Day 1 (Professional Preview) of NYINC 2017

EVillageProwler

Busy day for me. Getting in from NJ was troubling because of sudden problem on the 5 train, then the 4 train, leaving only the 6 train from downtown to Grand Central. Was crowded as heck, and my backpack was very heavy. Just a miserable subway ride. Anyway, I finally got to the Waldorf-Astoria around 12:30, and in I went. My first stop was to Andy Lustig's table to drop off much of my stuff. Then I went to see my favorite Italian dealer, who was away from his table for an important and prolonged meeting. (He's usually my first stop.) Next, I went to CNG to talk to my guy there as well as to pay for my auction winning.

Now what to do? I eventually ran into Zohar, and then 2K, and we go to BluCC to drop off some coins for imaging. (I gave him the core of my Anglo-Saxon material for their beauty shots; I plan to make nice glossies from them and put them in a binder so my wife can view them often - yeah right!)

In making my rounds, I was able to sell a coin at a nice price, as well as consign two more coins to said dealer. Hopefully I'll get some good news in near future.

I make my way back to CNG and discovered a portrait Edmund penny with great metal, great luster and nice toning. Too bad the portrait was nearly non-existent. Pass. But, I did notice some nice sceattas in their tray, and proceeded to buy one listed off their site as well as two that walked in during the show.

They are:

ANGLO-SAXON, Primary Sceattas. Circa 715-720. AR Sceatt (12mm, 1.02 g, 12h). Series Z, type 66. Mint in East Anglia or Mercia. Facing head of Christ with curled mustache and forked beard; pellets around / Hound running right with tail between legs; two pellets below head. Abramson 102.40 (same obv. die as illustration); cf. SCBI 63 (BM), 166-7; cf. Metcalf 14-1; North 145; SCBC 782. VF, die flaw on obverse, reverse off center, toned. Rare.

Ex Spink Numismatic Circular CXII.1 (February 2004), no. HS1486.

[This coin is nicer in hand than the image would suggest; the coin is an even grey color, not beset with hot and cold areas as the image suggests.]

ANGLO-SAXON, Continental Sceattas. Circa 720/25-800/20. AR Sceatt (1.13 g, 12h). Series X, type 31. Ribe mint. 'Wodan’ head facing; short cross pommée to left and right / Fantastic creature flying left, head right, with tail coiled leftward. Abramson 103.10; SCBI 63 (BM), 449; North 116; SCBC 797. Near EF, toned. Good metal for issue.

[This picture was taken with my iPhone 6 in my hotel room.]

ANGLO-SAXON, Secondary Sceattas. Circa 720-745. AR Sceat (1.13 g). Series H, type 48. Hamwic (Southampton) mint. Whorl of three wolves' heads / Celtic cross and rosettes. Abramson 47.10; SCBI 63 (BM), 741-2; North 102; SCBC 801B. Near EF, darkly toned. Good metal.

[There are three types of Series H: 39, 49 and 48. Type 48 is the scarcest of the three.]

[This picture was also taken with my iPhone in my hotel room.]

My auction winning:

ANGLO-SAXON, Secondary Sceattas. Circa 720-745. AR Sceatt (11.5mm, 0.96 g, 9h). Series K, type 32a. Mint in east Kent. Diademed and draped bust right, knot behind head, holding cross / Wolf-headed, coiled serpent left, cross on tail. Abramson 39.10; SCBI 63 (BM), 496; North 89; SCBC 803D. EF, richly toned, small mark on reverse.

From the Kallman Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Group Inventory 876307 (July 2010); Jonathan K. Kern Collection.

I eventually found my Italian dealer, embraced like friends do after long time (1 year) not seeing each other, and went to business where I looked at his amazing stuff and ultimately settled on this very rare piece:

ITALY, Gazoldo. Annibale degli Ippoliti, 1662-1663. AR Mezzo Tallero (12.9 g). Dated 1663. Bust of marquis facing left / Phoenix facing right, rising from flames and flying toward radiating sun with cherubic face. EF, and very attractive and extremely rare.

Ex Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co. KG, Auction 217 9-11 October 2012, lot 2597.

[This coin is VERY rare, rated RRR by some but research shows only one other, low grade, example after an exhaustive web search. My Italian dealer told me that there are only 3 or 4 specimens known. This was not struck for circulation, and believed to have been struck in the early 18th Century and back-dated to curry political favor.]

At 5pm, Zohar, 2K and I gathered at Andy Lustig's table where we enjoyed some wine, cheese and crackers. Dinner followed (just the the three of us) at a nearby Irish pub.

I wonder what is in store for me tomorrow. Going to look at books. And coins. And trying to avoid unhealthy temptations. And, hopefully, catching up with Nap.

EVP

harasha

I was going to refer to Nap, but I see you know him. I have had the privilege of personally viewing some of his outstanding items.
I saw the notices about the subway outages. Happily, I take the 1 and the Shuttle, from the LIRR.
That Italian dealer; is he the one with the yummy chocolate covered dates? That was my lunch, yesterday!

I will be in today and hope to see y'all.

EVillageProwler

@harasha said:
I was going to refer to Nap, but I see you know him. I have had the privilege of personally viewing some of his outstanding items.
I saw the notices about the subway outages. Happily, I take the 1 and the Shuttle, from the LIRR.
That Italian dealer; is he the one with the yummy chocolate covered dates? That was my lunch, yesterday!

I will be in today and hope to see y'all.

I thought I saw you yesterday, but wasn't sure. You (the possible you) looked right at me, then looked past me. No sign of recognition. So I decided that it likely was someone who resembled you a bit.

Yes, chocolate guy was the one. Table S21.

As for Nap, he's my consigliere on the Anglo-Saxon stuff as well as the overall hammered GB series. He's also a nice guy, so that's a double bonus.

Yorkshireman

It seems that my taste is evolving to favor the "darkside".
Maybe I can make it to the show next year.

bronzemat

Wow those are some great coins, especially the Saxons. I also like the Mezzo Tallero, a type I have never seen.

harasha

EVP, I have a very poor sense of recognition, especially when I see a person only once a year. It does not help with all the distraction. So sorry, but in truth, I was wondering where you were. Did get to chat with Nap, however. Him I have been seeing about once a month.

Jackthecat1

Very impressive purchases.

JCMhouston

Very nice EVP!

EVillageProwler

Thanks, guys, for the comments. Thanks also to @OriginalDan for stitching together the separate obv+rev images of two of the coins into combined obv+rev images.

@harasha - no worries. I am in the same situation as you: once a year to see someone, and dealing with lots of simultaneous distractions.

@Yorkshireman - dark side is great; we have a ton of variety, and on a quality and rarity basis much less costly (usually!) than USA material.

@bronzemat - heck, that 1/2 Tallero is a lot better in hand than odious greyscale-ish image from Kunker. It's easily one of my favorite pieces.

EVP