6 December 2014
Monaco, Éditions V. Gadoury
Vente aux Enchères de Monnaies de Prestige

Rome is at the center of upcoming Gadoury auction sale

Two marvelous collections of coins from Rome - minted by the Roman emperors and the popes - areat the center of the upcoming auction sale of Éditions V. Gadoury. In addition, there are raritiesavailable both from all around the world and from all eras.

On 6 December 2014, one day prior to the Grande Bourse on 7 December, the auction sale ofÉditions V. Gadoury will be conducted at the hotel Le Méridien. Although scheduled for a date rightin the winter, not only the bright sun will be attracting visitors to Monaco, into the south ofEurope.

The sale is kicked off by 22 coins from the Greek world and hence, via the Roman Republic, leadsover to the first highlight, a collection of coins from Roman Imperial Times that were assembledwith great expertise and taste. Notably the fine bronze coins catch the eye. Just take the -strictly speaking, not quite so rare - dupondius that had been struck in Nimes in modern-dayFrance. The item on offer, featuring the portraits of Augustus and Agrippa, is one of the mostbeautiful of this type in existence (71, EF, estimate: 2,500 euros). Equally fine at least is theportrait of Iulia Titi on a dupondius that used to belong to the collection of Giuseppe Mazzini(118, about EF, estimate: 6,000 euros). Many rarely encountered coin types are available, of thefinest quality and reasonably estimated, like the completely untouched as of Antoninus Pius thatdepicts the Lavinian sow with her piglets on the reverse (168, EF, estimate: 1,000 euros). Theconnoisseurs will be amazed by the great number of semises and quadrantes on offer. And there is alarge selection of gold coins with moderate estimates available for sale, some in superb quality,like an aureus of Hadrian with the reverse AEGYPTOS (142, about EF, estimate: 6,000 euros) and anaureus of Lucius Verus showing the installation of the Armenian king on the reverse (188, EF,estimate: 6,000 euros). Do we really have to add that any number of attractive denarii is offeredfor sale as well? The German market is highly likely to fall on the extremely fine - and very muchsought-after - denarius of Hadrian whose reverse depicts a perfect Germania with spear and shield(146, EF, estimate: 500 euros).

Coins of the Celts, from the Migration Period and of the Byzantine rulers complete the offer ofancient coins.

The second part of the auction sale comprising world coins and medals begins with - and this isanything but a surprise - a rich selection of coins from Monaco. As pars pro toto we only mentionthe first piece here, an extremely rare and very early coin of Honoré II dating from 1640 (311, ab.VF, estimate: 5,000 euros). Shortly after Honoré's accession to the throne, Spain gained controlover Monaco. The court at Madrid officially granted him the title of prince not before 1633. Thistitle came with the right to mint money. The item offered here is one of the numismatic testimoniesto the Spanish influence on Monaco before Honoré managed to expel the Spanish garrison in 1641.

The focus of world coins coming next is on the Spanish Empire, on France and - comprising about400 pieces - on Italy.

This is what we would like to start with. The chronological range covers the early Middle Agesuntil Modern Times. The time of the testone with their interesting Renaissance portraits areparticularly well represented. A case in point is an unpublished testone of Savoy of EmanueleFiliberto (1553-1580) whose obverse exhibits a much smaller portrait than his other testone (619,VF, estimate: 6,000 euros). A second rarity likewise is of a Savoy prince - it is an undated ducatof Charles I, minted at Chambery (605, VF, estimate: 10,000 euros).

The most expensive coin of the Italian section is a 5 francs piece from 1814 with the portraitof Napoleon struck for the Département de Gênes around Genova. This administrative unit wasestablished in 1805 after the French emperor had annexed the Ligurian Republic he controlled. Inthe very year this coin was struck, i.e. 1814, the département was disbanded and awarded to theKingdom of Sardinia (520, PCGS XF40, estimate: 20,000 euros).

Most probably many collectors will be attracted by the last part of the Italian sectioncomprising more than 200 lots with many coins of the popes, from Stephen V (885-891) to John XXIII(1958-1963). The many different items have one particular element in common: they come withcollector-friendly estimates. We single out just one piece at this point, an undated double florinof the notorious Borgia Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503), father of Cesare and Lucrezia (708, VF,estimate: 2,000 euros).

France, too, is well represented with its more than 80 coins. The highlights are an extremelyrare demi-écu of Louis XIV, minted in Lille, Gadoury 196 (434, VF / EF, estimate: 8,000 euros) aswell as an unusually well preserved 24 livres piece of Louis XVI from 1792, Gadoury 61 (448, EF,estimate: 8,000 euros). Apart from these, a 20 francs piece from 1939 with the obverse coining dieof P. Turin (472, EF, estimate: 6,000 euros) is on offer, as is the pattern of this piece for theyear 1912, of which only 29 specimens had been made (471, PCGS SP63, estimate: 700 euros).

Anyone fond of Spanish rarities ought to browse through the catalog carefully. After all, we canonly direct your attention to a few pieces here, like a 8 escudo of Charles II struck in Segovia in1687 (408, VF, estimate: 8,000 euros), and another 8 escudo, this time of Philip V, minted inMadrid in 1729 (410, VF, estimate: 9,000 euros). Highlight of the section Spain is an extremelyrare and magnificently preserved 5 peseta piece of the Provisional Government from 1869 (414, PCGSSP64, estimate: 20,000 euros). This 'extemporary' government was constituted after 'La Gloriosa',the glorious revolution in Spain during which Queen Isabella II had been deposited, in order tofind a new king.

Naturally, other sections, too, include many an interesting and surprising item. Let us restrictourselves to a small series of Egyptian coins and the golden 10 roubel piece of Elizabeth I ofRussia, minted in St. Petersburg in 1756 (919, ab. EF, estimate: 18,000 euros).

You may order the catalog at Éditions Victor Gadoury, 57, rue Grimaldi, 98000 Monaco; phone:+377 93 25 12 96; telefax: +377 93 50 13 39; email: contact@gadoury.com. Or look at it on theinternet at http://auction.gadoury.com/, www.sixbid.com and www.numisbids.com. Live-bidding fromyour own computer at home of course is also possible!

No. 1: LILYBAION (Sicily). Siculo-Punic tetradrachm, 320-300 B. C. Jenkins 59, 246. Ex Peus 407,277. Extremely fine. Estimate: 2,500,- euros

No. 71: AUGUSTUS, 27 B. C. - A. D. 14. Dupondius, Nemausus (Nimes), 10-14. RIC 158. RPC 524. ExLanz 145, 50. Extremely fine. Estimate: 2,500,- euros

No. 77: TIBERIUS, 14-37. Dupondius, 21-22. RIC 47. Ex NAC 45, 73 "The Barry FeirsteinCollection". Extremely fine. Estimate: 4,000,- euros

No. 118: TITUS, 79-81. For Iulia Titi. Dupondius, 80-81. RIC 391. From Mazzini Collection. Aboutextremely fine with excellent portrait. Estimate: 6,000,- euros

No. 168: ANTONINUS PIUS, 138-161. As, 143-144. Varbanov 2132. Ex Helios 7, 438. Rare. Extremelyfine. Estimate: 1,000,- euros

No. 188: LUCIUS VERUS, 161-169. Aureus, 161. RIC 511. Ex Titano 1979, 186. Extremely fine.Estimate: 6,000,- euros

No. 311: MONACO. Honoré II, 1604-1662. 12 gros or fiorino, 1640. Gadoury 6. Extremely rare.About very fine. Estimate: 5,000,- euros

No. 363: GERMANY. Saxe-Meiningen. George II, 1877-1892. 20 mark 1882D. Very rare. PCGS AU50.Estimate: 5,000,- euros

No. 408: SPAIN. Charles II, 1665-1700. 8 escudos, Segovia, BR, 1687/3. Cal. 37. Very rare. Veryfine. Estimate: 8,000,- euros

No. 410: SPAIN. Philip V, 1700-1746. 8 escudos, Madrid, JJ, 1729. Cal. 83. Very rare. Very fine.Estimate: 9,000,- euros

No. 414: SPAIN. Provisional Government, 1868-1871. 5 pesetas, Madrid, SN M. Cal. 2. Extremelyrare. PCGS SP64. Estimate: 20,000,- euros

No. 434: FRANCE. Louis XIV, 1643-1715. Demi-écu de Flandre aux insignes IIe type, Lille, 1705W.Gadoury 195. Very rare. Very fine / extremely fine. Estimate: 8,000,- euros

No. 448: FRANCE. Louis XVI, 1774-1793. 24 livres, Paris, 1792A. Gadoury 61. Extremely fine.Estimate: 8,000,- euros

No. 472: FRANCE. Third Republic, 1870-1940. 20 francs, Paris, 1939. Gadoury 852. Very rare.Extremely fine. Estimate: 6,000,- euros

No. 520: ITALY. Département de Gênes, 1805-1814. 5 francs, Genoa, 1814CL. Gadoury 584. Veryrare. PCGS XF40. Estimate: 20,000,- euros

No. 605: ITALY. Savoy. Charles I, 1482-1490. Ducat, Chambery, undated. Friedberg 1026. Veryfine. Estimate: 10,000,- euros

No. 619: ITALY. Savoy. Emanuele Filiberto, 1553-1580. Testone, Asti(?), 1560. Unedited. Veryfine. Estimate: 6,000,- euros

No. 708: ITALY. Vatican. Alexander VI, 1492-1503. Double florin, Rome, undated. CNI 5. Veryrare. Very fine. Estimate: 2,000,- euros

No. 919: RUSSIA. Elizabeth I, 1741-1761. 10 roubel, St. Petersburg, 1756. Bitkin 75. Very rare.About extremely fine. Estimate: 18,000,- euros

For more information, see:
http://www.gadoury.com/en/auction