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Research Coins: Electronic Auction

 
443, Lot: 490. Estimate $400.
Sold for $900. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

The Triumvirs. Mark Antony. Autumn 42 BC. AR Denarius (16.5mm, 3.87 g, 1h). Military mint traveling with Antony in Greece and Asia. Bare head of Antony right; lituus to left / Radiate head of Sol right. Crawford 496/3; CRI 129; Sydenham 1169; RSC 70a. VF, toned, light scratches and marks beneath toning.


From the Andrew McCabe Collection, purchased from Walker Christopher, Goldsmiths, Hamilton, Bermuda. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 35 (20 September 1995), lot 669.

I rescued this coin from a high-end jeweler in Hamilton in the British overseas territory of Bermuda, where it was about to be polished up and mounted in a pendant. The firm, Walker Christopher, makes terrifically attractive coin jewelry from good quality coins (really worth a look at walkerchristopher.com), but in my view that's a suitable destination only for the most common of coins. On seeing the quality of the mounted coins, I asked the jeweler if he had any as yet unmounted; he told me he had nothing except a Mark Antony denarius. I was expecting a legionary, so was rather stunned to be shown this attractive rarity. I immediately rescued it. Of the two type variants, this with IMP above the lituus behind the head is by far the rarest. I guess the motto of this find is “always ask,” even if in the most unlikely of circumstances. [Andrew McCabe]