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"Provenance Chart": Hidrieus Tetradrachm, 1884-2021
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<p>[QUOTE="Curtis, post: 8241348, member: 26430"]I’ve been experimenting with various styles and uses of “provenance charts” (illustrating a single coin’s history; or focusing on a specific collection and its ties to other collections, publications, and institutions; or visualizing networks of collectors). This one shows the history of one coin:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1450573[/ATTACH]</p><p><i>PHOTO CREDIT: </i>CNG 247 (12 Jan 2011), 145</p><p><br /></p><p>One of my favorite collecting themes is what I think of as the “modern history of ancient coins” (or “modern social lives of ancient coins” haven’t settled on one). It’s become a topic of relevance as cultural property and antiquities are increasingly subject to public debate and policy.</p><p><br /></p><p>It’s also central to longstanding questions in the history of numismatic knowledge: How has our understanding of any give type developed over time? Which collectors, publications, commercial actors, and institutions are connected by social networks? When, where, how, and how often have coins traveled across international borders, or into and out of museum collections? Which coins are published, which escape notice?</p><p><br /></p><p>(The personal benefits include becoming familiar with literature, institutions, collections, and coin types that one otherwise wouldn’t.)</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1450582[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b>* <i>Correction</i>, the Weber volume was 1929, not 1922.</b></p><p>Sources at the end</p><p>If that's too small, here are thumbnails of the left and right halves separately:</p><p>[ATTACH]1450583[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1450584[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>What does this example illustrate about the history of numismatics? Changes in the primary sources of literature used for ancient coins, from the “golden age” of auction catalogs (pre-WWII, such as Naville-Bement) and standalone catalogs of major private collections (such as Spink-Weber [1922] and Comparette-Bement [1922]), to major series such as <i>Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum </i>(1930s-1980s), to e-auctions and archives (post-2000).</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Some commentary of the history of this type</b></p><p><br /></p><p>This type of coin was once much rarer, which is why this same scratched up specimen remained the best-known specimen until recently (there were a few others in the de Luynes Coll. = BNF cited by Babelon; Knight’s in the BMC; Mionnet cited an early (BNF?) example; I don’t think Eckhel knew of the tetradrachm, but still learning how he described denominations).</p><p><br /></p><p>Many more became available on the market – and in much better condition – after the 1978 Pixodarus Hoard (<a href="https://www.academia.edu/39498050/The_Pixodarus_Hoard_CH_9_421_" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.academia.edu/39498050/The_Pixodarus_Hoard_CH_9_421_" rel="nofollow">CH 9.421; Konuk 2002</a>).</p><p><br /></p><p><i>The following speculations may be of less interest to most, and worth skipping, but I probably won’t find better chances to share this part:</i></p><p><br /></p><p>My attempts to trace the provenance prior to the James Whittall collection (1884, sale 3 of 4) have been unsuccessful, but I have my suspicions. A plausible candidate may be the Calymna, 1823 Hoard (<a href="http://coinhoards.org/id/igch1216" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://coinhoards.org/id/igch1216" rel="nofollow">IGCH 1216</a>; Noe 189) though it reportedly contained no Hidrieus Tetradrachms.</p><p><br /></p><p>According to the first sale (Sotheby’s 1858), Whittall's original collection was formed by “Ismail Pasha, Minister of Commerce and Public Works in Turkey,” who, on at least one other occasion “selected these specimens” from a hoard before “the remainder were melted” or “fell into the hands of the Turkish government.”</p><p><br /></p><p>The Calymna Hoard (ancient Halicarnassus, in modern-day Turkey), reportedly contained 10,000 silver coins, 90% of which were melted (too degraded to be of any imaginable value).</p><p><br /></p><p>Several authors commented on its surprising (suspicious?) details (see, e.g., <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/42682084" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/42682084" rel="nofollow">Borrell 1846</a>). As <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/42680975" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/42680975" rel="nofollow">JP Six wrote</a> in 1877 – if I understand correctly – the tetradrachms were “few in number” and not a single one of Hidrieus – “<i>as far as we know</i>” (my emphasis; “<i>Les tétradrachmes ou plutôt statères étaient peu nombreux. ... mais il y en avait un de Cnidus, quelques-uns de Mausole et pas un seul ďIdrieus, dont on en connaît pourtant</i>”).</p><p><br /></p><p>The <a href="https://britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_RPK-p156A-1-Hid" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_RPK-p156A-1-Hid" rel="nofollow">British Museum specimen</a> was acquired in Richard Payne Knight’s bequest, 1824. Could he have still collected a tetradrachm from the Calymna, 1823 Hoard in the year before his death?</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Sources used in the Provenance Chart:</b></p><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p><p><font size="4">Noble Numismatics <a href="https://www.noble.com.au/auctions/pdf?sale=126" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.noble.com.au/auctions/pdf?sale=126" rel="nofollow">Auction 126</a> (24 March 2021), Lot 2768</font></p><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p><p><font size="4">CNG <a href="https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=178448" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=178448" rel="nofollow">e-Auction 247 (12 Jan 2011), lot 145</a></font></p><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p><p><font size="4">SNG von Aulock (Hans von Aulock, 1906-1980) = Kraft, Konrad & Dietmar Kienast. 1962. <i>Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum: Deutschland. Sammlung Hans von Aulock: Heft 7 (Karien).</i> Berlin. [<i>Clain-Stefanelli 1914* (for the complete set); Daehn 1988; Kroh p. 13 (five stars)</i>]</font></p><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p><p><font size="4">SNG Lockett = Robinson, ESG. 1949. <i>Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum: Great Britain 3. The Lockett Collection: Part V (Lesbos – Cyrenaica)</i>. [<i>Clain-Stefanelli 1913*. Daehn 1970; Kroh p. 13 (four stars); see <a href="http://www.sylloge-nummorum-graecorum.org/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.sylloge-nummorum-graecorum.org/" rel="nofollow">SNG Online</a></i>]</font></p><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p><p><font size="4">Richard Cyril Lockett (1873-1950) Collection (<a href="https://archive.org/details/catalogueofpartx00glen_1/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://archive.org/details/catalogueofpartx00glen_1/" rel="nofollow">Part XII/Greek IV, Glendining, 21 February 1961</a>), lot 2384 [<i>Clain-Stefanelli 1971*; Daehn 2047; Grierson 298; Spring 234,</i> <i>“Most important sales of ancient Greek coins.”</i>]</font></p><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p><p><font size="4">Clarence S. Bement (1843-1923) Collection, Naville VII, <a href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kundig_naville1924_06_23bd2" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kundig_naville1924_06_23bd2" rel="nofollow">23 June 1924</a> lot 1520 [<i>Clain-Stefanelli 1942*; Daehn 2086; Grierson, p. 280; Spring 477, “Most important sales of ancient Greek coins”</i>] </font></p><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p><p><font size="4">Comparette (ANS, 1921), p. 79 & Pl. XIX, No. 283. <a href="https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000857999" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000857999" rel="nofollow"><i>A Descriptive Catalogue of Greek Coins, Selected from the Cabinet of Clarence S. Bement</i></a><i>. </i>[<i>Clain-Stefanelli 1922; Daehn 2037</i>]</font></p><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p><p><font size="4">Sir Hermann Weber (1823-1918) Collection = Forrer, L. 1929. <i>Descriptive Catalogue of the Collection of <a href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=greek%20coins" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=greek%20coins" rel="nofollow">Greek Coins</a> formed by Sir Hermann Weber</i>, published 1922-1929 by Spink, Vol III Plates, <a href="https://archive.org/details/webercollectiong03webe/page/n123/mode/2up" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://archive.org/details/webercollectiong03webe/page/n123/mode/2up" rel="nofollow">Pl. 233, No. 6604</a> [<i>Clain-Stefanelli 2001*; Daehn 2042; Grierson p. 57; Kroh p. 10</i>]</font></p><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p><p><font size="4">James Whittall (1819-1883) Collection (<a href="https://archive.org/details/catalogueofexten00soth_13/page/n13/mode/2up" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://archive.org/details/catalogueofexten00soth_13/page/n13/mode/2up" rel="nofollow">Sotheby, Wilkinson, & Hodge 10 July 1884</a>), lot 1113</font></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b><i><font size="6">Please share anything relevant! (Old collections, old hoards, history of numismatic photography or literature, Carian Satraps, etc.)</font></i></b>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Curtis, post: 8241348, member: 26430"]I’ve been experimenting with various styles and uses of “provenance charts” (illustrating a single coin’s history; or focusing on a specific collection and its ties to other collections, publications, and institutions; or visualizing networks of collectors). This one shows the history of one coin: [ATTACH=full]1450573[/ATTACH] [I]PHOTO CREDIT: [/I]CNG 247 (12 Jan 2011), 145 One of my favorite collecting themes is what I think of as the “modern history of ancient coins” (or “modern social lives of ancient coins” haven’t settled on one). It’s become a topic of relevance as cultural property and antiquities are increasingly subject to public debate and policy. It’s also central to longstanding questions in the history of numismatic knowledge: How has our understanding of any give type developed over time? Which collectors, publications, commercial actors, and institutions are connected by social networks? When, where, how, and how often have coins traveled across international borders, or into and out of museum collections? Which coins are published, which escape notice? (The personal benefits include becoming familiar with literature, institutions, collections, and coin types that one otherwise wouldn’t.) [ATTACH=full]1450582[/ATTACH] [B]* [I]Correction[/I], the Weber volume was 1929, not 1922.[/B] Sources at the end If that's too small, here are thumbnails of the left and right halves separately: [ATTACH]1450583[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1450584[/ATTACH] What does this example illustrate about the history of numismatics? Changes in the primary sources of literature used for ancient coins, from the “golden age” of auction catalogs (pre-WWII, such as Naville-Bement) and standalone catalogs of major private collections (such as Spink-Weber [1922] and Comparette-Bement [1922]), to major series such as [I]Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum [/I](1930s-1980s), to e-auctions and archives (post-2000). [B]Some commentary of the history of this type[/B] This type of coin was once much rarer, which is why this same scratched up specimen remained the best-known specimen until recently (there were a few others in the de Luynes Coll. = BNF cited by Babelon; Knight’s in the BMC; Mionnet cited an early (BNF?) example; I don’t think Eckhel knew of the tetradrachm, but still learning how he described denominations). Many more became available on the market – and in much better condition – after the 1978 Pixodarus Hoard ([URL='https://www.academia.edu/39498050/The_Pixodarus_Hoard_CH_9_421_']CH 9.421; Konuk 2002[/URL]). [I]The following speculations may be of less interest to most, and worth skipping, but I probably won’t find better chances to share this part:[/I] My attempts to trace the provenance prior to the James Whittall collection (1884, sale 3 of 4) have been unsuccessful, but I have my suspicions. A plausible candidate may be the Calymna, 1823 Hoard ([URL='http://coinhoards.org/id/igch1216']IGCH 1216[/URL]; Noe 189) though it reportedly contained no Hidrieus Tetradrachms. According to the first sale (Sotheby’s 1858), Whittall's original collection was formed by “Ismail Pasha, Minister of Commerce and Public Works in Turkey,” who, on at least one other occasion “selected these specimens” from a hoard before “the remainder were melted” or “fell into the hands of the Turkish government.” The Calymna Hoard (ancient Halicarnassus, in modern-day Turkey), reportedly contained 10,000 silver coins, 90% of which were melted (too degraded to be of any imaginable value). Several authors commented on its surprising (suspicious?) details (see, e.g., [URL='https://www.jstor.org/stable/42682084']Borrell 1846[/URL]). As [URL='https://www.jstor.org/stable/42680975']JP Six wrote[/URL] in 1877 – if I understand correctly – the tetradrachms were “few in number” and not a single one of Hidrieus – “[I]as far as we know[/I]” (my emphasis; “[I]Les tétradrachmes ou plutôt statères étaient peu nombreux. ... mais il y en avait un de Cnidus, quelques-uns de Mausole et pas un seul ďIdrieus, dont on en connaît pourtant[/I]”). The [URL='https://britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_RPK-p156A-1-Hid']British Museum specimen[/URL] was acquired in Richard Payne Knight’s bequest, 1824. Could he have still collected a tetradrachm from the Calymna, 1823 Hoard in the year before his death? [B]Sources used in the Provenance Chart:[/B] [SIZE=4] Noble Numismatics [URL='https://www.noble.com.au/auctions/pdf?sale=126']Auction 126[/URL] (24 March 2021), Lot 2768 CNG [URL='https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=178448']e-Auction 247 (12 Jan 2011), lot 145[/URL] SNG von Aulock (Hans von Aulock, 1906-1980) = Kraft, Konrad & Dietmar Kienast. 1962. [I]Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum: Deutschland. Sammlung Hans von Aulock: Heft 7 (Karien).[/I] Berlin. [[I]Clain-Stefanelli 1914* (for the complete set); Daehn 1988; Kroh p. 13 (five stars)[/I]] SNG Lockett = Robinson, ESG. 1949. [I]Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum: Great Britain 3. The Lockett Collection: Part V (Lesbos – Cyrenaica)[/I]. [[I]Clain-Stefanelli 1913*. Daehn 1970; Kroh p. 13 (four stars); see [URL='http://www.sylloge-nummorum-graecorum.org/']SNG Online[/URL][/I]] Richard Cyril Lockett (1873-1950) Collection ([URL='https://archive.org/details/catalogueofpartx00glen_1/']Part XII/Greek IV, Glendining, 21 February 1961[/URL]), lot 2384 [[I]Clain-Stefanelli 1971*; Daehn 2047; Grierson 298; Spring 234,[/I] [I]“Most important sales of ancient Greek coins.”[/I]] Clarence S. Bement (1843-1923) Collection, Naville VII, [URL='https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kundig_naville1924_06_23bd2']23 June 1924[/URL] lot 1520 [[I]Clain-Stefanelli 1942*; Daehn 2086; Grierson, p. 280; Spring 477, “Most important sales of ancient Greek coins”[/I]] Comparette (ANS, 1921), p. 79 & Pl. XIX, No. 283. [URL='https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000857999'][I]A Descriptive Catalogue of Greek Coins, Selected from the Cabinet of Clarence S. Bement[/I][/URL][I]. [/I][[I]Clain-Stefanelli 1922; Daehn 2037[/I]] Sir Hermann Weber (1823-1918) Collection = Forrer, L. 1929. [I]Descriptive Catalogue of the Collection of [URL='https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=greek%20coins']Greek Coins[/URL] formed by Sir Hermann Weber[/I], published 1922-1929 by Spink, Vol III Plates, [URL='https://archive.org/details/webercollectiong03webe/page/n123/mode/2up']Pl. 233, No. 6604[/URL] [[I]Clain-Stefanelli 2001*; Daehn 2042; Grierson p. 57; Kroh p. 10[/I]] James Whittall (1819-1883) Collection ([URL='https://archive.org/details/catalogueofexten00soth_13/page/n13/mode/2up']Sotheby, Wilkinson, & Hodge 10 July 1884[/URL]), lot 1113[/SIZE] [B][I][SIZE=6]Please share anything relevant! (Old collections, old hoards, history of numismatic photography or literature, Carian Satraps, etc.)[/SIZE][/I][/B][/QUOTE]
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"Provenance Chart": Hidrieus Tetradrachm, 1884-2021
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