Printed Auction 44

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Closed March 12, 2025
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  10. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    Superb portrait
    A44, Lot 60:

    SELEUKID EMPIRE. Antiochos III ‘the Great.’ 222-187 B.C. AR tetradrachm. 17.15 gm. 28 mm. Uncertain "ΔI" mint in southern or eastern Syria (Damaskos?). Struck circa 197-187 B.C., late in his reign. Diademed head of the elderly Antiochos III, distinctive unusual portrait (somewhat idealised, or perhaps realistic) (?) with assertive nose, right (Type E); ΔI below neck / Apollo Delphios seated left on omphalos, holding arrow and resting hand on grounded bow; BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIOXOY, ΔI in exergue. SC 1113.3. HGC 9, 447y. Virtually As Struck; fresh and attractive with lightly iridescent tone; superb portrait of fine style sharply struck with a slightly worn die. An interesting example with an unusual idiosyncratie portrait, and with the royal name inscribed over the wrist of Apollo on the reverse. Some references cite Damascus as the mint, but SC does not think the evidence clear cut.

    From a European collection formed before 2005.

    Antiochos III "the Great" ruled over the vast Seleukid Empire for 35 years and was an important figure in the Hellenistic period. Initially determined to restore the waning empire's former glory, he mounted ambitious military campaigns and successfully exercised strategic diplomacy, overseeing a temporary resurgence of power.

    After a long and successful career in which he began to style himself "the Great" and compare his deeds to those of Alexander the Great's, he over-reached, against Egypt in the Fourth Syrian War, and in attempting to expand into Asia Minor in the face of the dominant Roman Republic. In a stunning reversal of fortune he was forced to accept the Peace of Apamea (188 B.C.), surrender territories, curtail his ambitions, and among other humiliations give up his war elephants. He was ultimately assassinated in 187 B.C. during his final eastern campaign.

    Notably, Antiochos was the first Greek ruler to exert much influence on Palestine, interrupting the long period of peace Judea was enjoying at the time. He attracted Jewish historians who wrote extensively about him in the first book of the Maccabees (vii. 6), and Josephus, who unfortunately less reliably tended to represent all great rulers as friendly to the Jews. The Jews were also introduced to Hellenism and the more corrupt sides of Greek culture in his capital at Antioch.
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    $1,500
    Hammer Price:
    $1,600
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  20. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    A44, Lot 248:

    Cornwall 2. County. Low Hall. Copper halfpenny. 14.03 gm. 28.5 mm. Engraved by Rambert Dumarest (attributed to Droz by both D&H and Waters). Manufactured by Boulton. 1791. A druid's head left, oak wreath around / Shield of arms, a coronet above; CORNISH COPPER HALF AN OUNCE 1791 around. FDC; original color, tiny rim flaw at 11' reverse.

    Ex Salyards Collection.

     

    Cornwall 2 is a beautifully designed high-quality product of Boulton’s Soho Mint. Dalton and Hamer, as well as the detailed supplement published by Waters in 1954, both note that the piece is from Boulton but they credit Droz with the dies. Yet, the initials “R D” (Rambert Dumarest) are plain underneath the image.

    In many respects, this particular piece merits a place in any specialized collection of the development of the Soho Mint and the work of Matthew Boulton. 

    By 1792, Jeanne-Pierre Droz was long gone from Birmingham and Matthew Boulton’s mint. Initially hired to bring his expertise to help the Soho Mint thrive, by 1790 Boulton had become exasperated with Droz and Droz went back to France in March 1791. After investing both large sums of money and his and his staff’s time and energy in trying to bring the mint to a viable level for the production of half pence, 1789 found Boulton frustrated and a major source of his frustration was Droz. Richard Doty describes it well. 

    “Monsieur Droz symbolized all of Boulton’s difficulties. He was being paid a handsome salary (which represented a dead loss for the time being); and he was not even performing the labour for which he had been engaged. He complained about everything….“ (The Soho Mint and the Industrialization of Money. BNS 2. London. 1998. P 37.)

    The account of the break between Boulton and Droz takes several long pages of text describing a bitter and drawn-out break. But Droz finally left and Boulton hired a French engraver, Rambert Dumarest, to fill in as the engraver for the Cornish halfpenny which finally came out in 1792.
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    $250
    Hammer Price:
    $375
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