Baltimore World Coin Auction Offers Excitement

Stack’s Bowers Galleries is pleased to announce details of their November 5-10 Official Auction in conjunction with the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Winter Expo at the Baltimore Convention Center. Nearly 1,800 lots of rare world coins and banknotes will be offered in this exciting event!

The sale will commence with Session A, which includes the live World coin portion of the sale on Thursday morning beginning at 10:00 AM sharp. Session B, the live portion offering Ancient coins, will begin the following day at 10:00 AM and will be immediately followed by Session C, featuring the live sale of World paper money. Wrapping up the sale will be Internet only sessions that begin at 10:00 AM on Monday, and which will offer some terrific material with very attractive opening bids.

Within the very first minute of the sale, one of the finest known 1926 Albanian 5 Franga Ari coins will be hammered. Pedigreed to the highly esteemed John J. Pittman Collection and graded MS-66 by NGC, this is perhaps the most beautiful example extant. Glorious pastel target toning will make this coin irresistible to collectors of both Albanian coins and coinage designed by Giuseppe Romagnoli. And it is just one of over a dozen Albanian lots to be sold, a quantity that includes multiple gold 100 Franga Ari coins and rare PROVA issues.

As is typical of Stack’s Bowers Galleries sales, there will be concentrations of highly desirable coinage in multiple areas. Gold Spanish Colonial coinage will be well represented, with 8 Escudos pieces from Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru all attracting bids. Other notable gold coins include a rare 1869-R Guatemala 16 Peso coin graded by NGC as MS-61, an almost impossible coin to locate especially in high grade, as well as a massive 1688 Great Britain 5 Guinea struck for James II. Additionally, there is an enormous offering of French gold coinage, beginning with coins from the early 18th century and from nearly every decade of the 19th century. Individual gold coins worthy of mention include a Scottish gold Rider (1475-83) struck for James III in VF-30 and without impairment, as well as a 1742-MF Mexico 4 Escudos, graded MS-61 by NGC and the only example ever seen at the grading services.

SCOTLAND. Rider, ND (ca. 1475-83). James III (1460-88). NGC VF-30. Click images to enlarge.

If Napoleonic era coinage is your specialty, you will be amazed by an 1813-W French Napoleon 20 Franc piece in MS-65, an 1800 Cisalpine Republic Scudo of 6 Lire in MS-64PL and an 1801 Piedmont Republic 5 Francs in MS-63. Lot 39146 comprises a massive group containing 34 Napoleonic medals covering nearly the entire span of his reign!

ITALY. Cisalpine Republic. Scudo di Lire Sei (Scudo of 6 Lire), Year VIII (1800). NGC MS-64 PL. Click images to enlarge.

As the market leader in Mexican coinage, it is no surprise that the Stack’s Bowers November Baltimore sale features over 370 coins from every period and geographic region of the country, including many rarities and finest known specimens. Heavy representations include Carlos & Johanna, Empire of Iturbide and Mexican Independence issues, as well as an impressive selection from the reign of Maximilian that includes several finest known minors.

MEXICO. 4 Escudos, 1742-MF. Philip V (1700-46). NGC MS-61. Click images to enlarge.

Other noteworthy sections include three different gilt Romanian 100 Lei patterns along with smaller denominated Romanian pattern and piedfort coins from early in the 20th century. Additionally, there will be the largest and most extensive selection of Japanese occupied Filipino medals ever offered in one sale. Nearly every medal listed in Basso is represented, as are several unlisted types of the highest rarity. If you collect this type of Filipino material the sale is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The selection of ancient coinage offers a marvelous array of choice specimens including an Athens Tetradrachm in Mint State. Graded by NGC and assigned 5/5 attribution for both strike and surface, it could easily be the centerpiece of any advanced collection of this coinage. Also notable are several group lots of Baktrian coinage each containing 25 AE Triple Units depicting elephants, an opportunity to acquire a small hoard in a single bid!

Among highly desirable banknotes, consider a large size 1942 French Guiana 1000 Franc Specimen grading PMG 66 EPQ, a beautiful 1941 Panama 1 Balboa note graded About Uncirculated-55 by PMG, and a highly desirable 1916 Norway 1000 Kroner graded Very Fine-25 by PMG. These are but a few of the exceptional banknotes you will want to peruse prior to the sale.

Lot viewing begins the week of October 14th through the 21st at the Stack’s Bowers new Santa Ana office on the West Coast, and continues at the firm’s New York office from October 27th through the 31st before concluding the week of the show in Baltimore.

And of course no announcement would be complete without a reminder that when you are ready to sell, Stack’s Bowers Galleries is your source for auction, offering professional handling of your collection and a proven track record of success. Consignments are currently being accepting for the January 2016 NYINC sale as well as the April 2016 Hong Kong, China sale. Contact a consignment specialist at 949-253-0916 or via email at info@StacksBowers.com.

This is a guest article. The thoughts and opinions in the piece are those of their author and are not necessarily the thoughts of the Certified Collectibles Group.