We’re
excited to host our first live floor auction
since the beginning of the pandemic over a
year and a half ago. While our past three
online-only sales were immensely successful
and record-breaking, we missed visiting with
the many bidders that attend our live floor
auctions. There’s something to be said about
bidding on and seeing these treasures in
person, which is why we’re grateful to be at
this point.
Session I begins with
Gold Cobs, which hosts a number of
choice 1715 Fleet coins including a 1711 J
Mexico cob 8 escudo Royal (lot 16), an
extremely rare 1714 Mexico cob 8 escudos
struck with a Royal obverse die (lot 18),
one of the nicest 1712 Lima 8 escudos we’ve
ever handled (lot 29), and a fascinating
1702 Bogotá cob 2 escudos with the date
rendered as “2071” reading outward (lot 63).
Notable non-wreck gold cobs in this section
include a 1698/7 M Seville 8 escudos plated
in both Calicó and Tauler reference works
(lot 14), plus a rare and unlisted 1751 S
Bogotá cob 8 escudos (lot 58). The latter is
pedigreed to the featured
Fernandina Collection, a curated group
of some very high grade and rare gold cobs,
both wreck and non-wreck, that will no doubt
attract much attention.
The
Shipwreck Ingots section is strongly
influenced by lots from the Atocha (1622)
due to next year’s 400th anniversary of the
sinking. We feature one impressive gold
“finger” bar (lot 67) from the wreck
alongside a total of five large silver
ingots (lots 71-75). Coins from the Atocha
feature prominently in
Shipwreck Coins with some 70+ lots up
for bidding, including a very rare Lima cob
2 reales Philip II assayer X (lot 87). Other
lots of note include coins from the Capitana
(1654) and Maravillas (1656) wrecks
pedigreed to the Mastalir Collection of
Countermarked Potosí cobs, a wide selection
of Dutch portrait and rider ducatoons from
the Akerendam (1725)(lots 288-332), our
first offering of an NGC-graded Mexico cob 8
reales from the pirate ship Whydah
(1717)(lot 280), and an assortment of world
and US gold coins salvaged from the popular
SS Central America (1857)(lots 396-406).
In
Mexico Silver Cobs, we offer several
extremely rare cob 8 reales Royals like a
1613 F (lot 424), a 1706 J (lot 430), and a
1715 J (lot 432) in addition to a desirable
1728/6/5 D pedigreed to the Rooswijk (1739).
Lima Silver Cobs hosts the quite rare
1686 R Lima cob 8 reales Royal (Lot 490) in
addition to several other rare types. Many
more rare Royals can be found in the
Potosí Silver Cobs section including a
very difficult to acquire 1656 E Potosí cob
8 reales Royal (lot 635). Bidders’ hearts
will be beating strongly for lots 741 and
808 - the finest and only graded 1696 VR cob
4 reales and 1734 E cob 1 real Hearts. Two
key collections within this session are the
Barry Stallard Research Collection of
Early Lima, La Plata and Potosí Cobs (see
lot 505 for the immensely rare La Plata
piece) and the
Jorge Ugaz Collection of Potosí Cob 8
and 4 Reales.
On the second day of the auction, the wide
selection found in
World Coins should draw spirited bidding
from all over the
world. Such rarities there include a
fresh-to-the-market Japanese proof 20 sen
dated Meiji year 13 (1880)(lot 1173), two
Segovia-minted rarities - a gold 4
excelentes of Ferdinand-Isabel (lot 1276)
and a massive 50 reales cincuentín dated
1620 (only our second offering of this rare
denomination!) (lot 1315), and the finest
NGC-graded 1745 MF Mexico pillar 8 reales
(lot 1184). Also an special selection of
gold Chilean coins recovered from La Luz
wreck (854-865). The presence of a 1621 A
Cartagena (Colombia) cob 8 reales from the
“Dry Tortugas wreck” (1622) as lot 885 is
especially fitting as this year is the 400th
anniversary of the striking of these first
coins from the mint in Cartagena - an event
we will be celebrating in December while
attending the Cartagena Numismatic Congress.
We are very pleased to offer several
collections within this session: the
exclusive
J.O.B. Collection of Seville Gold Coins
(lots 1251-1275) packed with many finest and
only known graded pieces,
the Tamarindo Collection of Costa Rican
Error Coins and Paper Money, and Part II of
the
Antigua Collection of Guatemalan Cobs.
One further collection to note is the
John Adams Collection of Admiral Vernon
Medals in Medals and Decorations. His
feature article preceding the lots explains
his personal collecting journey how this
top-notch collection came to be.
U.S. Coins and Paper Money hosts some
branch-mint gold coins from Dahlonega (lot
1411) and Charlotte (lot 1415) plus some
popular early American currency like the
1798 Draped Bust silver dollar (lot 1419),
the 1794 Flowing Hair large cent (lot 1434),
and the grade-rarity 1777-dated South
Carolina $20 colonial note (1451).
World Paper Money contains some
desirable type notes such as the Argentina 1
peso remainder of 1827-9 with portraits of
Washington and Bolívar (lot 1456), the rare
Cartagena (Colombia) Estado Soberano de
Bolívar 10 pesos note of 1885 (lot 1459),
and the spectacular Banco Internacional de
Costa Rica 100 colones error note dated to
the year “2931” (lot 1464).
Following an assortment of popular Greek,
Roman, and Byzantine coinage designs in
Ancient Coins, the
Coin Jewelry
section offers a wealth of mounted
Atocha (1622) silver coins (lots 1540-1568)
plus a visually impressive 1714 J Mexico
gold cob 8 escudos in a special 1715 Fleet
pendant setting (lot 1537).
Shipwreck Artifacts
has many interesting salvaged items such
as a pocket sundial from the HMS Winchester
(1695), previously seen in a 1977 issue of
National Geographic magazine (lot 1589), as
well as an ornate gold toothpick from the
1715 Fleet (lot 1590). Finally, some notable
lots in
Non-Wreck Artifacts include an arsenal
of flintlock pistols (lots 1605-1610) plus a
long Spanish miquelet officer’s musket (lot
1604). The following Monday, we end the
auction with an
Express session with 400+ lots of lower
priced coins, currency, and artifacts.
We wish you the best of luck in bidding,
whether online or in person, with special
thanks to all of our consignors!
The Daniel Frank Sedwick, LLC team:
Daniel Sedwick, Agustín (Augi)
García-Barneche, Cori Sedwick Downing,
Connor Falk