Hello everyone. I was checking a few of my past auction wins, and noted that I had a couple from the Eucharius Collection. I had not really studied this provenance, but was fascinated the more I delved into it. It was a collection from a Nobel Laureate who was focused on Roman Republic coins. Dr. Murray Gell-Mann was an American Physicist who received the Nobel Prize in 1969 for his work in Elementary Particle Physics theory. He coined the term "Quark". He recently passed 19-May-2019, at 90 years. Incredible man. I feel incredibly honored and blessed that I own a couple historical coins from his personal collection. A "wow" moment for me. This is an article in Wikipedia that is a nice overview of this incredible individual: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Gell-Mann Here are a couple of mine Marsic Confederation AR Denarius Bovianum(?) mint, 89 BCE. 3.93g, 20mm, 3h Obv: Laureate head of Italia left, VITELIV = ITALIA in Oscan script Rev: Soldier standing facing, head right, foot on uncertain object, holding inverted spear and sword, recumbent bull to right facing; retrograde B in exergue. Ref: Campana 122 (same dies); HN Italy 407 Ex: Eucharius Collection. Ex: Roma Auction 11, Lot 607 Anonymous AR Heavy Denarius - Didrachm. Rome, circa 265-242 BCE. (first AR coin struck in Rome) 6.55g, 18mm, 6h. Head of Roma right, wearing Phrygian helmet, cornucopiae behind / ROMANO, Victory standing right, attaching wreath to long palm, YY in right field. Tariffed at 10 Asses Sear 25; Crawford 22/1; RSC 7. Very Fine. Ex: the Eucharius Collection Ex: Roma Auction 11, Lot 541 I saw on ACSearch that there are over 500 coins from the Eucharius Collection. Please post any coins from the Eucharius Collection that you have captured!
Thought this was the Eucharist.........never mind. Apology for the 'drive by' ........... Gonna get a lot of hate mail for that one.
..wow!...you've got Gell-Man's coins??....he da man!...he got quarks from the James Joyce book he was reading at the time...great provenance Brian..
Brian, I don't think the Murray Gell-Mann collection and the Eucharius Collection are the same. The Roma XI auction, which advertised the Murray Gell-Mann coins on the cover as The Collection of a Nobel Laureate, also happened to feature The Eucharius Collection of Roman Republican Silver. I haven't seen any information out there on who the collector behind the Eucharius collection might be. Here are two of mine from the Eucharius Collection that I like alot. ROMAN REPUBLIC Extremely Rare. AR Denarius. 3.72g, 17.6mm. Rome mint, 61 BC, C. Piso L.f. Frugi, moneyer. RBW 1481 (same dies); Babelon Calpurnia 29; Sydenham 876; C. Hersh, NC 1976, 439; Crawford 408/1b. O: Diademed and draped bust of Apollo left, caduceus over shoulder. R: Horseman, holding reins, on horse galloping right; ↓ (L, resembling an arrowhead, for 50) above; C PISO LF FRVG below. Ex Eucharius Collection ROMAN REPUBLIC AR Denarius. 3.95g, 18mm. Rome mint, 72 BC. L. Cossutius Sabula, moneyer. Crawford 395/1; Sydenham 790; Cossutia 1. O: Head of Medusa left, winged and entwined with serpents; SABVLA upwards behind. R: Bellerophon riding pegasos right, hurling spear; control mark X behind, L COSSVTI C F below. Ex Eucharius Collection
The coins posted in this thread are truly handsome . Aside from being an important scientist/physicist, Murry Gell-Mann was a serious numismatist interested in ancient history & the arts. What a wonderful provenance to attach to a coin .
I'm just infatuated with the reverse on this coin, @Alegandron... And not because it reminds me of my wife in the morning in our closet "I can't find anything to wear!" The artistry is just superb, the folds and undulations in the hanging fabric, the animated figure captured in mid action, lends itself to a very intimate and soft portrayal. Thank you for sharing it!!
I know I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer but am I the only one that just noticed the connection between the Oscan legend on this coin and the 9th of 12 Caesar Vitellius? I know it is common today for people to carry names of places but it never dawned on me to ask the origin of the names of the people on our coins.
I had, Doug, but I never asked the question here. Since many of the Roman Gens had come from early conquered peoples in Italia, i figgerred the family names were picked up. Emperor Vitellius probably had family harkening back to the losing side of the Social Wars. Or, quietly kept in the background at that time to survive.
Those are indeed different collections, but great coins all around. Dr. Murray Gell-Mann was best known for coining the quark but his real contributions to quantum theory and nuclear physics were immense. Here's my sole piece from his collection but one I treasure as I've always admired his scientific work:
