Some phenomenal prices for Dattari provincials. The sale moved really slowly. I guess they don't come up for sale often, so they're hard to estimate and bidding was protracted. I was worried they wouldn't get to my lots before dinner! This Trajan drachm from Alexandria made £7k hammer against a £600 start price. Prices for such rare coins are unpredictable. You never know when another will come up. On the other hand, prices for some quite ordinary Republicans seemed insane to me. You could buy cheaper on VCoins or at a fair. Sometimes you only realise how much you wanted a coin *after* it's sold. It works both ways; sometimes I've been glad to be outbid, and saved from my folly! But I bitterly regret not going further on a couple in this sale. My greatest loss is this little Obol that started at just £7! It's such a beautiful archaic portrait. An amazing miniature masterpiece of Greek art. This one also had a low start, but I knew I wouldn't be a contender. It sold for £2k hammer. Such a tender couple on the reverse. The slightly crude provincial style adds to its charm, in my view. I don't really collect provincials, but I bid on a bunch in this sale. Got none. I won three, which I'll post after I collect them. I think I overpaid a little for one, got one at about what I expected to pay, and was surprised to win a third. Low win percentage, and I'm kicking myself for the ones I didn't pursue harder, but happy with what I got. Anyone else bidding?
I was bidding, of course (Roman Egypt is a main collecting area for me). My bid/win ratio was very low, par for the course for these Naville Dattari offerings. There have been many of these Naville auctions how featuring a large number of ex-Dattari coins. The prices for these generally lower condition ex-Dattari coins are generally coming down, with some lots unsold (!), although the rare and unusual coins still bring fierce bidding. A dream coin in this auction closed for much less than I predicted although still too much for me. Meet the Sphinxodile: That's a crocodile head protruding from the sphinx's chest! The writeup is interesting. Here's the listing. Hammer was £1650, which I think was a bargain considering the coin! (again for clarity: I did not win this coin) Lot 203 (the first coin cited by Nerva above) is a fascinating, rare, and desirable architectural type which should rightfully sell quite high but I was stunned when the bidding kept going and going and going. Wow! Great coin though. I was the underbidder on many coins but that doesn't mean much. The winners may have been willing to go to the stratosphere. There will be more opportunities but I sure do lust for the ones with unusual and Egypt-specific reverses. My total ex-Dattari coin count is now 19 .
Reference. RPC III 5442.3 Dattari-Savio Pl. 69, 1466 (this coin). Issue L H = year 8 Obv. ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙ ΤΡΑΙ - ΑΔΡΙΑ СƐΒ Laureate head of Hadrian, r., with aegis Rev. L Η Draped bust of Sarapis, wearing kalathos, facing; below, eagle standing facing, head l., with outstretched wings. 11.93 gr 23 mm Note. From the Dattari collection.
The scarce Maximian tets did sell very strongly. I had a few Dattaris in my sights, but deferred on them to pursue a Mussidia Caesar portrait which I then lost! That's the danger of reserving funds for the end of a sale. I left empty-handed. I had MUCH better luck in the Kolbe &Fanning book auction yesterday. I filled several wants and one "upgrade" at reasonable prices.
Don't you hate it when your primary target is later in the auction? Oh well... there will be more coins .
While I also like the Alexandrians, I don't even need to bid on the popular ones. The obol is a good one. The type is common in that denomination but style varies. £7 start is offensive. Mine is a bit ordinary but I'm glad to have it. My favorite is the much more scarce hemilitron marked by six dots on the reverse. The same thing that provided the excellent strike resulted in bad flan cracks (probably the only reason I got the coin). I have seen very few of these and each ad different style portraits just like we see on the more common tetradrachms.
It was a typo. The numbers were inverted. I assume it was meant to be £70-- this type of coin does not open at £7, and £7 is far below the minimum opening bid ever posted in a Naville auction. Did anyone notice if it actually opened at 7 or was it 70, or was it a moot point by the time it hit the virtual block?
I had my eye on about 15 coins, lost all except one I really wanted...too bad I missed on Agrippa and Julius Caesar with Super sharp details, sold over my estimated price... Will post the one I got, once receive it...Overall I was really surprised by low quality coins offered and super high hammer prices realized....
I'm on the wagon and am pleased that I managed to stay on. The Maximianus tet has such a charming reverse type. Obverse looks like it may need treatment for BD, though. Congrats to the winners!
Same here. I need to spend some time researching the coins I've bought recently before I decide to buy more. Are you done for the year or just taking a break?
That makes sense. Although they do have some absurdly low starts sometimes. It started at £7. I watched it go up slowly during pre-bidding.
More of a mid-year break, I think. Coincidentally, in 2016 and 2015 around this time of the year I took a six-week break from buying any new coins. Without planning to do so, it looks like I'm set to do the same this year. I do have a backlog of coins to catalog, photograph and research, so it's not like I'll be in a total numismatic desert .
