As part of the upcoming 2024 New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC), Stack’s Bowers will offer ancient and world coins in live auction sessions January 12-13 and internet-only sessions Jan. 15-18. The following lots are just seven of the highlights that CoinWeek likes in this month’s sale.
GERMANY. Teutonic Order. 10 Ducats, 1610. Hall Mint. Maximilian of Austria, as Grand Master. PCGS AU-55. Machine Operate
Last month, Stack’s Bowers Senior Numismatist Greg Cohen singled out this German Teutonic Order 10 Ducats as one of the key highlights of the company’s January 2024 NYINC Sale. This impressive coin is unlisted in Krause and features an impressive design with well preserved surfaces that exhibit just a hint of wear.
Collectors of talers recognize the importance of the heraldic shields on the coin’s reverse and will appreciate the noble detail of the sword-wielding Grand Master on the coin’s obverse. As other examples of this issue are unknown to the cataloguers, this offering may be the only chance for an advanced specialist to acquire this impressive rarity.
Provenance: From the Karl and Gertrude Pfatschbacher Collection.
GREAT BRITAIN. Noble, ND (1422-30). London Mint; mm: Lis. Henry VI (first reign). PCGS MS-65.
The British Noble entered production during the reign of King Edward III in 1344. As a denomination, the noble was the first English gold coin to see heavy production. Over the course of the next century, it was produced under the authority of English kings Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V, and Henry VI. This issue, struck during Henry VI’s first reign, saw limited production as England’s mints faced a shortage of gold bullion.
PCGS graded this example MS65 and features beautiful surfaces. It is one of 33 Mint State examples reported in the PCGS grading census and the only one in a Gem grade.
Stack’s Bowers provides a conservative estimate of $20,000 to $30,000 for this piece in the NYINC auction. An NGC MS64 example (confirmed to be a different coin) sold at auction in January 2022 for $26,400.
Provenance: From the Lucius S. Ruder Collection.
GREAT BRITAIN. Angel, ND (1480-83). London Mint; mm: Heraldic Cinquefoil. Edward IV (second reign). NGC MS-64.
The Angel, or Angel-Noble, was a gold coin introduced in 1465 during the reign of King Edward IV. The coin’s design shows the Archangel Michael spearing a dragon. This apocalyptic imagery comes from the Book of Revelations, where Michael leads the angels in a battle between Heaven and Hell. A similar motif appears on the modern Gold Sovereign, except this time, it is Saint George on horseback who has the honor of fighting the dragon.
This scarce issue is seldom encountered in high Mint State grades.
GREAT BRITAIN. Gold “Una and the Lion” 5 Pounds Pattern, 1839. London Mint. Victoria. PCGS PROOF-63 Deep Cameo.
Royal Mint Chief Engraver William Wyon’s masterpiece of coin art was produced to commemorate the coronation of Queen Victoria. Young Victoria cut a striking figure on British coins and medals, but the depiction of the queen–as Una from Edmund Spenser’s epic poem The Fairie Queene (1596)–walking alongside a noble lion is the most iconic.
This piece is one of eight die varieties of the type and is identified by the reverse legend DIRIGE DEUS GRESSUS MEOS (“God Direct My Steps”). Lightly hairlined, the coin’s Deep Cameo frost is fully intact. But a few isolated spots will not likely detract from the coin’s expected hammer price of $200,000 to $400,000.
Provenance: From the Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection.
Struck at the same 1889 World’s Fair in Paris that featured the inauguration of the Eiffel Tower and an almost total boycott of the European monarchies, only 100 “Proof” (flan bruni) “Winged Genius” 100 Franc gold coins were ever produced. And of that low mintage, the example in lot 52032 is among the finest, graded Proof 63 by PCGS.
It is part of the Collection of Jacques Benuzillo, which Stack’s Bowers is offering during the NYINC sale and which can be viewed here.
GREAT BRITAIN. Gold 7 Kilogram Platinum Jubilee Commemorative (7000 Pounds), 2022. Llantrisant Mint. Elizabeth II. GEM PROOF.
Heavy is the head that wears the crown and aching is the back of the individual who has to carry this 7 kilogram monster 99.9% fine gold commemorative coin. With a face value of 7,000 pounds (8,875 USD), the bullion value of this unique masterpiece of coin art exceeds $462,000 based on current market prices.
Produced by The Royal Mint to mark the celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, this coin required hundreds of hours of highly technical craftsmanship to produce. The high relief details on this coin were cut into a solid gold ingot using a laser engraving machine. It was an exacting process that took weeks to complete.
The Production and design of this piece required hundreds of hours of craftsmanship and utilized state-of-the-art engraving and laser technology. Instead of being struck on a press between two dies like a traditional coin, the details of this piece were cut into a solid gold ingot by a high-speed precision Computer Numerical Control (CNC) engraving machine. The gold ingot originally began at a weight between 9 and 10 kilograms before being machined into the 7 kilo finished product over several weeks. The resulting coin is an exclusive trophy coin with great historical significance.
RUSSIA. Gold Imperial (10 Rubles) Pattern, 1897-(AT). St. Petersburg Mint. Nicholas II. NGC MS-61.
Almost one hundred years ago, famed cellist Gregor Piatigorsky and his wife, the Baroness Jacqueline de Rothschild, built a collection of rare Russian coins – and Stack’s Bowers will be offering a selection of these coins in Sessions F, H, and K of their NYINC Ancient and World Coin Auction.
The coin in lot 54385, an 1897 120 Rubles gold pattern from the St. Petersburg Mint, is one of the most desirable coins in that offering. No one knows how many were struck in 1897, which was the last date in a three-year run of Russian pattern issues, but numismatists do know that only 125 were struck in 1896. Only three of the 1897 patterns have been graded by NGC, and this one is the second-finest of that trio.
This 10 Rubles pattern should appeal not only to collectors of Russian gold but also to connoisseurs of rare world gold in general.
Provenance: From the Rothschild-Piatigorsky Collection.
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