Coins seized at CNG auction
EagleEye
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The following was posted here
this morning (4-JAN-2012), just hours before the auction (Triton XV, lots 1001-2000), the New York district attorney entered the CNG showroom and seized two coins of the Cabinet W collection. No reasons whatsoever were given by the attorney, they just took the coins.
Both coins are masterpieces from Sicily: Lot 1008, a Dekadrachm (Akragas) with a start price of $2.5 million and Lot 1009, a Tetradrachm (Katane) with a start price of $ 300,000.
This is quite a thing and we as collectors should follow the news about what is going on there.
Pre-auction story
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Here's the CNG listing for the Sicily Dekadrachm:
http://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/classical-numismatic-group-inc/catalogue-id-2850729/lot-12761397
Here's what it looks like:
The eagle kind of looks like the one on some early US coins.
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maybe these were not declared at customs coming into the US?
does the 10,000 $ value apply to these? They are not monetary instruments but very valued?
Have no idea.
Why would Homeland Sec be there? Maybe there are other reasons?
will be interesting...
Individuals identifying themselves as law enforcement officials on Jan. 3 seized two ancient Greek coins of Sicily at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan one day before they were due to be offered at auction and detained their owner and seller, Dr. Arnold-Peter Weiss.
The coins included one of 12 known silver decadrachms of Akragas, which has a reported provenance dating to the 1960s, according to the auction catalog from Nomos AG and Classical Numismatic Group, the auction houses that were planning to offer 19 coins in a collection dubbed "Selections from Cabinet W." That coin, Lot 1008 in the sale, had an opening bid of $2.5 million.
The other coin that was confiscated, a silver tetradrachm from Katane, was cataloged as Lot 1009 and had an opening bid of $300,000. According to the auction firms, that coin was purchased privately in 2010.
The auction was scheduled in conjunction with the New York International Numismatic Convention.
Just a guess, but I betcha it has something to do with the whole import restriction on Ancient coins... now they're confiscating them.
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<< <i>Just a guess, but I betcha it has something to do with the whole import restriction on Ancient coins... now they're confiscating them. >>
My guess, as well. Would be nice to know for sure.
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like getting tough etc....
H
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A “dreadful example” was offered by CNG in a 1998 Triton auction. A piece in better condition was part of the famous Nelson Bunker Hunt Collection sold in 1990. The Hunt example realized what was then a record price for a Greek coin, $572,000, and the Hunt example “is no match for the quality of the present piece,” according to CNG.
Of the 12 examples known, six are in museums. The other six include the offered piece, the Hunt and Triton coins, two other examples privately held in the United States, and one “apparently in Switzerland,” according to CNG.
The example that was confiscated has been in unnamed collections in the United States and Switzerland after being part of an English collection in London in the 1960s.
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<< <i>With all due respect, I can't believe that the owner has been detained and two such RRR and extremely valuable coins end up being confiscated one day before the auction, just because of the restrictions on import of Ancients. Shady provenance at the very least would be my guess, but we might never end up knowing the whole story behind this ongoing investigation. >>
Dimitri, in case you missed it, we now live in Amerika where even your cupcakes are barred from an airplane.
This Rebecca looks like a terrorist to me, eh?
Stop! it hurts! LOL!
Isn't the Dekadrachm considered more of a medal than a coin?
This particular case is so murky, is there any chance the arresting officers were crooks?
More like "compliments of the Patriot Act"
Seriously, it is very important to get the real information on why these were impounded. If the pedgree is good back to the 1960's, how far back do you have to look for a past theft or illegal importation. Are current export retrictions put in place by Greece ex-post-facto?
To the last question: not to my knowledge. There have been recent arrests of smugglers with freshly looted items but it does not apply to previous years and offenses, the way I understand it. I don't know how "good" the pedigree is that far back as you say. All the article says is The example that was confiscated has been in unnamed collections in the United States and Switzerland after being part of an English collection in London in the 1960s, and that still looks to me as a case of shady provenance at least,for a coin of 12 known examples, 6 of which in museums, with this being probably the one in the best condition of the remaining six in private collections.
Make no mistake, these coins are not going to be repatriated ,unless it is proven that they were stolen from some public institution. I haven't heard anything about a claim from Greece, Italy or any other nearby country, although even if such a claim had taken place, it's not impossible that the local media kept quiet about it. In any case, a decadrachm is the worst possible lot for a consignor who would have preferred to go unnoticed, let alone one that was about to break all existing Ancient coins records and with such hype long before the auction took place.
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The other coin's provenance as listed may also be correct or not. Coins do have a habit of disappearing into collections and not resurfacing for maybe a century or more. There have been several collections of British material that have only come to light in the last 10 years having been hidden away for more than a century. Baldwin's sales of the Boyd and Neville-Rolfe collections immediately spring to mind, their respective owners having died in 1906 and 1852. The Plymouth sale of gold patterns were sold by a descendant of Evan Roberts who bought most of them at the Murdoch sale in 1903. One lot of the latter was illustrated in Murdoch, but the others were only identifiable because the name of the buyer at the Murdoch sale was recorded. The Archbishop Sharp collection was only identified in the 1960s, yet he died in 1745. The Bridgewater House collection was last added to in the early 1700s, but was only sold in 1972. Unless there is evidence that the provenance is not as described, we should assume it is correct. Only the first coin was mentioned as stolen. Can we therefore assume that the authorities were satisfied the other coins in the collection were acquired legitimately? Some have a lengthy provenance, but some were only recorded as purchased recently. I don't see a reason for the second coin's seizure.
If a coin has been off the market for more than 100 years it is extremely unlikely that there will be an illustration of the coin in a catalogue as these were only introduced on a regular basis in the 1890s and then only selectively for the very best examples. I can think of a couple coins that were illustrated at the beginning of the last century and which I would actively seek, but can't find in any catalogue during the past 100 years. They are out there somewhere.
Interesting turn of events and one to keep an eye on. I wonder why the district attorney waited so late to seize the coins? was these action as a direct response to a country's request? and how will this bode for other sales of ancient coins in the US? some of the more obvious questions that will be answered in due course.
just to take this twist a little further:
Is it just maybe possible that all this was orchestrated to gain promotion?
Perhaps the whole thing will teher out slowly and the coins will be in another upcoming auction....????
just thinking in writing...
h
I don't think so. If you read the article, one of them was only recently dug up in Italy, one or two years ago. That one is headed back to Italy for certain. Not sure about the decadrachm's fate yet.
I wonder why the district attorney waited so late to seize the coins?
Because it took them a long time to place the rat into protective custody?
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It appears the owner knew two of the coins had been dug up recently and admitted it to an undercover informant.
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Edited to add that, apart from this incident, the Prospero collection realized $25 million with the gold stater from Pontikapaion selling for $3250000
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<< <i>someone at goldman sachs probably wanted it. >>
This is the same mentality, though in a different fashion.
Entitlement minded folk exist at all levels of society.
Some wealthy people believe the law doesn't apply to them and that they deserve what they want.