03-10-2014 – 05-10-2014
Auction sales 253 and 254
Russian rarities at Künkers
On Saturday, 4 October, 2014, the sale of orders and decorations will be conducted, which is the 10th of Künker’s so far. It will include fabulous items, like a collection Oldenburg as well as the insignia of the Russian Imperial Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called, estimated at 750,000 euros. Next in line is auction #254 with many rarities, such as large series from China, Italy and Switzerland as well as the Horst Nussmann Collection comprising coins and medals from Henneberg.
Auction sale 253 – Orders and Decorations
More than 1,600 lots of orders and decorations will be called on 4 October, 2014. In the section Germany, the Oldenburg Collection assembled by F. Beyreiß stands out.
Lot 150: OLDENBURG – BEYREISS COLLECTION. Oldenburg House and Merit Order of Duke Peter Frederick Louis. BWK2 38. 40. 44. Extremely rare. II. Estimate: 20,000,- euros.
It consists of almost 150 objects, including – and this is the unrivalled highlight – the set of the Golden Great Cross with Chain of the Oldenburg House and Merit Order of Duke Peter Frederick Louis (150, II, estimate: 20,000 euros).
Here are the highlights from Germany and Europe, although, strictly speaking, there will be enough material available for every budget:
- A Pour le mérite from the estate of a general serving in WWI (298, II-, estimate: 18,000 euros)
Lot 608: DENMARK. Order of the Elephant. Order chain. BWK2 160. Very rare. II. Estimate: 30,000,- euros.
- An order chain of the Danish Order of the Elephant (608, II, estimate: 30,000 euros)
- A Grand Cross Collar set of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (660, I-II, estimate: 15,000 euros).
Lot 995: HABSBURG PATRIMONIAL LANDS. Military Honor Medal “Tiroler Denkmünze” 1797. Great golden medal. BWK1 394. Extremely rare. I-II. Estimate: 18,000,- euros.
- A Military Honor Medal “Tiroler Denkmünze”, donated by Emperor Francis II, from the possession of a noble family in Southern Tyrolia from 1797 (995, I-II, estimate: 18,000 euros), and
- An Order of Osmanieh 1st Class (1609, I-II, estimate: 40,000 euros)
Mention should also be made of the special collection Italy with more than 130 lots, the rarest item of which is not martial at all. It is an elegant decoration of a lady in waiting of Maria Antonia Grand Duchess of Tuscany, which she donated in 1833 (816, II+, estimate: 10,000 euros).
The special collection Russia will meet the biggest interest possible. A single item outshines all other objects on offer. It is the collar set of the Imperial Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. The former recipient of this first-class Russian rarity is not known by name, but catalog author Michael Autengruber was able to limit the possible candidates down to three persons: they all are members of the Romanow family. The pre-sale estimate of this one of a kind museum piece amounts to 750,000 euros (1121, I-II).
You can read a detailed article on this order here.
Naturally, there are many more Russian rarities available for sale, such as the Imperial Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (1123, II, estimate: 35,000 euros) and the Imperial Order of St. Anne (1154, II, estimate: 30,000 euros). The otherwise quite rare Imperial and Royal Order of the White Eagle is represented with several variants at once (1126, II, estimate: 30,000 euros / 1127, IV/II-III, estimate: 20,000 euros / 1129, II, estimate: 40,000 euros).
Auction sale 254 – Coins and Medals from Medieval and Modern Times
Künker continues its auction on Monday, 6 October, 2014, with coins and medals from medieval and modern times. We could easily dwell on this alone for pages since this area contains many reasonably estimated, rare and splendidly preserved pieces featuring good provenances that make the heart of every collector beat faster.
Lot 2034: CAROLINGIANS. Louis the Pious (814-140). Denarius, Melle. Depeyrot 607. Very rare. Very fine. Estimate: 2,000,- euros.
A case in point is the series of Carolingian coins, including a denarius of Louis the Pious from Melle, with a presentation of the coining tools on its reverse (2034, VF, estimate: 2,000 euros). Or how about a pattern for a 5 francs piece, issued by Bonapartists in 1874, whose obverse is graced by the portraits of the son of the brought down emperor as Napoleon IV (2142, EF-BU, estimate: 1,500 euros). The testone of Alfonso d’Este from Ferrara (2261, VF, estimate: 2,000 euros) will surely find as many fans as the giulio bearing the portrait of controversial Julius II and the mint mark of the Fugger family (2278, VF, estimate: 1,500 euros) or the double ducatoni 1641 from Milan featuring the portrait of Philip IV (2314, VF-EF, estimate: 25,000 euros).
Lot 2524: SWITZERLAND / BASEL. Groschen n. y. (before 1500). HMZ 2-52a. Ex Leu 80 (2001), 252. Very rare. Very fine to extremely fine. Estimate: 2,500,- euros.
Especially remarkable is the offer of almost 190 lots comprising Swiss coins, including such unusually rare items like, for example, a Basel groschen no date (2524, HMZ 2-52a, VF-EF, estimate: 2,500 euros) and early high denomination silver coins like a Berne guldiner from 1494 (2536, VF-EF, estimate: 3,000 euros), a Zurich guldiner from the Hegibach Collection from 1512 (2627, VF, estimate: 5,000 euros) or a thaler from Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden dating from 1565 (2610, VF, estimate: 5,000 euros).
Lot 2799: CHINA. 1 dollar year 25 (1899). Dav. 188. Very rare. MS 62 (NGC). Extremely fine to uncirculated. Estimate: 10,000,- euros.
The roughly 80 lots of Chinese coins should not go unmentioned as well, including rarities like a dollar for the Fengtien Province from 1907 with the inscription MANCHURIAN PROVINCES (2790, VF-EF, estimate: 6,000 euros) and a dollar from the Pei-Yang Province from 1899, graded MS62 by NGC (2799, EF-uncirculated, estimate: 10,000 euros).
And this takes us right to the collection of Horst Nussmann with coins and medals from Henneberg. The approximately 250 lots cover the period from the 13th to the 18th centuries.
Lot 3287: HENNEBERG. William VI (1492-1559). Presentation coin in the weight of 3 thaler 1557 (coinage from later times, presumably from the 16th or the 17th cent.). Heus p. 187, fig. 107. Single known specimen of this weight. About extremely fine. Estimate: 5,000,- euros.
The objects on offer not only include gorgeous bracteates like the pfennig minted in Schmalkalden in 1270/90 depicting a rider with a flag and a lion shield (3262, ab. EF, estimate: 250 euros) but likewise magnificent Renaissance portraits, like the sale’s most expensive piece, a presentation coin of William VI in the weight of 3 thaler made from the coining dies of 1557, that presumably was produced during the 16th or the 17th century (3287, ab. EF, estimate: 5,000 euros).
Last but not least there are the almost 150 lots of paper money as well as the collection of coin scales – so every collector is recommended to browse through the catalog very carefully.
The catalogs may be ordered at Künker, Gutenbergstraße 23, D-49 076 Osnabrück; phone +49 (0)541 / 96 20 20; telefax: +49 (0)541 / 96 20 222; or via email.
You may find all lots of the two auctions online on the website of Künker.