27-05-2015 – 01-01-1970
HJB Mobility – Auction 1
First Mobility Auction of Harlan J. Berk
Harlan J. Berk, Ltd. announces HJB Mobility – Auction I. This is a timed auction which is already live and closes Thursday, May 28 at 3 PM.
Screenshots of the HJB app.
HJB Mobility is another avenue for customers who lead busy lives and want an auction at their fingertips. This format provides a downloadable HJB app which is first available through the app store on Apple devices with Android becoming available soon after.
Screenshots of the HJB app.
Users of the app are able to view upcoming sales, add them to their device calendar or share through social media via Facebook, Twitter, email or text. Clients are also able to view past mobility auctions as well as submit items for future consignment consideration right from their device. Of course, there is a full computer version which will be linked from the HJB home page and viewable from any desktop computer without a download.
Mobile Credit Card Scan.
HJB will still offer the quality they are known for in the Buy or Bid sales, however, it will be a true online auction platform that will also include world and United States coins as well as historical antique maps. Harlan J. Berk, founder of HJB said, “I have always felt strongly about never charging a buyer’s fee in our Buy or Bid Sales, so when the opportunity came up to offer these types of auctions, I wanted to offer clients low buyer’s fees.” Today’s clients are routinely paying between 15-23% buyer’s fees and HJB will be offering a buyer’s fee of 9.75% if payment is settled by check or wire.
Auction I consists of 133 ancient coins, 40 world coins, 15 U.S. coins & 33 antique maps. Below are some of the highlights of this sale.
Ancient Coins
While most of the coins in this first auction are not considered “top tier” coins, there is a few that warrant highlighting:
Lot 12.
Lot 12: The excessively rare Circus Maximus aureus (under Caracalla): Only the fourth or fifth specimen recorded of this aureus, all coming from the same reverse die, and with a new bust variety for the type, seen from front rather than from behind as on the other three or four specimens. Bust seen from front is unusual on coins of these years, indeed this is the first such bust known to C. Clay on any aureus of Caracalla as BRIT. The three other specimens of this Circus aureus, all with draped and cuirassed bust seen from behind, are 1. ANS 1967.153.172, image kindly sent by Gilles Blansbourg, will also be uploaded onto the ANS website. 2. Berk, CICF Sale, 23 March 1995, lot 273 = Calicó-2710. From the same dies as 1. 3. Leu, May 1973, lot 406. From the same reverse die as 1-2, which is also the same as that used for this coin, but from a different obverse die, with legend broken PIVS – AVG rather than continuous. A specimen of this Circus aureus was also reported by RIC-211B and BMC p. 439 to have been in Baldwin stock, 1927: quite probably the same coin as one of the three listed above, but possibly also a different specimen.
Lot 37.
Lot 37: Boeotian stater with exceedingly rare seated Harmonia reverse type. Do not let the somewhat degraded surfaces detract from the rarity and charm of this coin. The type was sold in a Triton auction (Auction XIII, 5 January 2010, lot 129) for a hammer of $50,000.
World Coins
There are a nice variety of good quality coins, medals and tokens for this auction but there are some extraordinary Israel patterns that command complete attention:
Lot 162.
Lot 162: Aluminum Sheeting 25 Mils Trial Strikes and are noted as possibly the only one known. Both strikes are of the “open link” variety, believed to be the first dies of the 1949 series and are sharply struck. This lot is one of three lots which are extraordinary because they are the actual 25 Mils pattern coins pictured on page 69 in Sylvia Haffner’s 1970 edition “Israel’s Modern Money and Medals 1917-1970” for which is noted as the authoritative book when researching Israel numismatics. Haffner also published the same pieces in an article of The Shekel in 1978, p. 16.
United States Coins
This auction contains something for everyone, with a few better date pieces in collector friendly grades.
Antique Maps
HJB specializes in rare, authentic, antique maps from the 15th – 20th centuries. This auction features a small sample of the HJB inventory of maps from around the world available within just about any budget:
Lot 193.
Lot 193: North America showing California as an island. By: Sanson / Jalliot / Mortier – Date: 1710 (circa) Paris. This is a spectacular early map of the North American continent with a focus on European possessions and Native American inhabitation. Original color delineates the territories of the east coast as Nouvelle France, N. Angleterre, N. Suede, Virginie, Floride Francoise and Floride. The great lakes are shown to consist of 6 bodies of water with which Ontario is fed by a separate branch of the St. Laurence, and Erie is depicted as landlocked. A possible Northwest Passage is indicated through Button’s Bay and California is mapped as an island. In the west, a series of Indian tribes are shown to reside between two mountain ranges and along the “River of the North”, which is fed by a large nameless lake.
To see the rest of the inventory of maps, please visit this website.
To get to the website of the auction house please click here.
You may also contact them at tel. 312.609.0016 or via email.