Log in or Sign up
Coin Talk
Home
Forums
>
Coin Forums
>
Ancient Coins
>
Historic Collections Thread: Dr. Walter Neussel Collection
>
Reply to Thread
Message:
<p>[QUOTE="Curtisimo, post: 3719545, member: 83845"]<font size="6"><span style="color: #404040"><b><u>Introduction</u></b></span></font></p><p><br /></p><p>We often say on the forum that we are just temporary custodians of our collections and that someday we will pass them along to future generations of collectors. Many of the coins in our collections, however, have already spent many decades (or more!) in the collections of the past. Sometimes we know nothing of the history of our coins and sometimes we have little more than a name of a past collection from sale listings or old tags. Since it can often be hard to find information on these previous collections and collectors I thought I would start a series of threads that highlight some of my own research as I make progress toward learning more about the old collections that some of my coins once resided in.</p><p><br /></p><p>In this thread I would like to highlight the Dr. Walter Neussel Collection.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center">……………………</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="6"><span style="color: #404040"><b><u>Dr. Walter Neussel Collection</u></b></span></font></p><p><br /></p><p>My notes on the collection</p><ul> <li>The collection was assembled in Germany starting in the mid-1950s and many of the coins in it were purchased from venues in central Europe. The bulk of the collection was sold in 2017 which means that the collection spans a period of about 63 years.</li> <li>The core collection seems to consist exclusively of Roman coins.</li> <li>Most of the coins in the collection have a documented provenance with many of them quite old.</li> <li>The collection seems to be very deliberately compiled. Many coins in the collection I have seen are interesting in very subtle ways that show the collector(s) had a very discerning eye.</li> <li>A large portion of the collection was sold in November 2017 in Dr. Busso Peus Nachf. Auktion 420.</li> </ul><p><br /></p><p>I was having trouble finding anything about this collection or the collector online and so I reached out to Dr. Busso Peus Nachf. A representative for the auction house very kindly sent me a biography that was compiled for the auction back in 2017. Since the article was in German I asked for permission to translate it into English and post it here on the forum. I was granted permission to do so and I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Busso Peus Nachf. for the help they provided me in my research. Below is my translation of the biography compiled by Dr. Busso Pues Nachf.</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>An article on the beauty and artistic design of Roman coins was published in the magazine "Kristall" in 1954. Inspired by this article, Dr. Walter Neussel senior and, immediately afterwards, his sons* Hans (aged 16 years) and Walter (aged 13 years) began to build their own collection of Roman coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>Naturally, the sons' sums, saved from small amounts of pocket money, did not initially make it possible to buy splendid specimens, however, for DM 0.50 to DM 1.0** they were able to acquire a reasonably nice sestertius from the time of the Adoptive Emperors. It was only after Dr. Hans Neussel and Dr. Walter Neussel junior had established themselves professionally that they could afford better pieces. The first purchases were made mostly from the company Julius Jenke in Munich, then also from auctions of the companies Kress, Hirsch, Peus and Button. In the early sixties, beautiful and inexpensive Roman and Alexandrian coins were available mainly from various dealers in Paris. Hans began early on to put emphasis on selecting coins of good preservation for his collection. Often, by careful examination of lots, rare pieces that went unrecognized by other collectors could be added to the collection. In this way, Hans eventually owned more than 15,000 Roman coins, which included a large number of bought-in lot coins. In terms of value, the sons' collections did not initially match their father's. After the death of Dr. Walter Neussel senior, his sons Hans and Walter shared their father’s collection between them.</p><p><br /></p><p>Double and less well-preserved coins from the beginning of the collector's activity were retired, and the quality level of the two collections was steadily improved. Shortly before the death of Hans (on Feb. 19, 1993), Walter acquired his entire collection and eventually reduced the total stock significantly. However, it was not only beautiful specimens that were selected for inclusion in the definitive collection because very rare and interesting pieces in less good condition were also included.</p><p><br /></p><p>On account of their lower value, under-appreciated Antoniniani of the third century, provincials (especially Alexandrian coins) as well as small bronzes of the 4th century were purchased from dealers and consciously and gladly integrated into the collections of all the collectors, since the subjects of these coins were often very appealing.</p><p><br /></p><p>Since the sons of the current collection owner have no particular interest in continuing their father's collecting activity, this outstanding and self-contained collection of Roman coins will be completely auctioned at the direction of Dr. Walter Neussel during his lifetime.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]997001[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>The Dr. Neussel Collection, which spans more than 60 years of collecting activity, provides a comprehensive overview of Roman coinage from the early republic (including early cast) to the 5th century. Anyone acquiring one or more coins from this collection will be pleased to share in this private collection, built with much love and numismatic knowledge. </p><p><br /></p><p>Dr. Walter Neussel (junior) was chief physician of the Department of Anesthetics and Intensive Care Medicine of the St. Elisabeth Hospital in Wittlich and initiator as well as senior physician of the Wittlich Rescue Center, the first in a rural area worldwide (a rescue center is an institution that also provides a rescue helicopter and holds an ambulance). He was director of the "CTT Institute for innovative and environmentally friendly technology in hospitals and rescue services" and is the bearer of the Federal Cross of Honor in Gold and the Order of Merit of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate. In the field of numismatics, Dr. Neussel was the creator of the Experimental Numismatics Working Group ", which has been running successfully for more than 10 years. The current focus of his work is the sponsorship association of the Peter Singer Prize for Strategies to Reduce the Suffering of Animals (PSP). Dr. Neussel is the initiator and first chairman of the PSP.</p><p><br /></p><p>*the sons became interested in collecting after holding the first Roman coins bought by their father in 1954 from Jenke in Munich</p><p><br /></p><p>** at that time you could already see beautiful small bronzes by Constantinus I and his sons and for DM 5.0</p><p><br /></p><p>** (my note) In 1954 1 Dueutsche Mark (DM) = $4.20. Adjusted for inflation DM 0.50 to DM 1 in 1954 was equal to a range of about $20 to $40 in 2019 dollars.</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center">……………………</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="6"><span style="color: #404040"><u><b>My Example from the Collection</b></u></span></font></p><p><br /></p><p>As with most of the coins from the Dr. Walter Neussel Collection my coin has a documented provenance which in my case dates back to 1998. The coin also came with several tags (possibly another collector?) that I have not yet identified but at least shows how studious Dr. Neussel was in retaining all the information he could from the coins in his collection.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]997017[/ATTACH] </p><p><font size="3">Roman Empire</font></p><p><font size="3">Diocletian, AD 284-350</font></p><p><font size="3">AE Antoninianus, Rome mint, 6th officina, struck AD 285-286</font></p><p><font size="3">Dia.: 24.73 mm</font></p><p><font size="3">Wt.: 3.55 g</font></p><p><font size="3">Obv.: IMP DIOCLETIANVS AVG. Diocletian radiate bust right.</font></p><p><font size="3">Rev.: IOVI CONSER-VAT AVG. Jupiter standing holding thunder bolt and scepter. XXIZ below.</font></p><p><font size="3">Ref.: RIC V:II 161</font></p><p><font size="3"><i>Ex Dr. Walter Neussel Collection; Auktion GM 92, Lot 365 (Nov. 1998); Dr. Busseo Peus Nachf. Auktion 420, Lot 6051 (Nov. 2017)</i></font></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]997007[/ATTACH] </p><p><font size="3">Tag from the Dr. Neussel Collection</font></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]997009[/ATTACH] </p><p><font size="3">An additional unidentified handwritten tag (post GM 1998 auction?)</font></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]997010[/ATTACH] </p><p>I recently acquired the GM 92 catalog that includes my coin. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]997012[/ATTACH] </p><p>Here is my coin photographed in the Nov. 1998 GM catalog.</p><p style="text-align: center">……………………</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Please feel free to post your coins from the Dr. Walter Neussel Collection. Also please feel free to add any additional information on the collector or the collection that you may know.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Also feel free to comment or post anything you feel is relevant.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Curtisimo, post: 3719545, member: 83845"][SIZE=6][COLOR=#404040][B][U]Introduction[/U][/B][/COLOR][/SIZE] We often say on the forum that we are just temporary custodians of our collections and that someday we will pass them along to future generations of collectors. Many of the coins in our collections, however, have already spent many decades (or more!) in the collections of the past. Sometimes we know nothing of the history of our coins and sometimes we have little more than a name of a past collection from sale listings or old tags. Since it can often be hard to find information on these previous collections and collectors I thought I would start a series of threads that highlight some of my own research as I make progress toward learning more about the old collections that some of my coins once resided in. In this thread I would like to highlight the Dr. Walter Neussel Collection. [CENTER]……………………[/CENTER] [SIZE=6][COLOR=#404040][B][U]Dr. Walter Neussel Collection[/U][/B][/COLOR][/SIZE] My notes on the collection [LIST] [*]The collection was assembled in Germany starting in the mid-1950s and many of the coins in it were purchased from venues in central Europe. The bulk of the collection was sold in 2017 which means that the collection spans a period of about 63 years. [*]The core collection seems to consist exclusively of Roman coins. [*]Most of the coins in the collection have a documented provenance with many of them quite old. [*]The collection seems to be very deliberately compiled. Many coins in the collection I have seen are interesting in very subtle ways that show the collector(s) had a very discerning eye. [*]A large portion of the collection was sold in November 2017 in Dr. Busso Peus Nachf. Auktion 420. [/LIST] I was having trouble finding anything about this collection or the collector online and so I reached out to Dr. Busso Peus Nachf. A representative for the auction house very kindly sent me a biography that was compiled for the auction back in 2017. Since the article was in German I asked for permission to translate it into English and post it here on the forum. I was granted permission to do so and I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Busso Peus Nachf. for the help they provided me in my research. Below is my translation of the biography compiled by Dr. Busso Pues Nachf. [INDENT]An article on the beauty and artistic design of Roman coins was published in the magazine "Kristall" in 1954. Inspired by this article, Dr. Walter Neussel senior and, immediately afterwards, his sons* Hans (aged 16 years) and Walter (aged 13 years) began to build their own collection of Roman coins. Naturally, the sons' sums, saved from small amounts of pocket money, did not initially make it possible to buy splendid specimens, however, for DM 0.50 to DM 1.0** they were able to acquire a reasonably nice sestertius from the time of the Adoptive Emperors. It was only after Dr. Hans Neussel and Dr. Walter Neussel junior had established themselves professionally that they could afford better pieces. The first purchases were made mostly from the company Julius Jenke in Munich, then also from auctions of the companies Kress, Hirsch, Peus and Button. In the early sixties, beautiful and inexpensive Roman and Alexandrian coins were available mainly from various dealers in Paris. Hans began early on to put emphasis on selecting coins of good preservation for his collection. Often, by careful examination of lots, rare pieces that went unrecognized by other collectors could be added to the collection. In this way, Hans eventually owned more than 15,000 Roman coins, which included a large number of bought-in lot coins. In terms of value, the sons' collections did not initially match their father's. After the death of Dr. Walter Neussel senior, his sons Hans and Walter shared their father’s collection between them. Double and less well-preserved coins from the beginning of the collector's activity were retired, and the quality level of the two collections was steadily improved. Shortly before the death of Hans (on Feb. 19, 1993), Walter acquired his entire collection and eventually reduced the total stock significantly. However, it was not only beautiful specimens that were selected for inclusion in the definitive collection because very rare and interesting pieces in less good condition were also included. On account of their lower value, under-appreciated Antoniniani of the third century, provincials (especially Alexandrian coins) as well as small bronzes of the 4th century were purchased from dealers and consciously and gladly integrated into the collections of all the collectors, since the subjects of these coins were often very appealing. Since the sons of the current collection owner have no particular interest in continuing their father's collecting activity, this outstanding and self-contained collection of Roman coins will be completely auctioned at the direction of Dr. Walter Neussel during his lifetime. [ATTACH=full]997001[/ATTACH] The Dr. Neussel Collection, which spans more than 60 years of collecting activity, provides a comprehensive overview of Roman coinage from the early republic (including early cast) to the 5th century. Anyone acquiring one or more coins from this collection will be pleased to share in this private collection, built with much love and numismatic knowledge. Dr. Walter Neussel (junior) was chief physician of the Department of Anesthetics and Intensive Care Medicine of the St. Elisabeth Hospital in Wittlich and initiator as well as senior physician of the Wittlich Rescue Center, the first in a rural area worldwide (a rescue center is an institution that also provides a rescue helicopter and holds an ambulance). He was director of the "CTT Institute for innovative and environmentally friendly technology in hospitals and rescue services" and is the bearer of the Federal Cross of Honor in Gold and the Order of Merit of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate. In the field of numismatics, Dr. Neussel was the creator of the Experimental Numismatics Working Group ", which has been running successfully for more than 10 years. The current focus of his work is the sponsorship association of the Peter Singer Prize for Strategies to Reduce the Suffering of Animals (PSP). Dr. Neussel is the initiator and first chairman of the PSP. *the sons became interested in collecting after holding the first Roman coins bought by their father in 1954 from Jenke in Munich ** at that time you could already see beautiful small bronzes by Constantinus I and his sons and for DM 5.0 ** (my note) In 1954 1 Dueutsche Mark (DM) = $4.20. Adjusted for inflation DM 0.50 to DM 1 in 1954 was equal to a range of about $20 to $40 in 2019 dollars.[/INDENT] [CENTER]……………………[/CENTER] [SIZE=6][COLOR=#404040][U][B]My Example from the Collection[/B][/U][/COLOR][/SIZE] As with most of the coins from the Dr. Walter Neussel Collection my coin has a documented provenance which in my case dates back to 1998. The coin also came with several tags (possibly another collector?) that I have not yet identified but at least shows how studious Dr. Neussel was in retaining all the information he could from the coins in his collection. [ATTACH=full]997017[/ATTACH] [SIZE=3]Roman Empire Diocletian, AD 284-350 AE Antoninianus, Rome mint, 6th officina, struck AD 285-286 Dia.: 24.73 mm Wt.: 3.55 g Obv.: IMP DIOCLETIANVS AVG. Diocletian radiate bust right. Rev.: IOVI CONSER-VAT AVG. Jupiter standing holding thunder bolt and scepter. XXIZ below. Ref.: RIC V:II 161 [I]Ex Dr. Walter Neussel Collection; Auktion GM 92, Lot 365 (Nov. 1998); Dr. Busseo Peus Nachf. Auktion 420, Lot 6051 (Nov. 2017)[/I][/SIZE] [ATTACH=full]997007[/ATTACH] [SIZE=3]Tag from the Dr. Neussel Collection[/SIZE] [ATTACH=full]997009[/ATTACH] [SIZE=3]An additional unidentified handwritten tag (post GM 1998 auction?)[/SIZE] [ATTACH=full]997010[/ATTACH] I recently acquired the GM 92 catalog that includes my coin. [ATTACH=full]997012[/ATTACH] Here is my coin photographed in the Nov. 1998 GM catalog. [CENTER]……………………[/CENTER] Please feel free to post your coins from the Dr. Walter Neussel Collection. Also please feel free to add any additional information on the collector or the collection that you may know. Also feel free to comment or post anything you feel is relevant.[/QUOTE]
Your name or email address:
Do you already have an account?
No, create an account now.
Yes, my password is:
Forgot your password?
Stay logged in
Coin Talk
Home
Forums
>
Coin Forums
>
Ancient Coins
>
Historic Collections Thread: Dr. Walter Neussel Collection
>
Home
Home
Quick Links
Search Forums
Recent Activity
Recent Posts
Forums
Forums
Quick Links
Search Forums
Recent Posts
Competitions
Competitions
Quick Links
Competition Index
Rules, Terms & Conditions
Gallery
Gallery
Quick Links
Search Media
New Media
Showcase
Showcase
Quick Links
Search Items
Most Active Members
New Items
Directory
Directory
Quick Links
Directory Home
New Listings
Members
Members
Quick Links
Notable Members
Current Visitors
Recent Activity
New Profile Posts
Sponsors
Menu
Search
Search titles only
Posted by Member:
Separate names with a comma.
Newer Than:
Search this thread only
Search this forum only
Display results as threads
Useful Searches
Recent Posts
More...