His most recent sale was held under the auspices of Fraysse & Associés (19/15% buyer’s premium) on March 30. It covered all periods from classical Greece to modern French mintings.
Word has for long got around that the finest Greek coins cost a very great deal of money. Many of the larger and rarer examples certainly do, but smaller pieces have great value as works of art rather than as objects of dry numismatic attention. So, illustrated here is a particularly attractive example of the relatively easy to find silver drachm of Agrigentum (Sicily), struck c.550-470BC. Its rendering of a crab is positively Japanese in taste. It was estimated at €600 and made €800 (£560).
Equally jewel-like is the, again quite commonplace, silver drachm of Ambracia (fourth century BC). Just €200 was suggested. It made €250 (£175).
The gold coins of Charles VI of France (1380-1422) are now quite common, even if difficult to find in “arty” condition. I say now quite common because before the Second World War they were rare – observe the sale catalogues of the day. Come the 1944 Allied landings, however, when it became necessary to set Normandy ablaze, coins which had been hoarded for centuries came tumbling out of the thatch. This example, which is as nice as one can reasonably expect to find, was estimated at €300. It fetched €330 (£230), which is slightly in excess of the going rate, particularly considering the buyer’s premium.
While on the subject of the 100 Years War, one of the most imposing coins is the gold lion heaume, called thus on account of the Flanders lion with its head in a splendid helmet of the period. It was issued by Louis de Maele of Flanders (1346-84), whose wealth assisted the long hostilities of the same war. This example was estimated at €1200. It deserved to make more and it did: €1750 (£1225).
How the Allied landings affected the market
THE Paris expert Alain Weill makes a habit of holding sales which are rather more interesting than those of many of his colleagues. For sure they have a strong Gallic slant, but then sales in London are strongly biased towards the British series.
