NGSA (Live floor auction in Geneva, 18 Nov)

NGSA typically has auctions every two years in the beautiful Hôtel Le Richemond in picturesque Geneva. Dr. Alain Baron puts on what I would term "an event" rather than a coinauction, which is not to be missed. It might be one of the most sophisticated of sales that the coin world has. His catalogs are all hard bound and feature some of the mostimpressive coins available on the market. Many of the coins are outside of my area of expertise but it doesn't take an expert to see that he is able to persuade many high browcollectors to consign and buy in his auctions. This sale is no different. Two catalogs are being presented.

The first is "A Royal Collection". The first coin might be one of the most beautiful Greek coins ever created. It is a silver tetradrachm signed by Kimon. The starting pricehowever is already at a whopping 1.5 million CHF. (This coin last sold for 2.3 million CHF in a 2014 NAC auction). Not many ancient coins reach that level so being in the room forthis sale will be an amazing experience. A Royal Collection is a mere 47 lots but every coin is estimated in the 5 or 6 digits.

The second catalog, Auction 12, is far larger and with about 57 ancient coins. The first lot is an incredible silver lingot of Toutankhâmon. The historical significance of thepiece is mind boggling. The starting price is 30,000 but I imagine it will go much higher. This sale has some equally fantastic ancient coins. If lot 1 in the "A Royal Collection"is too rich for you, there is another opportunity to obtain a signed Kimon tetradrachm of amazing beauty. Lot 112 is equally spectacular but at a fraction of the price (250,000CHF starting). It has a pedigree going back to a 1993 Sotheby's-NFA sale.

In the Imperatorial section there is an exceedingly rare gold legionary aureus (Legion 20) of Marc Antony. Lot 148 is a large size gold piece, a "quaternio", of the emperorMaxence. This piece comes out of a 1996 Christie's London auction. Finally lot 155 is a beautiful solidus of Anastasius I from Constantinople. This left facing beautiful portraitstyle is extremely rare. This coin comes from the Lacam collection of 1974 and was part of the Hunt collection which Sotheby's sold in 1990. The second part of the catalog hassome dazzling Renaissance medals (lots 195-197).

To visit Shanna's web site, see:
https://www.shannaschmidt.com/

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
TUTANKHAMUN-ERA SILVER BAR OFFERED (https://www.coinbooks.org/v22/esylum_v22n44a22.html)
GOLD ZODIAC MOHURS OFFERED (https://www.coinbooks.org/v22/esylum_v22n44a25.html)