20th Cent. Sales of Alexandrian Coins Online

Change Log: Created: 7 Jul 2022. Updated: 28 Mar 2024 (minor).
(Enlarged banner image incl. both plates from Dupriez 97 [1909]!)

Jump to Sections on this Page
Summary: QUICK LIST (30+ LINKS) & Catalog Library
Intro  —  Biblio
ONLINE AUCTIONS, ANNOTATED LIST  —  More Collections, Sales  —  Other Sources
ANNOTATED PRINT CATALOGS  —  Absent from JJ Lib..

My other Relevant Pages:
Full Library of Ancient Coin Sale Catalogs (physical catalogs in collection);
Catalog Collection Favorites (only ones w/ interesting provenances of their own);

Alexandrian “Plate Coins” & Old Collections (incl. many from the sales below).


ULTRA-ABBREVIATED LIST OF ALEXANDRIAN SALE CATALOGS

Online Auction Catalogs (Well over 5,000 Alexandrian Coins Illustrated; Annotated below)

Bank Leu/MM Niggeler II (21 Oct 1966); HJB 65; HJB 66; HJB 67; HJB 68; HJB 70; Gemini XIII (Harlan J Berk); Cahn 71; HCR 13.2; CNA IV; CNA V; CNA VI; CNR 15.3; CNA XII; CNA XIII; CNA XVIII; CNA XXI; CNG XXXI; CNG 39; CNG 41; Triton XXI AK Collection Supplement; Triton XXIII AK Collection Supplement; Kölner Münzkabinett Auktion 49 [PDF]; Kolner 67 [PDF]; Malloy Auction Sale V; Malloy MBS XIV; Malloy XVI; Malter JNFA 1 (5); Münzhandlung Basel Katalog Nr. 6; Myers – Adams Auction #1; Myers-Adams Auction #7; NFA Fall 1990 MBS; NFA Fall 1991 Mail Bid Sale; Schulman Mabbott I (6 Jun 1969); The Coinage of Roman Egypt: A Survey – Col. James Curtis; Keith Emmett Collection; Giovanni Dattari’s (1901) Nummi. Augg. Alexandrini (Vol 2, Plates);
Few illustrations (Curtis & Dattari Sales): Schulman 17 June 1958; Schulman 20 June 1961; Schulman 21 Mar 1962; Harmer-Rooke Sale, 27 May 1971.

Hard Copy Sale Catalogs of Alexandrian Coins (Annotated Table below)
Bold titles: Print only, not online; Italics: Reprint

Bank Leu/MM (Niggeler II); Blancon (FPL 31); CNG (CNA IV, V, XII, XIII, XIV, XVIII); Dupriez (FPL 97); Empire (1, 6, 7, 8); Harmer-Rooke (27 May 1971); Malloy (XIV, XXXIII); Malter (I, II, XXVIII); Münzhandlung Basel (6); Münz Zentrum (52); NFA (XXIV); Olympus (FPL 5); Schulman (20 Jun 1961, 6 Jun 1969); Sotheby’s (Jungfleish II).

Don’t hesitate to ask for a ref. check — that’s why they’re listed!


INTRODUCTION: 20th Century Sales, Coins of Roman Egypt, Alexandria

The auction catalogs on this page are drawn from my much larger file of 20th century annotated ancient coin sale catalogs online. (For more info about my “full file” see the note below.) These ones are only the most important sales of Roman Alexandria, usually with 100 or more lots illustrated. I’ve annotated many other catalogs that had a notable section on Alexandria (say 25 to 50 nice coins). Unless they were from important collections, I’ve only included the larger offerings here. I may add a new section later for “slightly important” sales. I concentrate on pre-2000 auctions because very few of them are indexed by ACSearch, CoinArchives, Sixbid, and similar.


ONLINE LISTS OF IMPORTANT SALES
(specifically Alexandrian lists [Alex], then general lists [gen]; if they ever go offline, I have PDFs available for most):

  • rNumis [gen] = Steve Moulding’s database of ancient coin auction catalogs, some with brief annotations, some linked, and summaries of which are in his collection as physical copies or .pdf’s. https://www.rnumis.com/frontpage.php
  • WWE [gen] = Warren W. Esty’s annotated auction catalogs page: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/catalogs/. WWE provides valuable annotations / summaries of many ancient coin sales in his catalog collection but doesn’t include links to digitized copies online (at least not many). I’ve tried to link online catalogs below wherever as possible. Several important Alexandrian sales are annotated but cannot be found online (incl. Münz Zentrum 52, “1292 of Alexandria, Roman Egypt” per WWE). His page on Egypt, Alexandrian coins of Severus Alexander also includes bibliography and sale catalogs that are generally relevant to all Alexandrian coinage (many also cited below): http://augustuscoins.com/ed/SevAlex/.


ONLINE AUCTIONS, ANNOTATED LIST:

Organized Alphabetically by Firm Name (or Last Name of Owner):

  • One partial exception to the alphabetical: My “CNG” category would include all the variously-named publications and firms of Victor England & co-owners; in contrast, Fitzwilliam puts them all under “England, V.”; my way below is no doubt an act “bibliographic presentism” but I find it’s the more practical for my (present) purposes:

Bank Leu & Münzen und Medaillen. The two firms collaborated on the remarkable Sammlung Walter Niggeler, which was sold in four parts (Greek, Roman Provincial/Republican, Roman Imperial, Swiss). Very high quality coins.

Leu & MM (21 Oct 1966) = Niggeler Part II, 524 lots, incl. 229 Provincial, of which 86 Roman Egypt, Alexandria (f. ill. on 28 Pl.), many rarities & high grade exs., weights (0.01g), often w/ prior provenances [Clain-Stefanelli 1981* (Sale Catalogs, Ancient Greek); Kroh p. 56 (3 Stars); Spring 413];

Harlan J Berk, including Gemini.

HJB 65th BBS (26 Feb 1991), 722 ancient, incl. 221 Roman Egypt, Alexandrian (1-221, f. ill., no weights/provenances), the usual types in all metals, plus ~30 RPC AE, ~38 Byzantine AE, only a few provenances noted (Lockett, Pozzi-Lockett, J.W. Walter);

HJB 66th BBS (11 Jun 1991) 573 Ancient (+ World, Antiquties), incl. 124 Roman Egypt, Alexandrian (450-573, f. ill., no weights/provenances), Naxos Tetradrachm (“New Style,” no prov.), some provenances noted (Hunt, J. W. Walter);

HJB 67th BBS (27 Aug 1991) 608 Ancients (+medieval & antiquities), incl. 143 Roman Egypt Alexandrian (466-608, f. ill., no weights/provenances), Pantikapaion Stater, Ptolemy III Dekadrachm, “Porus” Tetradrachm (as Baktria not Babylon), the usual types, plus ~47 Byzantine AE (five ex-Hunt), handful of other sale provenances (all recent), weights for AV & Greek AR (0.1 – 0.01g).

HJB 68th BBS (13 Nov 1991), exceptional sale w/ 762 Lots Ancient (plus medieval, modern, antiquities), including 253 Lots Roman Egypt, Alexandrian (Lots 509-761) f. ill. plus 3.5 color plates (of 5 color coins plates & 3 more for antiquities, 8 total), no provenances or weights, also 81 Byzantine AE (438-508, incl. nice rarities/scarcities), Titus Colosseum Sestertius, Euainetos Dekadrachm, ~72 Byzantine AV/EL (incl. ~6-7 late RIC);

HJB 70th BBS (16 Mar 1992) 801 Ancient, incl. 110 [~76 new] Roman Egypt, Alexandria (658-767 most ill., ~34 from BBS 65, no weights/one prov.: Wetterstrom’s Andromeda-Perseus), usual types in all metals, but more generally an excellent sale of RPC, incl. 111 Lots “Collection of Black Sea Roman Colonials for the Severan Dynasty” (547-657), a couple other provenances;

Gemini XIII (Harlan J Berk) [issuu.org, pdf catalog; searchable records on ACSearch.info, but absent the indispensable info. in print cat.] = 6 April 2017 (Chicago Coin Expo) = incl. “Roman-Egyptian Coins Previously Held By The Art Institute of Chicago” (AIC Duplicates all ex Robert L. Grover, donated 1978-1984), important sale of >1,500 (155 illustrated) Alexandrian coins in 113 lots (21 single lots, 44 small group lots [2-4 coins per = 134 coins], 48 large group lots [9-122 coins per = 1348 coins]), cataloged by Curtis Clay; w/ intro incl. bio/hist. page (p. 6, 8th .pdf p.) re: AIC & Dattari, but not Grover (see below); Alexandrian coins begin on p. 87-110, Lot 378-490 (incl. 48 large group lots [1348 coins] not illustrated on the final >4 pp.; if those illustrations exist, their publication, online or print, would be a great service); Grover, long-retired Chicago attorney (grad. NU Law ‘34), living, birthdate unknown, coll. formed c. 1930s-1986, other coins (RIC) donated to ANA, the major sale of his coll. (Greek, RRC, RIC, RPC, Byz, etc.) was Session 2 of Superior Galleries, Auction & MBS 11-12 Jun 1986, w/ one-page bio & photo of Grover, and cat. pp. 62-175, Lots 836-2142 (2nd sess., 12 Jun); present sale of AIC Duplicates includes ~180+ ex-Giovanni Dattari – p. 87: 139 stated by AIC/Grover to be ex Dattari (not all in Savio; some Dattari’s have no known rubbings) plus another “thirty or forty” discovered incidentally by the cataloger (C.C.) to be illustrated in Savio-Dattari (“seems likely” that yet others went unnoticed, “since the cataloguer did not check many of the commoner coins against the rubbings”); all ex-AIC Alexandrian on the market appear to originate w/ Gemini XIII; each coin (even in large groups) came w/ original AIC museum tag, incl. accession number beginning with year of Grover donation, and references; any handwritten notes in blue ink on back are by C. Clay, CT Post 6516651 [26 Feb 2021]); Lots 401-403 are 3 Antoninus Zodiac Drachms (incl. D 2976);

  • 3 tetradrachms in CJJ Collection (all ex group lots, none ill.), ex 451 (Trajan, AIC # 1979.1203), 460 (Antoninus, ex Dattari, DS pl. 14, no. 17 = AIC # 1981.460), and 476 (Gordian III, AIC # 1978.685);
  • also in the Gemini XIII sale catalog: the important Bill Behnen Collection (Part 1) of Trajan Decius (and family), also cat. by Curtis Clay, Lots 283-377 (see also Gemini XIV [2018] & HJB 201, 202 [2017], and scattered listings in later sales to present – occasionally neglecting to mention Behnen pedigree), mostly RIC, ~20 DIVO CONSECRATIO Ants., ~22 RPC, all 95 lots (!) with sale provenances recorded c. 1964-2012, mostly to American dealers, many previously from important collections and publications (Knobloch, Lindgren, Duke of Argyll, Hall Park McCullough, et al.).

Cahn, Adolph (Frankfurt) Auction 71 Collection of Osmand Noury Bey, et al = 14 Oct 1931 = ~80 Alexandrian, of which 57 ill. (some 1-sided) plates 33-35.

CNG (Classical Numismatic Group), Victor England & Eric McFadden since 1990, w/ Mike Gasvoda since 2018, has used many names and titles; from 1975-1990, England used several others (his first catalog was 1986). [Archive (113 results, 18 Jul 22) includes at least one each: HCR, CNA, CNA-Seaby, CNR, CNL, CNG, Triton; see also Issuu (169 publications, 18 Jul 22), CNA, CNA-Seaby, CNR, CNG, Triton, and Nomos FPLs + Auctions.]
Before teaming up with McFadden, England operated his own firm for 15 years (i.e., with staff, incl. Wetterstrom et al., late 80s on). They promptly acquired Seaby. Below (and on other pages), I’ve included all incarnations of England-McFadden-Gasvoda catalogs/lists except Nomos (which may have shared partial ownership with CNG, at least for a time): Victor England; Historical Coin Review [HCR]; Classical Numismatic Auctions [CNA]; Classical Numismatic Review [CNR]; Classical Numismatic Literature [CNL]; Classical Numismatic Group [CNG]; and Triton (sometimes CNG with other firms).
In addition to his intros to Alexandrian coinage since 1988, Kerry K. Wetterstrom (CNG, 1987-2021) wrote “A Brief History of Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. on the Occasion of CNG’s Auction 100,” the intro to the printed catalog (reprinted in The E-Sylum and Coinsweekly; don’t miss the valuable lists of experts consulted, numismatists who worked for CNG, museum consignments, and firms with joint auctions). Not surprisingly, being an in-house celebratory essay, delicate parts of firm history are absent (understandably, if glaringly, so). For instance, A. Peter Weiss isn’t mentioned, so neither is CNG’s role in (re)establishing Nomos AG, circa 2008 – ? (What was the nature of the relationship and for how long? For a different post, lest one lose focus on the tremendous value CNG has contributed by producing and making electronically available the resources below….)

[England, Victor] HCR 13.2 = Spring 1988 = Featuring “Classical Coins of Roman Egypt,” Alexandrian (cataloged by K Wetterstrom [coins for sale not from his collection], with 5-pg “Introduction to the Coinage of Alexandria” article (nice summary of monetary, artistic and historical themes, plus “Grading,” “Collecting,” &c.), 7 Pl. Roman Egypt, Alexandria, 122 lots fully illustrated, good quality, incl. Domitius Octadrachm; only one Nomes;

  • Fine exemplar of the ideal that a commercial house organ can be “something more” than just a fixed-price list. In the best of them, the coins for sale & the topical essay(s) genuinely inform the reader when woven together by a cataloger with something to say & a perspective to share. We know this is one because we still remember & read it >35 years later;

CNA IV = September 21, 1988 = Lots 253-357, “Egypt, Alexandria: Selections from the Collection of Kerry K. Wetterstrom,” f. ill. in text & plates, weights (0.01g), v. few prior provenances;

CNA V = December 1988 = Lot 175 – 211, “Important Offering of Rare Alexandrian from the Collection of Kerry K. Wetterstrom,” 3 of Domitius Domitianus, 22 w/ prior provenance (incl. several important collections), f. ill. in text, partly reproduced in Curtis (1990) “Supplement C” [see below], begins w/ memorial for John Barton (1943-1988) by Edward M. Godshalk (p.3);

CNA VI = March 1, 1989 = Lots 274 – 349, “Egypt, Alexandria: Including the Collection of Bradbury K. Thurlow,” many with prior provenances, incl. sev. important colls., partly reproduced in Curtis (1990) “Supplement C” [see below];

CNR 15.3 = September 1999 = Lots 280 – 335, “Roman Egyptian,” 56 Alexandrian f. ill., no collector named, no provenances given (or weights);

CNA XII = 26 September 1990 = Kerry Keith Wetterstrom Collection of Roman Egyptian Bronzes, Part I [Roman Egypt, Alexandria], pp. 5-49, the first 307 lots of the catalog all from this important collection; many include prior provenances to important collections, incl. mult. each from Garrett, Hoffer, Dickie, Ruder, Ruzicka, Dattari, Col. Curtis, Kalmbach, Duke of Argyll, and more; a section of counterfeits and fantasy Alexandrians;

CNA XIII = 4 December 1990 = Kerry Keith Wetterstrom Collection (Part II), through page 66 of the catalog, with two-page Introduction plus Bibliography, Highlighted by the most complete offering of the “Labors of Herakles,” Coins of the Zodiac and Nomes [and Mythological types of Pius, all sections with their own extensive introductions and commentary] [Roman Egypt, Alexandria]; the same excellent cataloging and important provenances noted above for Part I;

CNA XVIII [Hard Copy in library] = 3 December 1991 = collection of confronted busts, about 119 Egypt Alexandrian, many w/ various provenances including Lot 443, the Col. James Curtis (1265, Ex Schulman, 17 June 1958, Lot 402) Gordian III / Helios L-Z w/ same obv. die as Dattari 4731 (mine);

CNA XXI = 26 June 1992 = Garden State Collection & “An Important Offering of Roman Alexandria Coinage” & Nomes of 168 lots (pp. 54-61 Lots 493-560, the last 21 of which are Nomes);

CNG XXXI = 9 Sep 1994 = “An Excellent Offering of Roman Egyptian Coinage Struck at Alexandria,” 101 lots (pp. 126-136 Lots 1348-1448).

CNG 39 = 18 Sept 1996 = interesting group of >100 Alexandrian [incl. a few Dattari and Wetterstrom, also Speck, Aiello, coins ex-NFA MBS 1990 & var. Empire sales], “An Important Offering of Alexandrian Coinage – Primarily from Two Separate Collections” [no indication given who they are, or which coins belong to which] p. 97-109, Lots 998-1114 (last 13 groups, unill.);

CNG 41 = 19 March 1997 = several Collections of Roman Egypt, Alexandria (~220 Lots Alexandrian over 26 pages);

CNG 53 = 15 March 2000 = Marion A. Sinton Collection (Part II) & Phil DeVicci Collection of Alexandrian, among others, includes 59 Lots of Roman Egypt Alexandria (“A Strong Offering of Alexandrian,” Lots 1191-1249, mostly Marion A. Sinton & Phil DeVicci Collections, also incl. other important provenances (Curtis, Wetterstrom), and surely more not noted);

CNG Triton XXI (pdf on Issuu; downloaded) “The Giovanni Maria Staffieri Collection of the Coins of Roman Alexandria” (main Triton XXI auction, cataloged separately, followed, 9-10 Jan) = NYINC, 9 January 2018 = “Introduction” by Andrew Burnett (p. 7) & “A Note from the Cataloguer” by Kerry K. Wetterstrom (p.8); “A Note on the Collection” by Victor England (p.9); coins begin on p. 11 with Cleopatra and Augustus; usually 2-3 coins per page (some full-page coins); page 141-4: “Special Collection of Corona Radiata – Radiate Portraits,” Lot 263 – 273.

CNG’s Triton: “AK Collection” Supplements often include large groups of Alexandrian coins. (CJJ Coll. = 9 ex AK Coll., 8 Alexandrian.) Coins from this collection have appeared in almost every Triton since XII (2009), the first Alexandrian no later than Triton XVIII (2015) [983.46 = CJJ Coll.], but unfortunately the fully itemized Supplements are not available online for all (and can be difficult to find in print).
The Supplements are especially important for the details of provenance that “AK” had been retained for >50 years in many cases, often including private purchases that are not documented in any catalogs. The AK Collection, though enormous, has mostly been dispersed large group lots that are not illustrated in the primary Triton auction catalogs. CNG has made the individual lots available temporarily on their website (https://ak.cngcoins.com), but they are soon removed. Some of CNG’s special Supplements / Virtual Catalogs are published on issuu.org (in .pdf, occasionally available in print), describing and illustrating each coin individually:

Triton XXI AK Collection Supplement Virtual Catalog [.pdf saved] = 9 January 2018 = Lot 813, 47 Billon Tetradrachms, about half (24) Severus Alexander (3 as Caesar), the remainder Elagabalus (7), Julia Paula, Julia Maesa, Julia Mamaea (2), Maximinus (8); examples (as with AK’s Alexandrian generally, both RIC and RPC) are illustrated in Wendellin Kellner’s (2009) Die Münzstätte Alexandria in Ägypten (a valuable tool for provenance research in its own right; serialized & once available online at Moneytrend.at, but now seems paywalled);

Triton XXII AK Supplement = 8 January 2019 = Lot 1150, 44 coins of Egypt, Alexandria, Gordian III to Trebonianus Gallus. Not illustrated in the catalog or digital archive. Don’t know if I missed it or it was never available, but if anyone saved (or can find) the .pdf of “AK Collection” Supplement to “Triton XXII” (I’d love to know!);

Triton XXIII AK Collection Supplement Virtual Catalog [.pdf saved] [ACSearch record] = 14 January 2020 = Lot 835, 31 Billon Tetradrachms, Valerian, Gallienus, Salonina, and Saloninus; 20 described as illustrated in Kellner Alexandria; 8 coins cited as Dattari Collection 5142, 5180, 5200, 5209, 5224, 5323, 5358, 5376 (note they are all coins cited in the 1901 cats.; others in Savio-Dattari plates may have gone unnoticed);

Triton XXV AK Collection Supplement Virtual Catalog [.pdf saved] = 11 January 2022 = Lot 981, 24 Billon/Potin Tetradrachms, Gallienus & Salonina. Incl. 3 coins from famous sale Münzhandlung Basel 6 (18 Mar 1936), Lots 1232, 1237, 1243; 22 coins (all but two) ill. in Kellner, Alexandria; one ex Dattari, two Stoecklin, three ex Steger & Voirol Colls; others with usual old stock/auction provenances;

Triton XXVI AK Collection Supplement Virtual Catalog [.pdf saved] = 10 January 2023 = Lot 813, 25 Tetradrachms, Claudius II Gothicus (6 in my collection), including 4 ex Dattari.

Kölner Münzkabinett (Auction Archive), starting with Auktion 1 (1968) to present (PDF downloads of catalogs & results). The first dozen or so lists may have only a handful of ancient coins illustrated, sometimes a full plate or two. Weights only for Gold & Greek AR, generally, without weights for AE or Roman (at least through auction 67), or much in the way of prior provenance. Usually includes Celtic, Greek, RRC, RIC, RPC (incl. AE illustrated), and Byzantine. At least two sales w/ major sections of Alexandrian.

Kolner Auktion 49 [PDF] = 30-31 October 1989 = ~930 Ancient coin lots, incl. ~275 Alexandrian, many-to-most-illustrated;

Kolner Auktion 67 [PDF] = 12-13 November 1997 = >679 Ancient (+ some bis marked “a,” prob. over 700), many-to-most ill., incl. >183 Lots of Alexandrian Coins (Lot 491 – 673) – “Spezialsamml. Alexandriner” – incl. many Ex-Dattari, Steger, Niggeler Collections; Greek (~75), RRC (>150), RIC (>250), RPC (~200), only 6 Byzantine], no weights for Roman or AE;

Malloy (Alex G. Malloy) Catalogs are usually modest on Alexandrian. About 21 auctions available on Archive.org, linked; the later sales usually include a notable Alexandrian selection, often 20-30 Alexandrian per, but I’ve only included the more significant sales below. It is worth checking the others, too. XIV, below, is reproduced in the 1990 edit. of Col. Curtis’ Tetradrachms.

Malloy Auction V: “Ides of March” = 15 March 1975 = 43 Alexandrian coins (32 lots) illustrated on 2.5 Pl. (Zodiac on Pl. 16), notable for “type collection of TWELVE ZODIAC BRONZE DRACHMS COMPLETE. Each Zodiac Sign is represented on these Antoninus Pius AE Drachms….” (several each ex Mabbott & Junglfleisch, the latter’s unillustrated by Sotheby’s!), the full sale being 378 Lots on 16 Pl. plus 3 Pl. enlargements, only Roman (RRC [601-659, AR, couple AE], RIC [660-920, AR AE], RPC [921-974, AE, few AR-BI], Roman Egypt [921-951 & 978 = 12 Ant. Pius Zodiac AE Drachms]);

Malloy MBS XIV = 2 July 1979 (And at NNP WU) = John Aiello Collection of Roman Egyptian coins (Alexandria) [in fact, Duplicates of, per CNG 39 & Kroh, p. 55], incl. many with prior provenances to Dattari, Slocum, Col. J. Curtis collections; also: Roman & medieval coins, antiquities; sale reproduced in the expanded ed. of Col. Curtis (1990) Tetradrachms of Roman Egypt; several later in Beniak &/or Emmett collections, incl. Lot 386 (now my coll.) [“Ex: Dattari Coll.,” 41 coins (all illustrated), extensive additional notes in my documents, “Plate-Checks Alexandria” AND “ACDCN” on each lot and Dattari-Savio concordance, contact for further detail];

Malloy XVI = 7 July 1980 = Greek AE & AE, RPC (168-287; Egypt Alexandria 168-201), RRC (288-292 AE, 293-325 AR), RIC (326-554), Byz mostly AE (556-596), Judaean, plus E. Greek, Medieval, Islamic Figural AE (almost fully illustrated, 21 Pl. ancient);

Malter (Joel Malter, Malter Galleries, NFA) Catalogs are often rich in Alexandrian. Unfortunately few are presently available online, save for many or most of his Journal of Numismatic Fine Arts issues (fixed price lists w/ articles), c. 1971-1977. (Numismatic Fine Arts was started by Edward Gans, the purchased by Malter, later by McNall. Eventually the remaining assets were acq. by Victor England/CNG.)

Malter JNFA 1 (5) = July-Aug 1971 = 92 Alexandrian [65 illustrated], including “Ascalon Hoard” of 19 small AE, no weights or further provenances, among >200 ancient (mostly ill. on >6 Pl.), mostly Roman, RIC, Judaean, + medieval & Islamic, + antiquities;

Münzhandlung Basel Katalog Nr. 6 (Heidelberg, other copies avail.) = 18 March 1936 = “Monnaies alexandrines, collection spéciale de feu M. le Docteur H. St. à S.; monnaies romaines et byzantines d’or et d’argent, collection S.” [Steger & Waldeck] = 2168 lots & 29 Pl. [total, Alexandrian only part], one of the most important sales ever of Roman Egypt, Alexandria (1371 lots, partly illustrated, pl. 1-9, 10), remarkably w/ diameters to 0.1mm (a level of precision dwarfed by measurement error!) for every coin in the group lots but not weights, which could actually be used for prov. research (illustrating the difficulties some dealers had in transitioning to the new scientific standard set by Hirsch’s “méthodes de description…de la vente Pozzi”; RRC (a. f. ill., pl. 10-12, 13, AR, a few AV, EID MAR); RIC (a. f. ill., pl. 13-27, AR, AV); Byz & Migration Period (pl. 27-29, AV mostly); Lot 725 (not ill., Antoninus Drachm) = CJJ Coll. [Clain-Stefanelli 4542 & 4545 (!); Kroh p. 55 (3 stars); Spring 442; see Poinsignon Lib. (III) 4207 for commentary];

Robert J. Myers (1934-2012) Auction Catalogs on Archive: #1 – 9, 11 – 13 available (#10 absent). Many coins modestly priced, and more bronze than many contemporary auctions, seemingly all fully illustrated. Clearly the product of careful and scholarly mind. Quality improves w/ auctions 6 & (especially) 7 (Rosen Collection), adding .01g weights, richer descriptions, more commentary and provenances (though always few, they’re usually to important collections and sales, including British Museum, Pozzi, Ars Classica, Lockett, etc.).

Myers – Adams Auction #1 = 18-19 Nov 1971 = Greek (345 lots, budget Euainetos Dekadrachm), ~ 90 from Roman Egypt / Alexandrian, RPC, RRC (~30 lots AE AR AV, Antony-Cleopatra Tetradrachm), RIC, Byz, Liter. [663 Ancient Coins TOTAL, fully illustrated, almost no weights, a number of important provenances (some Weber only indicated as “This coin” or “this piece”)];

Myers-Adams Auction #7 = 19-20 April 1974 = Jonathan P. Rosen Coll. of Roman = 32 Plates, Republican, Provincial and Imperial, ordered chronologically (not by mint for RPC): RRC & Imperat [1-217, Antony-Cleopatra Tetradrachm & denarius], RIC & RPC [218-519, mixed, incl. at least 45 Roman Egypt, Alexandrian scattered among others, chronologically]);

NFA Fall 1990 MBS [NFA XXIV] = 18 October 1990 = Lawrence M Cutler, H. St. George Tucker, and The Alexander Struthers and Thomas Ward Collection; > 230 Alexandrian Lots in section, “The Coinage of Roman Alexandria” by David Sear [3 pp. (not numbered, but 243-5 in .pdf), reproduced on Covili-CRE, corr. (date)], a wonderful coll. 2335-2566, incl. Nomes; Sear, having cataloged this sale, used many of the coins (incl. all three of mine) to illustrate his 5-vol. Roman Coins and Their Values; CJJ Collection = Lots #2443 (Severus Alexander Alexandrian Tetradrachm), #2475 (Gordian III Alexandrian Tetradrachm) & #2198 (Philip I Ludi Saeculares RIC Antoninianus);

NFA Fall 1991 Mail Bid Sale [NFA XXVII] = 222 Alexandrian Coins, last 23 Nomes, fully illustrated on 11 plates (Lots 2335-2556); described by Coins of Roman Egypt (Michael J. Covili, c. 2001-6) as “One of the finest sales of Alexandrian coins, with introduction and catalogue by David Sear”; descriptions (HTML) and plates of the Alexandrian reproduced on the “Coins of Roman Egypt” site (w/ CNG permission, which acquired literary assets of NFA), not as convenient as a pdf catalog; it doesn’t seem to be on archive.org, but this will do. Aside from Dattari collection, I see no prior provenances given (I haven’t seen the original catalog, though). Importantly (especially being before the 1999/2007 Dattari-Savio Plates), five coins are listed as ex-Dattari Collection coins (but only 2 entirely correctly, 1 or 2 others with the wrong no., a fifth undetermined). I double-checked the five listings: Lot 2431 = D-S 4044; Lot 2364 = probably D-S 6710 (incorrectly as D 435); Lot 2440 = D-S 4204 (incorrectly as D 4205); Lot 2491 not illustrated in D-S, though it could still be ex-Dattari (also cited as D 4044 [see lot 2431], incorrectly); Lot 2495 = D-S 5099. NFA F91 is an interesting case study in provenance research: The coins were clearly described to NFA (to Sear?) as ex-Dattari, most of whose illustrations (and even collection size) were still unknown, hence NFA / Sear presumed the Dattari (1901) numbers applied; interestingly, most provenances can now be confirmed or falsified; it is likely more can now be identified among the remaining lots using the D-S (1999/2007) publication that was unavailable at the time.

“The American Schulman” (Jacques Schulman being the Dutch one) On Archive.org 26-4-1951: Hans M.F. Schulman (Firm) & Hans M.F. Schulman). [The archive.org files are certainly not complete for Schulman, since I’ve found several absent when looking just by chance.] Various firms in which Schulman was the owner or a partner. Worth glancing over all plates since oftentimes the ancients are separated into multiple locations either by consignor, metal, or geography. Occasionally sold coins in combined sales with Abner Kreisberg whose MBS catalogs, “Numismatic Gallery Monthly,” and FPLs (c. 1940s-1950s) sometimes included ancients (well-described for the period, despite Kreisberg’s primarily US focus) but to my knowledge didn’t have plates or illustrations of ancients (many can be found on Archive.org).

Schulman 17 June 1958 = George Lee (p. III) & Col. James Curtis Collection [Archive.org, w/ PRL] = Only 1 Pl. Ancient (~16 Alexandrian ill.), but provenanced to publications, Session 1, “Tetradrachms of Roman Egypt,” w/ one-page intro & one-page list of BMC nos. corresponding to lot nos., 634 lots / ~2,138 coins (mostly groups, 2-4 coins), no prior provenances or weights, cataloged by min. desc. & Curtis no. (confusing, had his book been published by ‘58?), Lot 402 is Curtis 1265 (Gordian III/Helios L-Z, rare var of D 4731 type, later CNA XVIII, 443); the primary sale of the Curtis Collection Tetradrachms; my collection = Lots 518 (part, 4th of 4) = Curtis 1579 & Lot 618 (“unique”) = Curtis 2080;

Schulman 20 June 1961 = Atomic Collection, James Curtis, et al. = only >4 Pl. Ancient (mostly Greek & RIC), NO ALEXANDRIAN ILLUSTRATED, but important for provenance research; includes important AE Drachms of the Col. James W. Curtis Collection, lots 1051-1110 (at least, and possibly others (?) (perhaps diff. 1965 Atomic Coll sale?), none illustrated or with Curtis numbers, but mostly attributable to his publications (incl. Labors of Hercules and Zodiac Types published in his articles), coins reportedly “to be published in his forthcoming book ‘BRONZE COINAGE OF ROMAN EGYPT’ by Col. Curtis” [Adams 33 (p. 177 & 335, “B” for Ancient, “Strong Egyptian”)];

Schulman 21 March 1962 [joint w/ Kreisberg] = “Golden Sale of the Century,” James Curtis, et al. = only 1.67 Pl. Ancient (>40 gold coins), NO ALEXANDRIAN ILLUSTRATED, but important for provenance research; Lots 1816-1914 (some multiples & bis nos.) are Col. James Curtis Collection, many attributable to his publications, otherwise Greek (9 coins ill.), Kushan (2 ill.), RRC (1 ill.), RIC (~19 ill.), Byz (~9 ill.) [Adams 34a (p. 177 & 335, “B” for Ancient)];

Schulman 6-11 June 1969 = The Thomas Ollive Mabbott Collection. Part One : Coins of the Greek world [Archive.org (Newman Numis. / ANS), PRL in back] = 3,860 lots, many ill. on >80 Plates. ~525 Lots of Alexandria & Nomes (3273-3797, many ill. on ~9 Pl). Two pages bio essays, no weights, some old provenances, coins mostly better than the photos, mainly Roman Provincial AE (many Medallion & large AE), scattered Greek AR. Some early Greek AV/EL (lots 1-16 ill. on p. 10) Gold (Lots 1-46, the first 36 ancient, incl. Greek AV-EL, RIC AV, Byz AV; followed by early Medieval AV); [Hard copy in Jackson-Jacobs Library ex-John Aiello Library, w/ address on text cover, crossed out, and plate with Phil Peck’s name & phone number on cover, acq. from Bryce Brown.]


ADDITIONAL COLLECTIONS & SALES:
Additional Online Sources for Provenance Research on Alexandrian Coins

The James Curtis Collection, six (6) important references illustrating his coins (but see notes for important exceptions for 1969 & 1990 reprints), which were sold on the private market, for provenance research (4 avail. online, two in hard copy only [both in CJJ lib.]). Where available, links for each of them are given, along with my annotations below:

  1. “The Coinage of Roman Egypt: A Survey,” by Col. J. Curtis (1956 reprint of article series in The Numismatist, HTML version online at coinsofromanegypt.org, see notes below);
  2. Tetradrachms of Roman Egypt (1969) [Hard copy only]; note that some of the coins illustrated in the 1969 Argonaut edition are NOT Curtis coins, as it “used photos from the Dattari and the Aiello Collections instead of Curtis coins,” according to Dennis Kroh (Empire 7, Lot 153-note); comparing to other sources, however, I believe at least some are indeed the Curtis coins; and
  3. Tetradrachms of Roman Egypt (expanded 1990 edition) [Hard copy only]; note that SOME but NOT ALL of the coins shown in the Appendix/Supplements were from the Curtis Collection:
    • Supplement A: Incorrectly described as mid-1980s Empire Coins FPL, actually Olympus Coins (Bart Lewis, Lincoln, NE) FPL #5 (Winter 1982/3) 440 Lots (all single, many/most identified as Curtis by no.), 218 illustrated (many one-sided), “Alexandrian, almost all from the H. Schulman sale of 17-VI-1958 [i.e., Curtis]” (Fitzwilliam Library) [my collection = No. 424, ill. on p. 198 = Curtis 2080];
    • Supplement B: Empire Coins MBS 30 May 1984 (unnumbered, but Auction 1), 139 Lots (all single, some identified as Curtis by no.), fully illustrated (at least in the 1990 Supp.);
    • Supplement C: Wetterstom Coll., Parts of CNA III, IV, V, VI (1990-1), which incl. a few scattered Curtis coins [for complete sales: CNA III (29 April 1988), Lots 222-240 Alexandrian; CNA IV (September 21, 1988), Lots 253-357, Alexandrian, Wetterstrom Coll. (see above); CNA V (December 1988), Lots 175-211 Alexandrian, Wetterstrom (see above); CNA VI (March 1, 1989), Lots 274-349 Alexandrian, Thurlow]; the 1990 Supplement did not include the curiously titled (since they came after the sales above) Wetterstrom Coll, Part I, CNA XII (26 Sep 1990) or Part II, CNA XIII (4 Dec 1990);
    • Supplement D: Alex Malloy MBS XIV (2 July 1979), the John Aiello Collection [duplicates of], 790 Lots (all singles), fully illustrated (!), incl. some ex-Curtis & many other notable provenances [my collection = No. 386, ill. on p. 307]; and
    • Supplement E: Malter Auction II (23 Feb 1978), “The Coinage of Ancient Egypt,” about 70 of which are Roman Egypt, fully illustrated, no provenances given (I recall reading that this was Malter’s personal coll., but don’t have a source);
  4. A pair of Hans Schulman sales:
    • H. Schulman, 17 Jun 1958 [part of, George Lee Sale], “Tetradrachms of Roman Egypt,” 634 Lots (mostly groups w/ collection numbers, corresponding to Col. J. Curtis’ 1956/7 catalog), but only 16 illustrated (apparently the source of the Kroh/Empire & Lewis/Olympus coins?) [CJJ Coll. = Lots 518 (part, coin 4 of 4), Curtis 1579 & 618 (“unique”), Curtis 2080, neither ill.];
    • H. Schulman, 20 June 1961 [part of], “Atomic Collection,” Session Three: “A ‘Museum Display’ Selection of Bronze Drachmas of Roman Egypt from the Collection of Col. James W. Curtis,” 60 Lots (1051-1110), all single high-end AE Drachms (Zodiac, Labors, etc.), but none illustrated (nor weights given), p. 50 through p. 55, which announces that the “data from the above coins has been gathered, to be published in the forthcoming book “BRONZE COINAGE OF ROMAN EGYPT” by Col. Curtis,” never published to my knowledge;
    • it is quite fortunate that Dennis Kroh and Bart Lewis acquired a considerable portion of these coins (I’m not 100% certain if either bought directly at the sale) & sold them individually at Empire and Olympus in the 1980s, since otherwise most of the coins from James Curtis Collection would have never been illustrated.

Curtis’ (1969) The Tetradrachms of Roman Egypt, illustrates 202 Tetradrachms (one sided); the 1990 expanded edition includes 156 tetradrachms (of the original 202) illustrated in the text (not as good as the 1969 plates), plus additional coins from the Curtis Collection and others from several important sales, c. 1978-1991 (Empire, Malloy, CNA, Malter); not all of the 1990 coins illustrated are ex-Curtis; both editions are available in hard copy only (copies of both in my library);

  • The Coinage of Roman Egypt: A Survey – Col. James Curtis – online (HTML) version of the 1956 reprint of Col. James Curtis’ series of articles on Roman Egypt from The Numismaist (the 1957/1990 [note: the illustrations differ slightly from the 1969 edition] Tetradrachms book was a reprint from Numismatic Scrapbook articles), incl. links to 44 digitized Plates (.jpg or HTML), about 6-7 one-sided B&W coin photos per (perhaps 270-275 or so, total?), including Labors of Hercules and Zodiac series, a bit clumsy to use by 2022 standards but important and valuable; only a portion of the Col. James Curtis Collection is illustrated here, but different coins and more total coins than in his 1969 book; the URLs for the plates take the form http://www.coinsofromanegypt.org/html/library/curtis/plates/plate_I.htm, through plate_LXIV.html, or just the images, http://www.coinsofromanegypt.org/images/library/curtis/plate_I.jpg, through plate_LXIV.jpg.
    Perhaps some 1956 coins overlap with the 1957/1969/1990 book on Alexandrian Tetradrachms (I haven’t tried to count how many), but the groups are not identical, and the 1956 includes many examples from the bronze denominations.

Keith Emmett Collection [Archived] (author of the important reference, Alexandrian Coinage) – catalogued by Zach “Beast” Beasley – c. 550 coins, mainly Roman Egypt, Alexandria, plus many RIC and other RPC. A few scarabs at the end. Many coins with further provenances, including at least 17 ex-Col. James Curtis Collection. CJJ Coll. = two coins, ex Aiello (Malloy XIV, 386) & ex Curtis 2080 (coin & holder illustrated on Emmett-Beasley).

Giovanni Dattari’s (1901) Nummi. Augg. Alexandrini (Vol 2, Plates). 37 Plates, most with ~25-45 coins (casts) photographed, mostly one-sided (perhaps a thousand or more of Dattar’s coins). But, unlike the Savio catalogs, at least they’re photos not rubbings! (I have one: Dattari 1703, Hadrian Drachm ill. on Pl. II.)

  • Dattari-Savio = Savio, Alessandro. 2007. Numi Augg. Alexandrini: Catalogo Della Collezione Dattari. Trieste: Giulio Bernardi. [Hard copy only; copy #49 of 250 in CJJ Library.]
    Note: expanded 2nd edition of the ironically titled Savio, Alessandro. 1999. Catalogo completo della collezione Dattari: Numi Augg. Alexandrini. Trieste: Bernardi. [Hard copy only; absent / CJJ lib.]
    For provenance research, I rely on the 2007 Savio-Dattari volume (unfortunately not online), but it consists entirely of pencil rubbings (!) of plaster casts. (Very interesting if you’ve never seen it before.) On the plus side, the 2007 ed. illustrates over 13,000 coins. (About 700 more than the 1999 vol.) I found lost provenances for at least 3 Dattari coins in my coll. using this vol. (S12-138, 7999, 12335).
  • Figari-Mosconi = Giuseppe Figari & Massimo Mosconi. 2017. Duemila monete della collezione Dattari. Genoa: Circolo numismatico ligure “Corrado Astengo”. [Hard copy only; absent from CJJ Library. (But looking!)]
    Provenance & photographs for 2,000 Dattari coins, drawn from Fixed Price Lists & Auction Catalogs (incl. much of the 1970s dispersal by Ars et Nummus & others).
    Many Figari-Mosconi listings are cited in RPC Online w/ FPL/Auction sources. Nowhere else can one find so may photographs of Dattari’s coins in one place. Though a valuable source for provenance research on Roman Egypt, it received a surprisingly poor initial reception among Italian collectors (per discussions on lamoneta.it). Nonetheless, I have yet to find a used copy for sale (or even any records of its sale, beyond the initial distribution by the Circolo Numismatico Ligure “Corrado Astengo”).
    An example of the “plate coins” being much easier to find that book that illustrates them! (The only two confirmed in my coll. are Figari-Mosconi 312 [Dattari 1703] & 424 [DS 7999].)
  • Naville Numismatics: Beginning in 2016 with Auction 26, they’ve sold thousands of coins from a massive of consignment of the Dattari Collection. Naville sales are not indexed on ACSearch (interesting, since their partner firm NAC’s are), but can be searched in other ways. Unfortunately, since moving to biddr, it’s not as easily (as far as I can tell) to precisely search their archive (but all sales and lots do appear to be listed on biddr now). (Namely, I haven’t figured out how to search for a specific phrase, such as “Dattari Collection.”) Their lots (including unsold) can be searched on the sixbid archive (advanced search: Naville): currently (7 Jul 2022), I find 4,961 results for “Dattari Collection” but that includes any lot with both words in the description, so some of them aren’t ex-Dattari but, say, ex-Clain-Stefanelli Collection coins referenced to Dattari, and similar.

For Dattari, see also: Harmer-Rooke Sale, 27 May 1971 [on Archive.org], unfortunately few lots plated (2 Pl. Alexandrian, another pl. Ancient, plus others), MANY large group lots with very thin descriptions, early major sale of Dattari coll.;


OTHER SOURCES (beyond ACSearch, Sixbid Archive, CoinArchives Pro):

RPC Online = one of the most efficient, highest-payoff sources for everyday provenance research for Roman Provincial coins. Currently 8,860 Types cataloged for Egypt, Alexandria. The RPC print editions usually only cite examples from a few major private collections (e.g., Dattari, Wetterstrom, Garrett, Lockett, Niggeler, et al.; for non-Alexandrian, Lindgren, von Aulock, et al.), but the online database relies heavily on users to contribute specimens, including many from private collections and recent auctions. Many times, perusing current auctions, I’ve found important lost provenances by starting with RPC.

Forum Ancient Coins “Old Collection Coins” + from previous sales: [ancient coins of all types] Incl. mult. John Aiello, BCD (et al., especially BCD Corinth and BCD Peloponnesos), Henry H Armstrong (c. 1909/10), Col. Curtis [Alexandria], and Levante, Dattari [Alexandria], Judd (pre or post theft?!); scattered other important old collections (Sydenham, Prowe, Knobloch, Mabbott, Vlasto, Boyd, de la Tour, Garrett/Hopkins, Tinchant, Ratto, ADM, Sunrise, Gans, Muona [most listed elsewhere], Hunt, Houghton, Benz, Stoecklin, Vermeule, and various museums and hoards); and many from John Quincy Adams/MHS (*see below), Alex Malloy and AJ Seltman and some Slocum (Crusader), William Turner (1792 – 1867) and Marcel Jungfleisch (1879 – 1958) collections (mostly LRBC); among many others.


PRE-2000 ALEXANDRIAN CATALOGS IN JACKSON-JACOBS LIBRARY:

Alexandrian sale only (see also the “collectible” ancient coin sale catalogs page and the full library of sale catalogs page).

Notes: (1) The table below simply summarizes a couple dozen or so important Alexandrian catalogs in my collection, not the most important that exist; there are plenty of more important annotated and/or linked above; (2) the vast majority of them also include non-Alexandrian coins, but I’ve only noted Alexandrian content here; (3) I’ve included bibliographic references where possible; multiple citations is a good indicator others consider it important.

Aiello PLF V [Morris]Nov 1972The Charles G. Morris Collection of Ancient Greek Bronze Coins.
290 Alexandrian, 91 of them illustrated (some 1-sided). (Of 1006 Lots, 18 Pl. Total.) (I haven’t checked but wonder if any reappear in Malloy XIV?)
Little known catalog but surprisingly strong in Alexandrian, RPC, and Greek AE.		Not referenced elsewhere.

Copy ex BCD Lib Duplicates.
Bank Leu & MM [Niggeler II]21 Oct 196686 Lots (694-778) f. ill.Clain-Stefanelli 1981*; Kroh p. 56 (3 Stars); Spring 413; ALED; CRE; WWE.

Copy ex ANS Library.
Lot 659 (not Alex.) = CJJ Coll.
Blancon FPL 31Wint 1999/0From W.W. Esty’s excellent & always helpful annotations:
“Blancon, Gilles
fixed price list #31, 1999-2000 (8 1/4″ by 11 1/2″):  Coins of Alexandria, Roman Egypt at fixed prices. 1380 lots. Most, but not all photographed. Very brief descriptions. 744 tetradrachms photographed on 31 large page plates, 24 small denomination on 1 ppl, 57 diobols and 10 hemidrachms on 3 ppl, and 108 drachms photographed on 10 page plates, with 1 ppl of enlargements.
    Roman Egypt, Alexandria  (943 photographed)“		ALED; Brousseau; WWE.
CNA IV & CNA V
[Curtis Reprint]		1988, 1989Kerry Wetterstrom & Bradley K. Thurlow. Lot 175 – 211 & Lots 274 – 349. See below for separate annotations & references for each sale.Reprint, “Supplement C,” Curtis 1990.
CNA XII [Wetterstrom I]26 Sep 1990307 Lots Alexandrian
At least 10 Drachms from this sale are listed as stolen in 2014 on Marc Breitsprecher’s website [archived 2019-23]		ALED; CRE; Gengerke, p. 116; Kroh, p. 56; WWE.

Lot 53 & 213 = CJJ Coll.
CNA XIII [Wetterstrom II]4 Dec 1990First 66 pages Alex.ALED; CRE; Gengerke, p. 116; Kroh, p. 56; WWE.
CNA XIV20 Mar 1991117 Lot Alex.CRE; Gengerke, p. 116; WWE.
CNA XVIII3 Dec 1991~ 119 Alex., many notable provenancesGengerke, p. 116; WWE.
Dupriez 97n.d. 19091027 Alexandrian Potin Tetradrachms, ~50 ill. (one-sided) on 2 Pl.
“Perhaps the largest listing of its kind in this specialized area, with two fine plates depicting examples of this debased third-century coinage,” K&F 155 (2020), 34 (not this copy).		Fitzwilliam; BCD 2018, 2592.
Empire 1
[Curtis Reprint]		30 May 1984[Col James Curtis Collection — all?] 139 Lots Alexandrian, f. ill.
No weights; a few further provenances.		ALED; CRE; Kroh p. 55; WWE Coll. (not annotated); reprint, “Supplement B,” Curtis 1990.
Empire 614 Nov 1986The 1986 N.I.C.E. Sale of Ancient Coins. 48 Alexandrian (of 517 Ancient, 116 RPC). At least 9 Dattari AE Drachms; only one Col. James Curtis “plate coin” identified, but probably mostly Curtis Coll.Gengerke, p. 195; Kroh p. 55.
Empire 7 [Dickie]2 May 1987…featuring the Gordon J. Dickie Collection. Greater New York Numismatic Convention. 131 single lots of Roman Egypt fully ill. (plus Ptolemaic & Byzantine Alexandria). 795 total lots ancient.CRE; Gengerke, p. 195; Kroh p. 55.

Lot 208 = CJJ Coll.
Empire 8 [Curtis]17 Dec 1987The Winter 1987 Sale…Large Collection of Roman Egypt [Col. James Curtis]. Separate plates. vol. (849 total ancient.)
[Reprinted in Col. J. Curtis 1990, expanded ed.?]
Very important sale of Alexandrian, incl. 545 single lots, many from the Curtis Coll., almost fully illustrated.		CRE; Gengerke, p. 195; Kroh p. 55.

Lot 665 & 667 (incl. Kroh’s tag & original cutout photos used in the plates) = CJJ Coll.
Harmer-Rooke [Dattari]27 May 19712 Pl. Alex., many large groups, important sale but thinly cataloged.Gengerke, p. 254.

Lot 645 (part, unill.) = CJJ Coll.
Malloy XIV
[Curtis Reprint]		2 Jul 1979John Aiello Collection [Duplicates] of Roman Egyptian Coins.
Further annotations below & detailed notes on file (available on req.).		Reprint, “Supplement D,” Curtis 1990.

Lot 386 = CJJ Coll.
Malloy XXXIII19 Jun 1992Featuring: The Local Coinages of the Roman Empire.
Final 48 Lots Alexandrian (651-698), f. ill., of 715 Provincial (698 + ~17bis); large-format, B&W photos.		WWE RPC; CRE; BCD Lib. Dupl., Jacquier 50, 1069 (this copy).

This copy ex BCD Lib.
Lots 278 & 376 (neither Alex.) = CJJ Coll.
Joel Malter JNFA 1-5Jul-Aug 1971Journal of Numismatic Fine Arts, Vol. 1, No. 5.
Includes 92 Alexandrian [65 illustrated], including “Ascalon Hoard” of 19 small AE, among >200 ancient, mostly Roman, RIC, Judaean, + medieval & Islamic, + antiquities.		This copy ex FAC BC23387 (part), prob. ex Malloy Lib., 1559 (part)
Joel Malter 1*9 Nov 1973Auction 1: Held in Conjunction with the Society for International Numismatics Convention, November 9-11, 1973 [Los Angeles].
60 Lots (255-314) Alexandrian (of 725 total), f. ill., well-cataloged w/ weights (0.01g), legends transcribed, refs. to Dattari, no prior provs. given.
* Catalog enumeration switched between Arabic & Latin numerals at least twice (don’t know why).		BCD 2022 (PFJ 50), 1070; Gengerke p. 393.

Hardcover copy ex ANS Lib., inscr. to A.J. Seltman, day after auction.
Malter II*23 Feb 1978The Coinage of Ancient Egypt. [Malter Collection?] Mostly Ptolemaic (307) but 69 lots from Roman Egypt, Alexandria. Incl. >12 coins ex Dattari (from his much rarer Ptolemaic Collection, not Alexandrian!) Spring 430; Kroh p. 56; Gengerke p. 393; WWE; ALED; CRE; reprint, “Supplement E,” Curtis 1990.
Malter XXVIII [V. Ruzicka]8 Dec 1984I count about 67 ill. Alex., many nice, pedigreed, spread across the saleGengerke, p. 393; WWE.
Copy ex AWK Lib.

Lot 460 = CJJ Coll.
Münzhandlung Basel Auction 618 Mar 19361,371 Alexandrian, many ill. on >9 Pl.Clain-Stefanelli 4542, 4545; Kroh p. 55 (3 stars); Spring 442; Poinsignon III 4207.

Copy ex Hermann Lanz Lib.
Lot 725 (not ill.) = CJJ Coll.
Münz Zentrum 5212 Nov 19841,292 Alexandrian, many/most ill.ALED; CRE; Kroh, p. 55 (4.5 Stars); WWE.
NFA XXIV [Fall 1990 MBS]18 Oct 1990> 230 Alex. (2335-2566, incl. Nomes), w/ 3-pp. introduction by David Sear (cataloger), “The Coinage of Roman Alexandria,” reproduced on Covili’s CRE (corr., date of sale). [Full catalog online: Archive.]
There is no indication of a collector/consignor for the Alex. section (~10 ex Tucker), but at least some were from old collections, incl. Dattari (Lots 2364, 2429, 2431, 2440, 2495), Jungfleish (2338, 2379), Milne (2360), or Luxor Hoard, 1908 (2354). For the Dattari’s, there was certainly additional sale history not cataloged, so presumably there is more to find for some others.

[My fuller annotations (rest of sale) on “Catalog Library” page]

From W.W. Esty’s excellent annotations:
“24  (10/90)  Vertical format. “Fall mail-bid sale 1990″ MV. MQP. 2656 ancients. 1051 G, 1441 R, 7 DA, 82 Byz. 100 ppl(!) plus 5 ppl of enlargements. Huge 1” thick. An excellent resource.
    Roman Egypt (232), Republican (372), brockages (47)“		Gengerke, p. 470; WWE; CRE.

Lots 2443 (Sev. Alex. Tet.), 2475 (Gordian III Tet.) & 2198 (not Alex.) = CJJ Coll.
Olympus FPL 5 [Curtis Reprint]Wint 1982/3440 Alexandrian Coins from the Col. James Curtis Coll., ~ half illustrated (221, but many 1-sided), mainly ex-Schulman 17 June 1958 (annotated below)CRE; Fitzwilliam Catalogs, O-R; Kroh p. 53 (Curtis 1990); reprint, “Supplement E,” Curtis 1990.
H.F. Schulman [Atomic, Curtis]20 June 1961[Not the main Curtis sale.] About 90 Alexandrian total (NONE ILLUSTRATED, but useful for prov. res.), incl: “Museum Display” of 60 AE Drachms ex-Col. Curtis (Lot 1051-1110), “Special Group of Roman Imperial Tetradrachms of Egypt” (1302-1321), RIC of Egypt (1322-1334), and Lots 1257-8. Most well-enough described, but no weights.Gengerke, p. 546; Adams 33 (p. 177 & 335, “B” for Ancient, “Strong Egyptian”).
H.F. Schulman [Mabbott I]6 June 1969The Thomas Ollive Mabbott Collection. Part One. Coins of the Greek World. ~525 Alexandrian (of 3860 total), Lots 3273-3797, many ill. on ~9 Pl. Cataloged by Hans Holzer.Clain-Stefanelli 1739; CRE; Gengerke, p. 546; Spring 712; WWE; Adams 64 (p. 180, 337, “A-” for Ancient).

Copy ex J. Aiello Lib.
Lot 2045 (not Alex.) = CJJ Coll.
Sotheby’s [Jungfleish II]9 Mar 1972[Marcel Clément Léon Jungfleish (1879-1858) Collection of Alexandrian; followed by “Ancient, English, and Foreign Coins” from Various Properties.]
294 Alex. (mostly groups), 4 Pl.
A sale whose quality of coins is matched only by the frustration induced by its group lots; complete sets (13 Drachms each) of Zodiac (Lot 113) and Labors of Hercules (Lot 115) were placed in group lots (as was a partial set of “only” 11 Zodiac [114])!
Surely one of the greatest 20th cent. private collections of Alexandrian, thousands of specimens, regrettably reduced to 4 Plates (haphazardly at that).
A sharp contrast to the scholarly cataloging-for-posterity style pioneered by Hirsch. Evidence of a time with less regard for Alexandrian, and when auctioneers targeted dealers not collectors, expecting them to examine coins in person, using the catalog only as a rough guide.		ALED; Clain-Stefanelli 4543; CRE; Spring 836.


ABSENT FROM JJ LIBRARY (EXCEPT AS REPRINTS):

Print catalogs, not available online (please tell me if you find a source):

Empire Coins (Dennis J. Kroh), Auctions 1-3, 5. The most desirable is Auction #1 (30 May 1984). [ALED (part); CRE (part); Kroh p. 55; WWE Coll. (not annotated).] [NOTE: I have the reprint of Auction 1, as “Supplement B” in Col. J. Curtis, Tetradrachms of Roman Egypt, 1990 (expanded Durst ed.)]

Malloy, Alex G, Auction Sale XXIII (30 Oct 1987), Local Coinages of the Roman Empire. 31pp, 16 pl. >500 coins ill. [WWE RPC]

Olympus Coins (Lincoln, NE), FPL #5 (Winter 1982/3). 440 Alexandrian Coins from the Col. James Curtis Collection, ~ half illustrated (221, but many 1-sided). Almost all ex-Schulman 17 June 1958 (see below), making this FPL important, as the Schulman Alexandrian were not illustrated. [CRE; Fitzwilliam Catalogs, O-R; Kroh p. 53 (Curtis Reprint).] [NOTE: I have the reprint, as “Supplement A” [corr.] in Col. J. Curtis, Tetradrachms of Roman Egypt, 1990 (expanded Durst ed.). Correction: Mistakenly labeled as an Empire Coins FPL.]


Note (Full list of ALL annotated catalogs): [Return to top]

As noted above, the list of auctions here is drawn from my “full list” of annotated auction catalogs available online (i.e., not just Alexandrian but catalogs of ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine). I’m not sure how many total sales I’ve annotated, but my goal is to post the full list (it’s clearly over 1,000 linked & annotated catalogs so far, maybe a couple thousand?). The present (18 Jul 22) document is 90-100 pp. of dense, single-spaced, 10-11 pt. font text, but barely edited.

Format and quantity and quality of detail have varied over time and according to how interesting I found each catalog, sometimes for idiosyncratic reasons, such as whether I found coins from my collection inside (many are just summary counts of coins and/or photographic plates; others give detail on types, metal, lot numbers, provenances represented, any important highlights of the sale, which other collectors bought the coins and where they ended up).

I may not yet have removed all details about non-Alexandrian coins, or provenance notes re: my own coins, etc. (I’ll be editing/cleaning up those entries over time.) Please interpret notes with that in mind.


BIBLIOGRAPHY:

For sale catalogs generally (not limited to Alexandrian), I recommend the resources listed/linked in my Bibliography of (Bibliographies of) Sale Catalogs.



Change Log. (Return to top.)
Created: 7 Jul 2022.
Updated: 17 Jul 2022 (added one catalog & several links & biblio refs); 2 Sep 2022 (added HJB 65, 66, 67, 68, 70 [despite some repetition, apparently over 800 Alexandrian across 5 sales], moved Berk & Gemini sales before CNG & V. England sales, moved additional information on the full list to the “Note…”); 12 Jan 2023 (added refs. to Schulman sales from Adams 1990); 23 Feb 2023 (Dupriez 97); 27 Aug 2023 (Malloy, Empire); 29 Aug 2023 (rearranged the sections, added Aiello-Morris, etc.); 17 Sep 2023 (+ Kolner 67); 25 Oct 2023 (+ Malter JNFA 1.5); 20 Dec 2023 (corrs./adds. re: Col. J. Curtis Coll., some coin/catalog provenances); thru 28 Mar 2024 (a few more cats. linked, w/ >50 Alexandria, few new coins linked).