I WAS VERY HAPPY WITH MY PERFORMANCE LAST NIGHT......

Now now boys and girls don't let your imaginations run wild......I'm talking about my performance at the auctions of course......my first purchase was a very pretty gilt silver and enamel cigarette case by Karl Faberge. I've always been fascinated by Faberge (Not Theo) and have wanted to own something by him and his Russian wokmasters but their astronomical prices were always way beyond my reach.

Last night (morning where most of you guys are ) I took advantage of a sluggish collection of bidders, who had obviously spent their energy on almost 3 days of bidding on coins, and snared the Faberge piece. Can't post it here since it is a non-coin related piece.

Prior to that I had placed a bid on a VERY rare 1761 rouble of Empress Elizabeth of Russia.....went out for the evening with some friends and was pleasantly surprised to see that I had won the coin.......and here it is:

Elizabeth Rouble 1761 СПБ-ЯI AU53, St. Petersburg mint, KM-C19c.4, Bit-293 (R1), Diakov-557 (R1) Petrov 15 Rub.





Planchet flaw or not, the most recent specimen sold was an XF45 which raked in an eye-watering $14K+ ........so I think I'm right to be happy with my performance last night

 

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Love it, congrats on the acquisition.

 

GR8 job

 

Very nice - what a night! Love to see the Faberge case also.

 

@wcg since you twisted my arm
The fitted box is a later addition. The case itself has a small 14k gold and diamond Clover motif. Hallmarked 88k for kokoshnik, Faberge in Cyrillic and AH for August Hollming, one of his workmasters. I will leave the attachments as thumbnails so that only those interested can click to see the larger version

 

Very interesting! I like it. Is bidding competitive for Faberge items? Are there many fakes on the market? I think a few pre-1917 roubles would fit nicely with the theme.

 

Anything by Karl Faberge is very popular, with even the smallest items going for $5k++. Yes there are many fakes, mostly from East European countries but they are clearly fakes and one has to be blind to mistake them for the real deal.

Russia permitted Faberge items to be reproduced with the Imperial hallmarks but most reputable auction houses will describe these as 'in the manner of Faberge' or 'Faberge Style'. They would also erase the Faberge name stamped in Cyrillic. I have seen some unscrupulous sellers mainly on eBay, trying to pass these off as the real thing.

I collect Imperial Russian silver items and coins. Although this is not the correct thread for it, but here are some of my more recent acquisitions:

1834 Russia 3 Roubles/Poland 20 Zlotych gold

 

Russia 1848 gold 5 roubles

 

And one of my most desirable Russian coins apart from the one in the OP, VERY difficult to find in any decent condition.

Russia 1767 Gold 10 Roubles of Catherine II (AKA Catherine the Great) Empress from 1762 till 1796 and from I could see, she was only the second woman to ever hold the title "The Great".

 

Very impressive Russian pieces! I was deep into Russian material in the late 1990s but I sold it all off when prices kept climbing last decade. I was frustrated that I could not add to the collection and decided to go in a different direction. Managed to find some of the more scarce rouble dates: 1902, 1903, 1909, 1912, 1914. Posting a few long gone favorites .

 

Wow nice pieces @wcg. I've never noticed that 1812-1912 Napoleonic War Commemorative rouble before, very desirable. Will keep an eye out for that one. Over the years I've put together a fairly decent collection of both silver and gold, including coronation roubles and of the Tsarinas, which are always very popular among collectors.

I think soon I'll have to start sorting the stuff out and keep only those I wish to retain.