Greetings, About a year ago I received 2 interesting lots from auction house, IBelgica; based out of Mons, Belgium. The only information provided on either lot was "Roman Emperors Presentation case (19th century)" The photos accompanying both listings were poor. I took a gamble on my bids, but felt confident based off the emperors and city states I could slightly make out. Upon quick examination you'll notice more types than just Roman Emperors. Greek silver, Greek bronze, Roman Provincial, Byzantine, and a possible Medieval coin round out the collections. Though both "cases" (display boards) are very different in style, the handwriting on the tags on either board is the same; implying that both were assembled by the same collector. The collections appear to be in semi-chronological order; with a few illogically placed. Several of the coins are incorrectly labeled, i.e. Septimius Severus instead of Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Aurelius instead of Clodius Albinus, Alexander Severus instead of Antoninus Pius, among several other errors that you will notice. My theory is that the collection was assembled by a teen or student. It's hard to pass judgement on the incorrect attributions when you put yourselves in their position. I don't know what accessibility to numismatic texts were like in 19th century Belgium, let alone written in their language. What is easy to pass judgement on is the red background that was either touched up or painted on while the coins were on the board, i.e. some of the coins have red paint and some type of lacquer? on the edges. Some of the coins are electrotypes. Since all nail holes seem to be original, I think they're 19th century brass electrotypes; so I don't mind. I'm about 90% sure the dull brass Titus AE and brassy Pertinax sestertius are fake. I'm 100% sure the brassy Zenobia and Prusias II are fake. Everything else seems authentic, imho. A few of my favorites. Kyrenaica, Koinon 250-246 BC, AE - Zeus Ammon right / Silphium plant Agrippa AE 37-41 AD - Agrippa facing left / Neptune standing GAUL, Nemausus. Augustus, with Agrippa. 27 BC-AD 14. AE Agrippa left, Augustus right / Crocodile chained to palm MACEDON, Koinon of Macedon. Pseudo-autonomous issue 3rd century AD (I'm not sure which Emperor this was minted under. I'll have to remove it and take a look at the reverse.) Gordian III Sestertius 240-243 AD Gordian right / Sol standing holding globe Clodius Albinus. As Caesar, AD 193-195. Sestertius. Struck under Septimius Severus. Clodius Albinus right / Felicitas standing left. I'm very happy with the collection. I'm working on building cases for protection and display. Unfortunately, Ibelgica has not responded to 2 emails in the last year, inquiring on consignor information or provenance. I would really like to know the name of the owner, the family name it came from, location of assembly, and years of assembly. I recently consigned most of my collection. I couldn't bring myself to consign these 2 displays. I have a feeling they were passed down from generation to generation until someone stopped caring or fell on hard financial times and decided to consign. While I steward these 2 collections, they will not be broken up in any form. Who am I to break up a 120-200 year old collection? I will happily remove any of the coins for photography, attribution, measurements, and reverse details at any request. I also have a few closer up photos of sections, if you would like a closer look at any particular coin. Thank you for reading. Regards, Michael
The ones you've shown look like great examples. I wish I had known. I was in Mons last October to see my son who lives there. I could have also had my son check it out. Darn it!!
They were purchased in March of last year. I wish I would have recalled your son living there; which sounds vaguely familiar now. I didn't receive a response from the auction house for better photos before they went under the hammer; but I'm also grateful that the online photos were poor. It seemed to drive the hammer lower.
@iamtiberius thanks for posting - its an interesting display and would agree with you that it is better not breaking it up.
These definitely should be kept together and on the boards just as they are. Remove each carefully, Photograph both sides and replace just as they are. You mentioned the obvious fakes I noted. I would suspect it was assembled by an older person (retiree?) rather than a teen but that is just a feeling.
Could be. Definitely someone who was learning. I envy the pre-internet era of numismatists. They had to dig for information and in turn, probably retained more.
..wow...that is a fanstastic collection in and of itself...not to mention the provinance too...very nice !
