25-02-2016 – 01-01-1970
43rd Auction
Münzen und Medaillen offers an old Swiss Collection
Münzen & Medaillen GmbH, of Weil am Rhein, Germany, will hold their 43rd Auction in Stuttgart on 26th Februar 2016. This auction will include the sale of a Swiss collection which was assembled in the 1950’s. Many of the items were acquired from the auctions and above all from the Fixed Price Lists of the Münzen & Medaillen AG Basel.
Lot 448: TRAJAN DECIUS, 249-251. Aureus, 250. RIC IV/3,123,28, C. 104. Very rare. Good portrait, minute scratches, otherwise Fdc. 7000 EUR.
The collector was interested in all periods of history, and when we leaf through the catalogue we meet names such as that of the Biblical Herod the Great, Quinctilius Varus, who, before he was defeated by Hermann/Arminius of the Cherusci in the Teutoburg Forest in A.D. 9, minted coins as governor of Syria, Julius Caesar, whose portrait appears on a Denarius minted shortly before his murder, and L. Munatius Plancus, the founder of the colony Augusta Raurica (Kaiseraugst near Basel), who was later viewed as the founder of Basel. A Denarius in his name struck by a travelling army mint in Asia Minor features in the auction.
Lot 495: GALLIENUS, 253-268. Antoninian, Milan, 264. RIC V/1,193,490, Göbl/MIR 36, Pl. 88,1115w (this coin). Unique. Dark patina. Good very fine. 450 EUR.
The auction begins with ancient Greek coins and coins of the Greek cities minted under the Roman emperors, followed by Celtic coins and finally Roman coins, where some particular highlights are to be found. There is an assemblage of coins of the emperor Hadrian with personifications of various lands and Roman provinces on their reverses; many of these were personally visited by the emperor on his two great journeys around the Empire. The personified Egypt is accompanied by a sacred ibis, the river god Nile by a hippopotamus, Spain (Hispania) by a rabbit (these were especially numerous there) and Germania, the repeated target of Roman military campaigns, by a pile of weapons. The provinces of Mauretania and Cappadocia and the army in Raetia (today a part of Switzerland/ Southern Germany) are also celebrated on coins struck under Hadrian. The collector was particularly interested in the early development of Christianity as reflected through coinage, and assembled a number of coins from the later Roman period featuring the Chi-Rho symbol.
A separate consignment is a collection of 70 Antoniniani of the mint of Milan, which formed an important base of Roman power in Northern Italy. The series starts with Gallienus, who won the city back from the Alamanni in a great battle in 259, and also includes coins of his wife Salonina, Claudius II, Quintillus, Aurelianus and Postumus. These include a number of rarities and interesting reverses, some depicting animals and mythical creatures, others with legends referring to the specific legions who were stationed there, and many have excellent provenances.
Lot 797: BASEL. Dicken 1499. Cor. 25,13. Ewig 320, HMZ 2-51a. Levinson V-22. Ex mount. Good very fine. 1000 EUR.
In this auction the medieval and modern periods are dominated by coins minted in Switzerland, and amongst these the coins of Basel form a particularly noteworthy group. Other Swiss mints are also present: the collector even included a Thaler of the counts of Dietrichstein minted in Vienna as the Swiss domain Tarasp is among the titles featured in the legend.
Of course, German territories from Aachen to Württemberg also feature in the auction, and include Austrian Thaler from the mint at Ensisheim in Alsace, a number of Merovingian and Carolingian coins and, from more recent times, a Bavarian 20 Mark coin from 1914 and a 5 Reichsmark piece 1932 J with a portrait of the great poet Goethe.
A great rarity is to be found among the medals, namely an oval, single-sided plaque of cast bronze, the opus 111 of medallist Karl Goetz, commemorating the 90th birthday of Anna Hage in 1912. A finished version of the piece was not known to Kienast, nor is there a copy to be found in any of the major collections of Goetz’ medals. As 1912 was also the year of Anna Hage’s death, it is possible that no further copies were produced. On the plaque is a bust of the old lady, portrayed with a tired smile, modeled with firm outlines in the typical Goetz style and signed by him below.
The final part of the auction is the section of numismatic literature, featuring a small library containing numerous works from the 18th century. Amongst the periodicals is an almost complete series of the Numismatische Zeitschrift Wien (Vienna), from Volume 1 in 1869 to the present; only the index is absent, and three volumes are included as laser copies. This important periodical is rarely offered in such complete form. Many prominent numismatists published their work in the Numismatische Zeitschrift, and some of these articles are still considered to be standard works today in the numerous fields which they represent.
The catalogue can be viewed on the internet here.
Printed catalogues can be obtained from the end of January 2016 from Münzen & Medaillen GmbH, Hauptstraße 175a, 79576 Weil am Rhein, Germany, for a cost of 10 Euros.