A well-provenanced and rare drachm of Zakynthos

[Nikodeimos]

Hello everyone!

Now that there's a bit of a lull in auctions during the summer months, there's no better time to organize the collection and post some coins online. One piece I picked up in Nomos 33 is quite a nice one.

ISLANDS OFF ELIS, Zakynthos. Circa 456-370 BC. Drachm (Silver, 15 mm, 3.72 g, 10 h). Laureate head of Apollo to right, bow and quiver over his left shoulder. Rev. ZA Tripod with three rings and struts; in field to right, head of a rooster to right. BMC 12. HGC 6, 222. SNG Newcastle 360. Very rare. Beautifully toned and with an illustrious pedigree. Struck on a slightly short flan and with a few edge bumps, otherwise, very fine.

From the Jonathan Kagan Collection, Nomos 33, 9 June 2024, 1209, EDIT: that of Richard Cyrill Lockett (1873-1950), Glendining's, 27 May 1959, 1978 (part of) (thanks @Deinomenid!), that of Julius Wertheim, Ars Classica XII, 18-23 October 1926, 1562 (sold for 40 francs to Baldwin's against Ratto), from the stock of Zschiesche & Köder, Leipzig, Helbing 1913, 9 April 1913, 447 and from the collection of Consul Eduard F. Weber (1830-1907), Hirsch XII, 16 November 1908, 1969.

Zakynthos, a prime holiday destination today, had a very long history of settlement, from the Neolithicum through the Mycenean period and beyond. It came to play a role in the struggle between Sparta and Athens in the 5th century BC, as the island possessed tar pits, which were crucial to the Athenian war fleet. The Zakynthians staunchly supported Athens, even its disastrous Sicilian Expedition, but in the end, like their ally, they were bested by the Spartans. In the Hellenistic period, the island came under Antigonid control, before the Romans definitively conquered it in 191 BC. It would later play an important role in Venice's control of the Mediterranean and was heavily fought over between the Republic and the Ottoman Empire.

As for the coin's provenance (I found the Helbing and Ars Classica provenances with CoinCabinet.io), let's start with Julius (or Jules) Wertheim. Granted, the Ars Classica XII catalog contained multiple collections - that of E. Bissen of Copenhagen, a part of that of J. Wertheim of Berlin, a part of that of Arthur Evans (Cretan coins) and Parthian coins from the Petrowicz collection, amongst others. Thankfully, Alan Walker was kind enough to find out for me that the coin indeed came from the collection of Julius Wertheim. I couldn't find much about him on the internet - he was a member of the German Archaeological Society and the Viennese Numismatic Society, a freemason, and he owned a factory in the Greifswalder Strasse in Berlin. His name, however, implies that he was related to the great Jewish Wertheim family (someone correct me if it isn't so), which owned several department stores across Germany before they were seized by the Nazis. The Ars Classica catalog, at any rate, states that his Greek collection was especially strong in Syracusan coins.

Next, Zschiesche & Köder was a numismatic firm founded by Carl Christian Zschiesche (1819–1885) together with Carl Eduard Köder (circa 1820-1880) in Leipzig. They produced a number of fixed price lists before being dissolved in 1910 (though one of their employees, Friedrich Redder, later continued with his own firm), their stock being sold with Helbing in 1911-1913.

Finally, Consul Eduard F. Weber (1830-1907, not to be confused with Sir Hermann Weber!) was a German businessman and politician who collected coins and paintings, especially those of great painters from the Low Countries, Germany and Italy. His father, David Friedrich Weber, had a successful firm specialized in trade with South America, and as a young boy of nine, Eduard joined his parents on a two-year long trip to Italy, where he was no doubt deeply impressed by the country's antiquities. He became a very successful businessman in his own right, founding his own firm in Chile in 1856 and another in his home city of Hamburg in 1862. During the next decades, he held several public offices in the city and was appointed consul for Hawaii, a position he 'inherited' from his father-in-law. After his death in 1907, his collection of paintings was offered to the city of Hamburg for 2.5 million marks, but the sale fell through - a great loss, as they brought the substantially higher sum of 4.4 million marks in an auction a while later. His coin collection, on the other hand, was sold with Hirsch in two auctions in 1908-1909.

It would be interesting to find out where the coin went after Baldwin's bought it in 1926. Something more to research! And if you guys have any coins from the aforementioned collections or from Zakynthos, I'd be delighted if you share them.

 

Edited July 24 by Nikodeimos

[kirispupis]

That's an amazing provenance!

I have (possibly) two coins from Zakynthos. This one is debatable. The attribution comes from an example sold by CNG where 'ZA' is visible, but it's been noted the type is more likely to be from somewhere in Asia Minor based on the style.

Islands off Elis. Uncertain (Zakynthos?)
circa 400-350 BCE
Hemiobol AR 7mm, 0,24g
Corinthian helmet right /
Tall, narrow amphora within wreath.
Apparently unpublished

 

This one is definitely Zakynthos.

Islands off Elis, Zakynthos
2nd- 1st centuries BCE
Ae 13mm 3,09g
Obv: Head of Artemis right.
Rev: Z-A Quiver with strap, all within wreath.
BMC Peloponnesus, pg. 101, nos 80-82; HGC 6, 264

[Deinomenid]

1 hour ago, Nikodeimos said:

It would be interesting to find out where the coin went after Baldwin's bought it in 1926

Lockett. Baldwins acted for him quite often I believe. The fees of auctioneer and Baldwins are attached.

 

[Deinomenid]

From there, Lockett was sold in a series of 1950s sales by Glendenning. Hope that helps.

Lockett has had quite a lot of work done on him recently in one way or another, though/and there's always a good chance that coins that "disappear" in that period would  involve  him as  he had a voracious appetite.

[AncientOne]

That's an extremely nice reverse on that drachm!

Here's a Aurelius from Zacynthus. 

Achaea. Zacynthus, Island off Elis. Marcus Aurelius AE20. Pan with infant Dionysus.

Obverse design laureate head of Marcus Aurelius, r. Obverse inscription ΑΥ ΚΑΙ Μ ΑΥ ΑΝΤΩΝΕΙΝ ΑΥ
Reverse design Pan standing, r., nebris over shoulders, holding bunch of grapes and infant Dionysus
Reverse inscription ΖΑΚΥΝΘΙΩΝ
RPC IV.1, 4626

[Nikodeimos]

10 hours ago, Deinomenid said:

From there, Lockett was sold in a series of 1950s sales by Glendenning. Hope that helps.

Lockett has had quite a lot of work done on him recently in one way or another, though/and there's always a good chance that coins that "disappear" in that period would  involve  him as  he had a voracious appetite.

@Deinomenid Dear me! I checked the Lockett tickets, but rather than checking the silver, I only looked at the bronzes (which of course didn't contain my piece) - thank you very much for saving me from my own haste!

@kirispupis Ah, you have Apollo's sister there! Both Artemis and Apollo were connected to the island, though I haven't been able to find out much more.

@AncientOne That must be rare!

Edited July 24 by Nikodeimos