Catalog 385: Absolutism, Enlightenment and the French Revolution as Reflected by Coins and Medals - The Bader Collection

Every collector creates their own universe based on coins, medals, orders, decorations and other items. Nothing but their interpretation determines why these objects belong together. The Bader Collection, for example, deals with the question of how the absolutism of the early modern period developed into Napoleon's military dictatorship. With his collection, Frank Bader illustrates how various monarchs depicted their appreciation for the Enlightenment on coins. In this way, he pursued an interesting and demanding question, which led to a second collection: awards and insignia of the French Revolution.

What can we expect from the Bader Collection? Well, for one, there is a rich offer of German coins, mainly from Prussia with a focal point on the philosophical king Frederick II. But you can also discover a great selection of Habsburg coins, especially by Frederick's rival, Maria Theresa; of course, her Enlightened son Joseph II is also represented. There is also a large run of European coins and medals, for example a selection of Russian pieces and, of course, more than 150 lots of French coins and medals from Louis XV to Napoleon.

The second part of the auction, which is described by the order specialist Michael Autengruber, is almost even more touching. It contains the awards and insignia of the French Revolution, and it really gets to one when we see a lead medal featuring the guillotine that was set up and used in Lyon in 1793.

For anyone interested in history, this catalog certainly offers a wealth of numismatic food for thought.

No. 3599: Brandenburg-Prussia. Frederick William II, 1786-1797. Albertustaler (Bancotaler) 1797, Berlin. Trade coin. Only 1,050 specimens minted. Extremely fine. Estimate: 3,500 euros

No. 3676: Habsburg hereditary lands. Maria Theresa, 1740-1780. 10 souverains d'or 1751, Antwerp. Very rare. Tiny traces of reworking in the field on the reverse. Very fine to extremely fine. Estimate: 25,000 euros

No. 3854: Russia. Elizabeth, 1741-1761. 10 roubles 1756, Moscow, Red Mint. Very rare. About extremely fine. Estimate: 10,000 euros

No. 3903: France. Louis XV, 1715-1774. Gold medal 1729 by J. Duvivier celebrating the birth of the Dauphin on 4 September 1729. Rare. Extremely fine to FDC. Estimate: 10,000 euros

No. 3986: France. Commemorative medal for the Federative Oath on the Champ de Mars on 14 July 1790 II. Estimate: 500 euros

No. 4097: France. Medal commemorating the guillotine of Lyon (1793). Probably lead cast. II. Estimate: 75 euros

Catalog 386: Coins and Medals from Medieval and Modern Times with Numerous Special Collections

With auction 386, several important special collections enter the market. The sale starts with the first part of the Peter Fleige Collection of bracteates. The 150 most beautiful pieces can be found in auction 386; a second part will follow online as eLive Auction 77 in April 2023. Geographically speaking, the collection ranges from the north of Germany with Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck down to Lake Constance.

Two collections perfectly complement each other and present an impressive selection of coins from Mainz: almost 250 lots are offered by the collections of Prof. Dr. Alois M. Memmesheimer and Heinz Beaury. Here, too, collectors can find everything pertaining to the subject of Mainz - from simple pfennigs to multiple gold coins. If you are interested in Mainz issues, make sure to save the date on 22 March 2023. You must not miss out on this sale!

Collectors of Brunswick-Lüneburg can also look forward to an extensive special collection with more than 230 lots. The offer ranges from impressive Renaissance talers to rare lösers, high-quality representative talers (including pieces featuring magnificent mining scenes), to the vereinstalers that were minted shortly before the empire was founded in Hanover.

Two further special collections were not included as separate chapters, but their items were incorporated into the section of German and European coinage. One of them is the collection, which deals with all the ways in which the depiction of a swan can be interpreted. Moreover, Siegfried Schuckmann sells his collection on Napoleon and his time.Therefore, there is a lot to discover - not only regarding German issues. Among more than 50 lots with coins from the United States, there is a small collection of Morgan Dollars. The undisputed highlight of Künker's Spring Auction Sales is a rare gold medal by Bloody Mary, the Queen who tried to turn back time in England by reintroducing the Catholic faith. The gold medal was created for her wedding with King Philip II of Spain, and it is actually plausible that the piece offered at Künker was indeed in possession of the English Queen. The outstanding artistic value of this medal has often been highlighted. It is not without reason that this particular specimen was exhibited as part of the landmark exhibition at the National Gallery in London in 2008/2009.

Let us round off our auction preview with the last collection on sale in the Spring Auction Sales: the Coenen Collection of patterns for German coins minted after 1871. It perfectly complements the small but exquisite offer of coins from this era.

Last but not least, it should be mentioned that auction 386 offers the entire library of Prof. Dr. Niklot Klüssendorf as a single lot. The archivist and historian assembled his extensive specialist library over about 50 years. It contains 2,000 works and has a starting price of 10,000 euros.

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No. 4752: Alois Memmesheimer Collection / Mainz. Anselm Franz von Ingelheim, 1679-1695. 2 ducats 1680, Mainz. Very rare. Extremely fine. Estimate: 15,000 euros

No. 4876: Heinz Beaury Collection / Mainz. Karl Heinrich, Count of Metternich-Winneburg 1679. Gulden (60 kreuzers) 1679. From the Dr. Rudolph Walther Collection, Peus auction 275 (1971), No. 386. Very rare, probably one of three known specimens in private possession. Extremely fine. Estimate: 7,500 euros

No. 4972: Cygnus in Nummis Collection. Bentheim. Moritz, 1623-1674. Triple reichstaler 1657, Rheda. The only known specimen. Very fine. Estimate: 40,000 euros

No. 5064: Collection Brunswick and Lüneburg. Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Ferdinand II, 1735. Reichstaler 1735, commemorating his death on 13 September. From Peus auction 270 (1969), No. 574. Extremely rare. About FDC. Estimate: 12,500 euros

No. 5470: Siegfried Schuckmann Collection / Napoleon and His Time. Kingdom of Westphalia. Hieronymus Napoleon, 1807-1813. 1 franc 1808. Extremely rare. About FDC. Estimate: 2,500 euros

No. 5766: Morgan Dollars Collection. USA. Silver dollar 1893 CC, Carson City. PCGS MS62. Extremely fine +. Estimate: 750 euros

No. 5819: Great Britain. Mary, 1553-1558. Gold medal n.d. (around 1554), by J. da Trezzo. Original cast. Extremely rare. Extremely fine. Estimate: 600,000 euros

No. 5856: Russia. Elizabeth, 1741-1761. Broad gold medal by J. Dassier, commemorating the foundation of the Moscow State University in 1754, minted in 1758. From Schlessinger auction (1934), No. 436. Extremely rare. Extremely fine. Estimate: 50,000 euros