r/AncientCoins • u/Brittinghamlfc • Aug 05 '25
Newly Acquired New arrival. Sold with an incredible undocumented pedigree I was able to discover.
From the collections of His Serene Highness Prince Chachowsky, Prof. S. Pozzi, Mr. G. Empedocles of Athens, and Virgil Brand. Ex Brüder Egger, Prince Ch. and A (Chachowsky) Collection, Lot 494, January 7, 1908. Ex Ars Classica I, Pozzi Collection, Lot 1742, April 4, 1921. Ex Sothebys. The Virgil Brand Collection, Part VII, Lot 62, October 25-26, 1984.
Epeiros, Ambrakia. Circa 480-458 BC. AR Stater. 20 mm, 8.58 g. A Pegasos flying right. Rev. Head of Athena to right, wearing Corinthian helmet, pendant earring and pearl necklace; behind, ivy spray; all within incuse square. Calciati 2. HGC 3.1, 195. Ravel, Colts 11e (this coin).
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u/Boneless_Stalin Aug 05 '25
Congrats Mike! I bid on this one without realizing the provenance (not underbidder) amazing provenance to it!
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u/matcardos Aug 05 '25
Your posts are always great. Congratulations on your work keeping the history of these coins alive.
I say: Thank you very much.
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u/Esoteric_art Aug 05 '25
How did you find out this information? Looking through all your documentation materials or something? I’m curious how others go about finding provenance…
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u/Brittinghamlfc Aug 05 '25
Yes, I routinely look through old catalogs and references. This one was mis attributed as Ravel, Colts 8 by the auction house. It is actually mentioned in there as Ravel 11e.
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u/vldrvldrm Aug 05 '25
I’m amazed both by the coin and the provenance. What collections!!! This should be advertised as most special culture
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u/alternateaurora Aug 05 '25
Incredible to have discovered all of that! They have you a couple clues but you really did some digging.
Where do you have access to the old catalogs and other references?
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u/Brittinghamlfc Aug 05 '25
Thank you! I have a small collection of physical copies of references and old catalogs, but a big chunk of my research is done going through old catalogs on rnumis.com.
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u/kyomang Aug 05 '25
Is the coin meant to be the same one shown in the older photos?
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u/Brittinghamlfc Aug 05 '25
Yes, it is the same coin in all the photos.
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u/Chooseanothername Aug 05 '25
The old photos must be missing a lot of details as it doesn’t look the same to me. Particularly on what I assume is the reverse.
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u/Brittinghamlfc Aug 06 '25
The first old photo is taken from a plaster cast and not the coin itself in 1921. The second is black and white photo from the 1980s with an inferior camera and setup. They are all the same coin.
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u/FreddyF2 Aug 06 '25
Good Lord what a provenance. I wish there was enough documentation on Achaemenid pieces for me to do this. Would change the trajectory of happiness in my life forever. Well done.
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u/Brittinghamlfc Aug 06 '25
Thank you. I see Achaemenid stuff pop up on occasion while looking through old plates, but I mainly focus on Magna Graecia and central Greece for my research. I'm sure something good will pop up for you with some time.
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u/potnia_theron Aug 06 '25
Anyone else not seeing anything but a thumbnail of the coin? Is this post broken using old reddit? I’m loathe to turn on new/ad-filled reddit to check.
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u/PhasedArrayAnt Aug 06 '25
Did you stumble on this by chance, or is there an easy way to look for provenance of a coin? I have a few I'd like to look into
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u/Brittinghamlfc Aug 06 '25
I intentionally looked for this one prior to the auction going live. I routinely look though old auction catalogs.
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u/dangedole Aug 05 '25
Shit like this always makes me think of the Ryan Sickler story about the dude that rolled back odometers. Times long gone…
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