DALLAS, TX.- Several elite collections, including one of the finest troves of German coins ever assembled, will shimmer in the spotlight at
Heritage Auctions’ NYINC World & Ancient Coins Platinum Session and Signature® Auction - New York Jan 9.
The 239-lot collection of elite German coins is the Cape Coral Collection, Part II. The first part of the collection was sold in Heritage Auctions’ World & Ancient Coins Platinum Session and Signature® Auction – Chicago in August 2022.
“We feel very grateful that Heritage Auctions was selected to offer this extraordinary collection,” says Cris Bierrenbach, Executive Vice President of International Numismatics at Heritage Auctions. “Years of study and collecting led to the assembling of one of the finest collections of German coins, many of which are world-class trophies, massive in physical size and in their significance among serious collectors.
“Collectors worldwide look forward to the NYINC event and this year, with the world open and the wonderful numismatic selections in our auction event we expect to see many friends Jan. 9”
Among the highlights from the Cape Coral Collection is the finest certified Saxon Friedrich the Wise 2 Guldengroschen (Taler) ND (1507) MS61 NGC. Friedrich the Wise founded the University of Wittenberg where Martin Luther taught and is remembered as the man who saved Martin Luther from the fury of the Catholic Church.
Also from the Cape Coral Collection is a Trier. Karl of Lorraine Taler 1715 MS64 NGC. A seldom-seen Taler, especially in comparable condition, dressed in a gunmetal gray tone accented with multicolored pastel shades of color, and is tied with a single other example in NGC's census with none certified higher.
It is rare for an 18th-century Taler like the Solms-Laubach Taler 1768-WWE MS66+ Prooflike NGC to exhibit qualities like those on the offered example, which was perhaps a presentation or one of the first strikes due to its mirrored Prooflike fields and sculpted die work. It showcases a fully struck view of the Christianswerk salt mines and an equally impressive shield and lion draped in a blush-tinted cocoa tone.
Petropolis Collection
Like the Cape Coral Collection, this trove is making a return appearance at Heritage Auctions – in this case, a third installment of this extraordinary collection, which produced 164 lots for this auction.
Among the top selections from the collection is one of just six known examples of the João VI gold 6400 Reis 1822/0-R AU58 NGC, which is rarer than the Coronation Piece of Pedro I and the Pedro II 1922-R 6400 Reis, of which only 16 are known. This coin is an exceptionally rare issue from a mintage of just 599 pieces. It does not have the “First Issue from Independent Brazil” symbolism, but the offered example can be regarded with the title of “Last Brazilian Issue under Portugal.”
Another beauty from this collection is the Pedro II gold 4000 Reis 1832-R UNC Details (Cleaned) NGC – just the third example to make it to auction in the last two decades. This jewel from the Brazilian gold series has the same mintage as the celebrated 1822 Coronation 6400 Reis, likely indicating this issue also was struck to be offered to dignitaries on Coronation day such as the 1822 piece. One of the first gold coins of Pedro II as a 5 year-old emperor after Pedro I’s abdication from the Brazilian Empire to regain his right to the Portuguese throne, never returning to see his son. Guimaraes notes just six pieces known, three of which – likely ex-jewelry survivors – present “defects.”
Australian Gold
Collectors of gold from Down Under will be drawn to an extraordinary trove of Australian Gold, including an exceptional Victoria gold Proof Pattern Sovereign 1853-SYDNEY PR63 Ultra Cameo NGC. Designed by James Wyon, it is a giant of the Australian series by any measure. Featuring the famed “Sydney Mint” Pattern Sovereign of 1853, it is the first Sovereign for the colony and one of only four originally produced. Off the market for more than a dozen years and presumed unique in private hands, all other specimens are permanently impounded in museum collections: one in the British Museum, the other two in the Royal Mint Museum in Wales; notably, there are none in Australian institutions, and this date was absent from famed Murdoch Collection for both the Sovereign and 1/2 Sovereign.
The historic and exceptionally rare Adelaide Assay Office Gold Ingot is one of only a handful not institutionally impounded. It is smaller than some gold ingots offered through Heritage Auctions, but it is a finely preserved specimen, likely the product of a shrewd collector tucking it away not long after it was issued. Cast in a fairly crude manner with obverse text that reads, “WEIGHT OF INGOT” slightly off-planchet and stamped “10” indicating the pennyweight, a contemporary value of one Pound, 17 Shillings and one and one-half Penny. The ingot will be sold with the original Quartermaster Collection lot card.
A Mint State Type 1b Adelaide Pound represents a significant addition to the greater Australian series, and one that is exceedingly scarce in Mint State. Among the earliest forms of hard currency issued by the colony, the Adelaide pound was struck from gold mined during the gold rush of the 1850s. It is distinguished from its relatively more common counterpart by the linear border to the reverse, providing an instantly recognizable and unique motif for these contested issues. Single examples are scarce; to have two of this variety and in this condition in the same auction is exceedingly rare … and the two offered in this auction likely represent the first instance since the famed Quartermaster Collection.
British Gold
The auction includes 70 lots of British gold, including the finest George III Pattern 2 Guineas, by J.S. Tanner. This coin, one of just 11-20 known specimens, is an incredible masterpiece of 18th-century British engraving and one that clearly was treasured from the time of its production to now. The rarity of this piece comes by virtue of its peculiar historical circumstances: one of only three dates that 2 Guinea patterns were produced during George’s reign, coins like this one represented an attempt to strike larger gold pieces for circulation at a time when the overvaluation of British gold had left it as virtually the only metal available domestically, while undervalued silver and copper coins were sold abroad.
The auction also features two lots featuring an Anne Gold 5 Guineas. The Anne gold 5 Guineas 1714/1 MS62 Prooflike NGC was struck during the final year of Anne's historic reign and remains among her finest, in condition and in aesthetic appeal. Of the more than 1,000 straight-graded 5 Guinea specimens across all monarchs submitted to NGC and PCGS, only 13 or just over 1% have been assigned the desirable Prooflike assignment. The resulting near-Choice preservation, bested by none for the date and elevated by deep honeyed tone and ample reflectivity, is expected to propel this resounding outlier to unforeseen heights. The Mint State Anne gold 5 Guineas 1705 MS61 NGC is second-finest for the date representative.
Ancient Coins
Among the most appealing ancient lots in the auction are four Syracusan Decadrachms – among them a SICILY. Syracuse. Dionysius I (405-367 BC). AR decadrachm (33mm, 43.09 gm, 11h). NGC Choice XF 4/5 - 3/5, from a die signed by Euainetos. Widely considered to be the most beautiful coins ever struck, the immense silver decadrachms of Syracuse from the later fifth century BC represent the full flowering of classical Greek sculptural art. Syracuse, the foremost Greek city in Sicily, had produced coins of exceptional beauty for nearly a century when, ca. 415 BC, engravers began signing their coin dies. Chief among these were the master engravers Kimon and Euainetos, whose large silver decadrachms seemed to capture the spirit of the artistic and intellectual revolution then sweeping the Greek world. The obverse of these pieces depicts a four-horse racing chariot, or quadriga, in full career to left while Nike, goddess of Victory, flies above to crown the driver with a laurel wreath. Below this scene is a set of Greek armor offered as a prize to the victorious charioteer. The reverse depicts a beautiful head of Arethusa, nymph of a sacred spring, with dolphins frolicking around her. The decadrachm of Euainetos became a widely-copied archetype for Greek coinage, and the master engraver's head of Arethusa remains a paradigm of cool, classical beauty today.
Collectors of Julius Caesar coinage will be drawn to a trio of Denarii, including a magnificent Julius Caesar, as Dictator Perpetuo (February-March 44 BC), with Lucius Aemilius Buca, as Moneyer. AR denarius (21mm, 3.78 gm, 1h). NGC AU 5/5 - 4/5 or a Julius Caesar, as Dictator Perpetuo (February-March 44 BC), with Lucius Aemilius Buca, as Moneyer. AR denarius (18mm, 4.00 gm, 8h). NGC MS 4/5 - 5/5, while collectors of Greek coins will find themselves drawn in by a number of offerings, including a BACTRIAN KINGDOM. Demetrius I (ca. 200-185 BC). AR tetradrachm (30mm, 16.93 gm, 12h). NGC MS★ 5/5 - 5/5, Fine Style.
