, and holding globus cruciger / VICTORIA AVGV Θ, cross potent on three steps, CONOBΓ in exergue. DOC 6; Sear 1247. 3.98g, 18mm, 6h. Good Very Fine. Slight edge knock by globus. Underlying lustre. Rare.
Lot 238
Ionia, Ephesos (?) EL Stater. Circa 575-560 BC. Forepart of bridled horse left, sunburst before; lotus flower on its back / Rectangular incuse punch between two square incuse punches, all with roughly patterned surfaces. Weidauer 138 (these dies); Mitchiner 135; ACGC 56. 14.31g, 20mm. Extremely Fine. Very Rare. The lotus flower that appears upon the horse's back is an element common to several electrum staters from uncertain mints attributed to Lydia or Ionia, all struck on the Milesian standard: the recumbent lion type (Rosen 245; NAC 72, 16 May 2013, 369), bull kneeling with its head reverted (Rosen 148), and two rampant lions upright on their hind legs with heads reverted and paws extended (Rosen 149). On all of these coins the lotus flower may initially appear incidental, though its commonality to all types indicates otherwise – it is evidently to be seen as the key element of the obverse type that links the different animal designs together. The lotus flower appears only sporadically in Greek mythology, though it had a deep rooted use in Egyptian art and legend, where it was taken as a symbolic representation of the sun on account of its physical behaviour: it closes at night time and descends into the water, rising and flowering again at dawn. In Egyptian creation myth, the lotus was the first thing to spontaneously form from chaos, and it was from the lotus that the sun itself was born on the first day. The eastern coastal areas of the Mediterranean in the sixth century BC had been for a long time familiar with Egyptian religious beliefs that spread as a consequence of trade and population dispersal; the lotus' insinuation in its Egyptian meaning into Greek culture is evident in the lotus-tipped sceptre carried by Zeus on the coinages of Karia, Mysia and Kilikia (among others), being a legacy of the assimilation of an attribute of the major Egyptian solar deity Ra with the principal god of the Greek pantheon Zeus. The lotus' appearance here as a polyvalent symbol can best be understood then in the context of assimilated Egyptian beliefs, representing at once both a solar and divine aspect, as well as a clear allusion to the minting city's location. Interestingly however, the lotus is not the only solar element present on this coin – immediately before the horse's chest we can discern the presence of a sunburst similar in depiction to those found on the contemporary coinage of Alyattes. This element may have been included on account of its being more universally familiar, being well understood to signify what we now refer to as Anatolia, which comes from the Greek Aνατολή (Anatolē) meaning the 'East' or more literally 'sunrise', used to refer to the Ionian colonies on the west coast of Asia Minor. Moreover the horse was itself considered a solar symbol, not only throughout the East, but also among Celtic and Germanic tribes, suggesting a common ancient root to this association. Such preponderance of solar symbology is indeed only fitting for this metal, and is in fact an overt statement of the coin's composition: ἤλεκτρον, the Greek word for electrum, is derived from the word ἠλέκτωρ (ēlektōr) - 'shining sun'.
Lot 155
Attica, Athens AR Tetradrachm. Circa 500-490 BC. Archaic head of Athena right, wearing crested helmet decorated with chevron and dot pattern / Owl standing right, head facing, olive sprig behind, ΑΘΕ before. Cf. Svoronos Pl. 4, 15. 17.41g, 24mm, 4h. Near Extremely Fine. Very Rare with a full crest. Athens was one of the few Greek cities with significant silver deposits in their immediate territory, a remarkable stroke of fortune upon which Xenophon reflected: 'The Divine Bounty has bestowed upon us inexhaustible mines of silver, and advantages which we enjoy above all our neighbouring cities, who never yet could discover one vein of silver ore in all their dominions.' The mines at Laurion had been worked since the bronze age, but it would be only later in 483 that a massive new vein of ore would be discovered that enabled Athens to finance grand new schemes such as the construction of a fleet of 200 triremes, a fleet that would later prove decisive in defending Greece at the Battle of Salamis. This coin was produced in the period before the discovery of the new deposits at Laurion, around the time of the Ionian Revolt and the subsequent first Persian invasion of Greece. Athens aided the Ionian Greeks in their rebellion against Persian tyranny with both coin and soldiers, participating in the 498 BC march on Sardes which resulted in the capture and sack of that city – the only significant offensive action taken by the Ionians, who were pushed back onto the defensive and eventually subjugated once more. Vowing to punish Athens for their support of the doomed rebellion, the Persian king Darius launched an invasion of Greece, landing at Marathon in 490 BC. Just twenty five miles from Athens, a vastly outnumbered Athenian hoplite army inflicted a crushing defeat on the Persians, who after suffering horrendous casualties turned to their ships and fled.
Lot 306
Mysia, Lampsakos AV Stater. Circa 350 BC. Laureate head of Zeus left, sceptre over right shoulder, tip showing behind his neck / Forepart of Pegasos facing to right. Baldwin 29; SNG von Aulock 7394 (same dies); BMC 28, pl. XIX, 6; SNG France 1138 (same obverse die); Babelon, Traité II, pl. CLXXI, 3; Boston 1594; Kraay - Hirmer pl. 202, 729. 8.42g, 17mm, 2h. Near Extremely Fine. Privately purchased from Spink & Son Ltd., London, 7 August 1984; Ex Gustav Philipsen Collection, Jacob Hirsch Auction XXV, 29 November 1909, lot 1790. Lampsakos was founded in around 654/3 BC by Phokaian colonists, and in the sixth century became a dependency of Lydia; when the Lampsakenes had captured Miltiades, the Athenian tyrant of the Chersonesos, they were forced by Kroisos to set him free. After the fall of the Lydian kingdom in 547, the city then fell under the dominion of Persia. Lampsakos joined the Ionian cities in revolt in 499, but was conquered by Daurises (a son-in-law of Darios I) in 498 or 497, and thereafter remained under Persian control until it was given by Artaxerxes to the exiled Athenian general Themistokles as part of the governorship of the Magnesian district. Themistokles' district also included the cities of Myos, and Magnesia itself, who along with Lampsakos paid him revenue of 50 talents per year, for 'meat', 'bread' and 'wine' respectively. At an uncertain date after the death of Themistokles in 459 BC, Lampsakos joined the Delian League, and is recorded in the tribute lists from 453/2, paying a phoros of fifteen talents. Lampsakos was the first Greek city to make regular issues of gold coinage which enjoyed an international circulation. Struck on the standard of the Persian daric, Lampsakos’ use of the Pegasos protome as its invariable reverse type led to widespread recognition of its gold abroad, such that like the cities of Kyzikos and Phokaia who respectively employed tunny fish and seal badges, it was unnecessary to identify the mint by an inscription upon the coin. Indeed, the esteem in which Lampsakene staters were held was due in significant part to the regularity of their issue. Whereas most civic gold coinages of the Greeks were struck only in times of emergency, Lampsakos appears to have issued 41 series of gold staters over a period of 50 or 60 years, evidently for the purpose of facilitating commerce. Deriving its wealth from the traffic passing between the Aegean and the Black Sea, on account of possessing an excellent harbour in a strategic position guarding the eastern entrance to the Hellespont, Lampsakos appears to have enjoyed significant commercial ties with the northern Black Sea lands, which were likely the primary source of its gold.
Lot 8
Carthaginian Spain, Barcid Dominion AR 1½ Shekel. Akra Leuka, circa 229/228 BC. Laureate head left (Melqart or Hasdrubal), with club over right shoulder / Elephant to right. MHC, Class III, 44 (same obverse die); ACIP 554; AB 486. 11.10g, 24mm, 12h. Very Fine. Very Rare. The city of Qart Hadasht (or Carthago Nova, as it was known to the Romans), literally meaning ‘new city’ and identical in name to Carthage itself, had been re-founded by the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal the Fair in 228 BC on the site of a town named Mastia. The site was chosen as it possessed one of the best harbours in the western Mediterranean, thus enabling it to serve as the primary port and capital city of the Barcid dominion in Spain. This new ‘empire’ had been carved out by Hasdrubal’s predecessor and father-in-law Hamilcar Barca, who had sought to replace the possessions in Sicily and Sardinia lost to Rome in the First Punic War, and to serve as a means of enriching and strengthening Carthage for any future war with Rome, a conflict he saw as inevitable. Hasdrubal ably succeeded his father-in-law in expanding the family’s territory in Spain and power over the local tribes, but was assassinated in 221. He was succeeded by Hamilcar’s son, Hannibal Barca, who was now of sufficient age to command the Carthaginian military forces, and who wasted little time in aggressively expanding Carthaginian influence over the surrounding regions. Barely two years later, Hannibal’s would besiege Saguntum and massacre the population, leading to renewed war with Rome. This bold type has been dated to the early period of Hasdrubal’s command in Spain; in contrast to the coinage attributed to Hamilcar, this type makes no reference to the traditional naval power of Carthage, instead adopting the African elephant as the reverse type. Evidently not a war-elephant (note the absence of either a mahout or a fighting tower) it is perhaps best interpreted as a sybol of Carthage or Barcid power in general. Indeed it is known that Hasdrubal favoured diplomacy and the demanding of hostages to further expand his influence in Spain; the club-wielding Herakles-Melqart implies the threat of force rather than its open display. Though Robinson (Essays Mattingly) interpreted the beardless head of Melqart on this coin as bearing the features of Hannibal Barca, the dating of the issue (as per Villaronga, MHC) suggests it is more likely to be Hasdrubal, if indeed an individual commander’s likeness is shown.
Lot 634
Augustus AR Denarius. Pergamum, 27 BC. CAESAR, bare head right / AVGVSTVS, heifer standing to right. RIC 475; RSC 28; BMCRR East 284-5 = BMCRE 662-3; BN 941-3. 3.64g, 21mm, 1h. Good Extremely Fine; hairline flan crack. Among the first coins to be struck bearing the new title Augustus, this denarius is of exceptional style and engraved with beautiful craftsmanship. Struck in Pergamum, the reverse type of the charging bull or heifer may be a reference to the famous type of Thurium, a city to which Octavian's family had a connection: Suetonius relates that Gaius Octavius, Augustus' father, defeated a Spartacist army near the town. Due to the high regard in which the family was held in the town Augustus was granted the surname Thurinus, and thus the type has a primarily personal illusion to him. An alternative theory is that it is based on Myron's famous bronze heifer, much admired in antiquity. Augustus was personally aware of the sculptor's work as he is known to have restored Myron's Apollo to Ephesos, which Marc Antony had taken.
Lot 1136
Irene AV Solidus. Constantinople, AD 797-802. EIPINH bASILISSH, crowned facing bust of Irene, wearing loros, holding globus cruciger in right hand, cruciform sceptre in left / •EIPINH bASILISSH X, crowned facing bust of Irene, wearing loros, holding globus cruciger in right hand, cruciform sceptre in left. DOC 1c; Sear 1599. 4.42g, 20mm, 6h. Good Extremely Fine. Struck after AD 797, when Irene had had her son Constantine VI deposed and murdered, this solidus depicts Irene on both the obverse and reverse, and marks a distinct shift from the types of her predecessors. Gone is the cross-on-steps reverse type, or figures of deceased members of the dynasty, to be replaced by two facing busts of Irene. Here we have Irene proclaiming herself Empress and sole ruler in the most public way possible. However, after just five years on the throne she herself was deposed and replaced by her Minister of Finance, Nicephorus, and thus ended the first period in the history of the empire during which the throne was occupied by a woman exercising power in her own right. Beginning during the time she ruled as regent for her son Irene severely depleted the state treasuries with her policy of reducing taxation and making generous gifts to buy popularity, leaving the empire weak and unable to offer effective resistance to foreign aggressors. Having had to accept terms from the Arab Caliphs both in 792 and 798 in order to protect the fragile security, and being harried by the Bulgarians simultaneously, Irene was powerless to stop the formation of a new empire in the west under Charlemagne of the realm, who in AD 800 was crowned in Rome by Pope Leo III as Holy Roman Emperor due to his belief that the Imperial position was vacant, as it could not be filled by a woman.
Lot 215
Macedon under Roman Rule, First Meris AR Tetradrachm. Amphipolis, 167-149 BC. Diademed and draped bust of Artemis right, bow and quiver over shoulder, all within tondo of Macedonian shield / ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΩΝ ΠΡΩΤΗΣ, horizontal club, monograms above and below, all within oak wreath; thunderbolt to left. AMNG 177 (only 14 recorded); SNG Copenhagen 1314; BMC 7, McClean 749. 17.02g, 33mm, 12h. Good Very Fine. Rare. Ex Noble Numismatics 96, 5 April 2011, lot 4990.
Lot 216
Macedon under Roman Rule, First Meris AR Tetradrachm. Amphipolis, 167-149 BC. Diademed and draped bust of Artemis right, bow and quiver over shoulder, all within tondo of Macedonian shield / ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΩΝ ΠΡΩΤΗΣ, horizontal club, monograms above and below, all within oak wreath; thunderbolt to left. AMNG 165; Hunter 3. 17.05g, 33mm, 2h. Very Fine. Very rare variety.
Lot 698
Titus, as Caesar, AV Aureus. Rome, AD 73. T CAES IMP VESP CENS, laureate head right / PONTIF TRI POT, Titus, togate, seated right, feet on footstool, holding sceptre in right hand and branch in left. RIC 555 (Vespasian); Calicó 753; BMCRE 114-5 (Vespasian); BN 95/96 (Vespasian); Biaggi 371. 7.25g, 20mm, 12h. Extremely Fine; very well preserved and detailed for the type. At the accession of Vespasian to the purple in AD 69, his sons Titus and Domitian were both raised to the rank of Ceasar as was customary, and granted those powers which the emperor traditionally gave his successor. Having returned to Rome in 71 and celebrated his triumph for the victory which he had secured in the east with the seige of Jerusalem, as the elder brother Titus shared tribunician power with his father, became Consul and was given command of the Praetorian Guard, as well as religious roles such as pontifex, as the reverse of this stunning aureus shows us. Domitian’s honours, however, were largely ceremonial and highlighted the superior position of Titus, both politically and militarily. In contrast to the extensive Judaea Capta coinage that was first struck under Vespasian to commemorate the military victory in the east and which continued to be struck for 25 years under both Titus and Domitian, this coin celebrates Titus as a respectful, pious figure following the traditional path to becoming emperor, whilst confirming his position as the chosen heir to Vespasian. The attributes which he is depicted with make reference to qualities he was taken to have attained, the sceptre underlining his imperial power and the branch representing the peace he had already brought to the empire. On the death of Vespasian in 79 the careful positioning of Titus as effective co-emperor made for a smooth succession, though by 81 he was dead: according to some sources he was poisoned by the overlooked Domitian, who went on to succeed him.
Loading...-
596772 item(s)/page