The New York Sale XXX-XXXI 2013 will see The New York Sale group celebrate fifteen years of auctions at The New York Coin Convention and these, their 30th and 31st auctions at the event, promise not to disappoint. In keeping w
it almost certainly originates from North West Asia Minor. It has been struck on the Phokaian standard, which was prevalent in that region in the early sixth century, encompassing the districts of Teos, Sardes and Kyzikos. Due to the appearance of the chimaera on the obverse, early suggestions were made by scholars that it might have originated from Corinth or Sikyon. However, this is extremely unlikely since the style, fabric, and reverse all point to an Asia Minor attribution. The coin carries an estimate of US$100,000.
The second of the two staters an Electrum Stater from the Thraco-Macedonian Region, possibly the Orreskioi, appears to be lacking a direct comparison in the published numismatic literature. The closest parallel is an electrum stater in the British Museum collection, of a similar type, but of a wholly different style and execution. The above coin has been compared with that stater, identified as Orreskioi (?). The obverse of the British Museum’s coin is inferior in terms of both style and execution, displaying a distinct lack of detail when compared with the above coin. The fabric and production of the Museum’s example is also very different, suggesting it is somewhat earlier; the reverse of the above coin displays a much shallower incuse square, which has been neatly divided into four parts corresponding to other Thraco-Macedonian issues of the early fifth century B.C. This excessively rare coin is estimated at US$180,000.
The world coin section, to be held on the first day of the auction, holds yet more excitement with a large offering of Islamic coins. Of the fifty five lots being sold there are two coins that stand out above all others. The first, an al-Walid I, Silver Dirham, al-Daybul 95h (713AD) is an excessively rare piece and is the earliest Islamic coin from the Punjab and the eastern most Umayyad mint. It is estimated to sell for US$15,000. The second is a very fine and extremely rare Silver Dirham, Sijistan 132h (749AD.) The coin is an exceptional item and is an unpublished type, not recorded in any of the standard reference works. The coin is estimated at US$25,000 but it is anticipated that it will achieve more.
A fantastic 1673 Amsterdam quadruple Taler Klippe (pictured here) is one of the other most notable coins to be included in the world coin section. In early 1672, King Louis XIV of France declared war on the United Provinces, a conflict which lasted for seven years. Arms and ammunition had to be purchased, so the estates of Holland appealed to the rich citizens to hand in their silver so that it could be minted into coins. As there was great urgency, a mint was opened in a disused tower in Amsterdam. 25 workers were hired and the mintmaster from Enkhuysen was asked to supervise the minting. According to Brause-Mansfield, the whole operation was so well organised that within ten months, five million speciethalers were minted. They are considered emergency coins as they were minted from silver supplied
