Ancient Rarities at CNG Feature Auction 118

Classical Numismatic Group presents CNG Feature Auction 118, a Public and Online Sale closing Monday & Tuesday, 13-14th September 2021. CNG 118 will be held at the Holiday Inn Lancaster, 26 East Chestnut Street, Lancaster, PA 17603 in the Franklin Room (3rd Floor). This sale offers 1,434 lots with a presale estimate of just over $2 million. CNG’s annual fall sale features Greek, Celtic, Oriental Greek, Central Asian, Roman Provincial, Roman Republican and Imperatorial, and Roman Imperial coinage. Additionally, there are featured selections of Byzantine, Early Medieval and Islamic, World coinage and medals, Siege and Necessity coinage, United States coins and medals, British coinage and medals, and a small selection of antiquities.

CNG 118 is highlighted by a number of collections and individual rarities, which make up the majority of coins on offer:

• Further Selections from the Dr. Jay M. Galst Collection
• Ancient Judaean & Related Coinage from the Father & Son Collection
• Ancient and United States Coinage from the Mercury Group and Sigmund Collections
• An Extensive Offering of Samarian & Judaean Coinage
• Very Rare Euhesperides Gold Stater of Ptolemy I
• The Archytas Collection of Kushan Coinage – Part II
• An Exceptional Zenobia Tetradrachm from Alexandria
• Roman Coinage from the Thomas A. Palmer and Trevor Hadley Collections
• A Very Rare Civil War Gold Aureus of C. Cassius Longinus
• Published Gold Aureus of Pertinax
• An Extremely Rare Gold Dukat of Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI
• Selections from the Michael Cassick Collection of Siege and Emergency Coins
• British Milled Gold from the Mildenhall Collection
• Charles I Triple Unite
• 1729 George II Five Guineas – East India Company Issue

Catalogs for CNG 118 have been mailed to the active mailing list and bidding is open on the site. Some of the individual highlights from CNG 118 are:

Ex Magnaguti and Bougerol Collection – Pedigreed to 1909

Lot 43: Bruttium, Rhegion. Circa 420-415/0 BC. AR Tetradrachm. Facing head of lion / Laureate head of Apollo right; olive sprig to left, PHΓINOΣ to right. Herzfelder 65e (D37/R54 – this coin); HN Italy 2494; SNG ANS 658 (same dies); de Luynes 796 (same dies). Toned, some roughness and traces of find patina on reverse. Very Fine. High relief. Estimate: $5,000.

From the Father & Son Collection, purchased from Art Ancient, 2015. Ex Stack’s Bowers & Ponterio 185 (5 August 2014), lot 215; Conte Alessandro Magnaguti Collection (Part I, Santamaria, 12 October 1949), lot 251; J. Bougerol Collection (Bourgey, 7 June 1909), lot 117.

Very Rare Wappenmünzen Drachm – Ex Desneux Collection

Lot 178: Attica, Athens. Circa 515-510 BC. AR Drachm. “Wappenmünzen” type. Hindquarter of horse standing right / Quadripartite incuse square, divided diagonally. Seltman pl. IV, ζ–η; Svoronos, Monnaies, pl. I, 26–8; HGC 4, 1618; BMC Central Greece, p. 136, 1–3; Pozzi 1510. Old cabinet tone, granular and slightly rough surfaces, small spot of smoothing on obverse. Very Fine. Very rare. Estimate: $7,500.

Ex Judy Day Frink Collection (Classical Numismatic Group 115, 17 September 2020), lot 130 (hammer $10,000), purchased from Victor England; Jules Desneux Collection (Hess-Leu 49, 27 April 1971), lot 155; Naville V (18 June 1923), lot 1961.

Jewish War Year 3 Silver Shekel

Lot 532: Judaea, Jewish War. 66-70 CE. AR Shekel. Jerusalem mint. Dated year 3 (68/9 CE). Omer cup; “Y[ear] 3” (date, in Hebrew) above, “Shekel of Israel” (in Hebrew) around / Sprig of three pomegranates; “Jerusalem the holy” (in Hebrew) around. Deutsch 29 (O4/R26); Meshorer 202; Kadman 20; Hendin 1361; Bromberg I 69; Shoshana I 20207–9; Sofaer 29; Spaer 174. Attractively toned. Near Extremely Fine. Estimate: $5,000.

From the Father & Son Collection. Ex Heritage 3030 (5 January 2014), lot 23820.

Very Rare Euhesperides Stater

Lot 614: Ptolemaic Kings of Egypt. Ptolemy I Soter. 305/4-282 BC. AV Stater. Euhesperides mint. Struck early 290s BC. Diademed head right, wearing aegis around neck / ΠTOΛEMAIOY BAΣIΛEΩΣ, Alexander, holding thunderbolt in right hand and reins in left, standing left in chariot drawn by four elephants left; branch in exergue. CPE 275; Svoronos 101; Naville 239 (same dies as illustration); Zervos –; SNG Copenhagen –; BMC 1 = Bement 1822 (same dies); Consul Weber 4463 (same dies). Minor die wear on obverse, double strike on reverse. Extremely Fine. Very rare, eleven noted by Naville, of which four are in museums; only two in CoinArchives. Estimate: $20,000.

From the same dies as Heritage 3048, lot 32052, which hammered at $80,000.

Second Known

Lot 660: India, Kushan Empire. Vima Kadphises. Circa AD 113-127. AV Dinar. Bilingual series. Main mint in Baktria. BACIΛЄYC OOH MO KAΔΦICHC, diademed and crowned half-length bust of Vima Kadphises left on clouds, holding mace-scepter in right hand; tamgha to right / Maharajasa rajadirajasa sarvaloga iśvarasa mahiśvarasa hima kaphthiśasa tradara[sa] in Kharosthi, ithyphallic Siva standing facing, head left, holding trident in right hand and resting left arm on bull Nandi behind, who is standing right with head facing; Buddhist triratana (Three Jewels) to left. Bopearachchi, Premiers Série V, 7 = Triton XI (8 January 2008), lot 36 (this coin); MK 1 var. (bust right; same rev. die [R1]); ANS Kushan –; Donum Burns 73 var. (same). Lightly toned, traces of deposits in devices. Very Fine. Second known. Estimate: $20,000.

From the Archytas Collection. Ex Triton XI (8 January 2008), lot 368.

Very Rare Civil War Aureus

Lot 938: The Republicans. C. Cassius Longinus. Spring 42 BC. AV Aureus. Military mint (Smyrna?); M. Aquinus, legate. Diademed head of Libertas right; M • AQVINVS • LEG • LIBER (TA)S around / Tripod surmounted by the cortina and two laurel-branches; fillet on each side; C • CASSI upward to left, IMP • upward to right. Crawford 499/1; CRI 218; Bahrfeldt 57; Calicó 64 (same obv. die as illustration); Sydenham 1303; BMCRR East 72; Biaggi 42 (same obv. die); RBW 1760 (same dies). Usual light die rust on obverse. NGC photo certificate 6156409-001, graded MS, Strike: 4/5, Surface: 3/5. Very rare; only 10 examples were known to Crawford, 7 of which are in museums. Estimate: $30,000.

Ex Triton X (8 January 2007), lot 545.

Clodius Macer, Usurper – Apparently Unique Variety of an Extremely Rare Type

Lot 990: Clodius Macer. Usurper, AD 68. AR Denarius. Carthage mint. Group VI, early summer to early autumn. ROMA downward on right, S C below, helmeted head of Roma right / L • CLODI MACRI counterclockwise, trophy, with crossed spears behind two oval shields. RIC I 31 var. (all with clockwise rev. legend); Hewitt Group F/4 (unlisted dies); RSC 9; BMCRE p. 287, note *; BN –. Old cabinet tone, some scratches under tone. VF. An apparently unpublished variety of an extremely rare and interesting type. Estimate: $15,000.

Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 80 (20 October 2014), lot 69; Áureo & Calicó 241 (8 February 2012), lot 39; Leo Benz Collection (Lanz 94, 22 November 1999), lot 270, purchased from M. Dürr in Carouge, Switzerland, November 1985.

Clodius Macer, legatus propraetore of Africa Proconsularis, rose in rebellion against Nero during the Civil War in the spring of AD 68. Like most of his coins, this denarius does not bear his portrait. Only in his latest issues does Macer have his portrait placed on his coins. He includes S C (senatus consulto) on his denarii, most likely to show that his revolt was not against the senate, but against Nero. Clodius Macer did not strike coins in his name until after the death of Nero. Nero committed suicide on 9 June AD 68, thus, the dating of this coin to later in the rebellion, perhaps sometime in early summer to early autumn. All of Macer’s coins are of rather crude style, an indication of the lack of skilled die engravers and the haste at which they were produced. By October, Galba had solidified his power in Rome and ordered Macer’s execution.

K.V. Hewitt in “The Coinage of L. Clodius Macer” in The Numismatic Chronicle, 1983 says that “there are a remarkable number of types and varieties, several known by only single specimens” (p. 64). All of Macer’s coins are extremely rare, with fewer than 85 coins of all types known.

Michael I: From Emperor to Monk

Lot 1224: Michael I Rhangabe, with Theophylactus. 811-813. AV Solidus. Constantinople mint. • mIXA HL bASILЄ’, crowned and draped facing bust of Michael, holding globus cruciger in right hand and akakia in left / ΘЄOFVLA CτOS ∂ЄSP´, crowned facing bust of Theophylactus, wearing loros, holding globus cruciger in right hand and cross-tipped scepter in left; X at end of legend. DOC 1a.1-4 (same obv. die); Füeg 1.B; SB 1615. Lustrous, a couple of faint scratches, slight weakness of strike at edge. Extremely Fine. Well centered. Rare. Estimate: $10,000.

A high court official, Michael Rhangabe seized power when Nicephorus I was killed in battle. Michael raised his eldest son Theophylactus as co-emperor and reversed the iconoclast policies of his predecessor. In 812, he recognized Charlemagne as emperor of the West in return for Venice returning to Byzantine control; the Venetians, however, ignored the edict. Early in 813, Michael mounted a campaign against the Bulgarians, but they routed his army. In the aftermath, Michael abdicated and named the general Leo V as his successor. Michael took monastic vows and died peaceably as a monk 30 years later. His coinage in all metals is very rare.

Extremely Rare Gold Dukat

Lot 1266: Austria, Holy Roman Empire. Karl VI. Emperor, 1711-1740. AV Dukat. Prague mint. Dated 1733. Karl standing right, holding scepter and globus cruciger / Crowned double-headed eagle, wings spread, holding sword and scepter; crowned and collared coat-of-arms on breast. CNA 210/e-3; Herenik 105; KM 725 (unlisted date); Friedberg 47 (Bohemia, unlisted date); Aurea Numismatika 96 (5 September 2020), lot 46 (hammer 220,000 CZK); Macho & Chlapovič 23 (30 April 2020), lot 124 (hammer €14,000). Minor deposits. Good Very Fine. Extremely rare – only two examples in CoinArchives, this finer. Estimate: $5,000.

Rare Triple Unite

Lot 1381: Stuart. Charles I. 1625-1649. AV Triple Unite. Declaration type. Oxford mint; im: plume. Dated 1642. (plume) CAROLVS : D : G : MAG : BRIT : FRAN : ET : HI : REX, crowned and armored half-length bust left, holding sword with both hands; plume to right / · EXVRGAT : DEVS : DISSIPENTVR : INIMICI, (continuing into inner field) RELIG : PROT/ LEGI : ANG/ LIBER : PAR on continuous scroll; above, three plumes above · III ·; I642 below. Beresford-Jones dies III/L1; Brooker 834 (same dies); Schneider 286–7 (same obv. die); North 2382; SCBC 2724. Some edge marks, fields burnished both sides, ghosted on arm and 2 of date. Toned. Good Very Fine. Strong portrait. Rare, especially from these dies. Estimate: at $40,000

Ex Baldwin’s FPL (Summer 2015), no. BH023 (priced at £65,000).

Printed catalogs for CNG 118 are now available. To order the catalog, please call CNG’s U.S. office at (717) 390-9194. Catalogs have been mailed to customers on CNG’s active mailing list. Prospective bidders may also view the virtual catalogs.

The sale can be viewed online at CNG’s website, Sixbid and Numisbids.

In addition to CNG Feature Auction 118, CNG will also feature over 1000 lots from many of the same collections listed above in their Electronic Auction 500, closing one week later on Wednesday, 22nd September 2021. Bidding for CNG Electronic Auction 500 will begin on 1 September 2021.

CNG is currently accepting consignments for future auctions sales. Please contact the firm for further details and consignment deadlines and visit the CNG website.