Leu Numismatik is becoming quite wild

Greetings!

Have you noticed how crazy the hammered prices are these days?

Got lucky to bid two seconds before the hammer on one low value coin, but coin prices in general are becoming insane. Quite mediocre and average good very fine or very fine tetradrachms of Philip I Philadelphus and Ptolemy I Soter for example are going 400,500 CHF hammer, no problem. A good extremely fine or AU was about that price just 2,3 years ago.

Below is one such example, but there are many coins estimated of 50 chf that go for thousands. Interesting how long this can continue

Regards,

Daniel R

 

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Is that teeter-totter rock meant to depict the precarious state of their economy ?

 

Removed

 

I'm online at Leu this morning - won 4 coins so far.

 

It's a bit of a circus but some lots are going for collector-friendly prices. Which is not to say that I'm the recipient of such good fortune .

 

High quality coins are doing very well, but there are some real bargains to be had. Look in the shadows of the strong coins in these collections. Some very nice more worn coins are not receiving the attention they deserve...

 

There was one area that I was more or less interested to see how it did was the late Seleukid coins as this auction had some hundreds of tetradrachms of Antiochos VII to Philip Philadelphos. Not that I had planned to purchase any, as per usual already had purchased all that I had needed. One group that interested me the most were the late tetradrchms minted by Antiochos IX very much like this coin.
Antiochos IX Ar Tetradrachm Antioch 96-95 BC Obv Head diademed unbearded right. Rv Zeus Nikephoros seated left SC 2369/3 16.14 grams 27mm Photo by Wayne Hansen
I actually ended up with this coin by accident. This coin was listed as an Antiochos X in a CNG Auction. I bid on it for a friend got it and discovered it was an Antiochos IX. Knowing he would not want another Antiochos IX I "ate" the coin. Since then I had noted very few of this type being offered. This auction had 49 coins of basically this type. I did not think that the prices for these coins were particularly strong. Some did better than others. However I was surprised that the market could eat so many of these coins without creating a fire sale.

 

Exactly my thoughts as well. Though, the coins that catch the eye are going for bonkers amounts, I'm seeing some really fun ones with great provenance slip by for cheap. kinda wish I hadn't spent my MAD money on Savoca and Artemide... oh, wait, no I don't! It's been an awesome weekend! It's just that I want them all and I want them now!

 

An example of 50 CHF going for thousands:
I was interested in this to complete my collection of Magas AEs but at least two others wanted it MUCH more than I did. While it is "seldom seen" if not rare, I assume a major factor was the pedigree. But $3,500 after buyer's fee?

An extremely rare hemiobol of Ptolemy II

Lot 1508
PTOLEMAIC KINGS OF EGYPT. Ptolemy II Philadelphos, 285-246 BC. Hemiobol.
Starting price:
50 CHF
Hammer price:
2400 CHF

Number of bids:
11 Bids
Closing time: 22-May-21, 22:33:30 CEST

PTOLEMAIC KINGS OF EGYPT. Ptolemy II Philadelphos, 285-246 BC. Hemiobol (Bronze, 21 mm, 5.20 g, 12 h), Kyrene, struck by Magas during the reconciliation with Ptolemy II, circa 270-261. Diademed head of Ptolemy I to right, wearing aegis around neck. Rev. ΠΤΟΛ / BAΣΙ Prow left; to left, monogram of MAΓ. CPE B348. Svoronos 337. Extremely rare. Flan fault on the reverse, otherwise, good fine.

From the collection of Augustin de Loye (1816-1898), curator of the Calvet library and Museum in Avignon.

 

Amazing hemiobol. Wished i could afford it.

 

Is that collection published anywhere? Or is there any proof of this provenance?

 

I'm sure he was great friends with S. Pozzi and contributed to those famous Canadian and Swiss collections ;-)

 

Apologies. I removed my previous post

 

Some Roman provincials could be had for reasonable amounts, even in the larger sizes (30mm+, 20gm), though the fine portrait examples with the "very rare" moniker or "possibly the finest example known of the type" tended to get bid up to very high realized prices.

Since I didn't get up at 5am I couldn't revise my bids upward on the coins from the Rhakotis collection, which was superb. I had bid on some very rare drachm types of A. Pius, including a very nice Aries in the zodiac series, but was outgunned as I slept. Did get a "very rare" tetradrachm of Maximian Herculis, so there's that.

 

Good question!
A quick search shows that Leu has offered other coins with this pedigree and that de Loye was associated with Avignon so they must have some information for the pedigree. However, I can't find any reference to a catalog of his collection and photos would be unlikely.
Looks like the only way to find out would be to ask Leu but I have no interest since I did not get a coin with this pedigree.

 

Am I the only one skeptical of the tessera up right now? All the fakes that have been for sale and still are. Is it even possible the authenticate them?
At to that a staggeringly vague provenance like, "From a collection of lead tesserae from Asia Minor."

 

I see that someone keeps bidding and snags the worn ones for the minimum bid, most of the time.

 

Am I the only one that thinks it potentially hurts board members to continually post about live auctions...unless you work for Leu.

 

@Victor_Clark
I could not agree more. It happens that I am
Bidding in this auction and my lots end tomorrow. I wonder how much more I will have to pay because of this thread?