The Milavic Collection of Ancient Games Coins, etc.

Welcome to Nomos Auction 32! And what an auction this sale is; it is divided into two quite distinct parts, and has fascinating goes that will interest a wide audience. We begin with, Part 1, the extraordinary collection of ancient ‘Games Coins’ amassed by Anthony F. Milavic, a distinguished retired Major of the United States Marine Corps (lots 1-332 - a special edition of Auction 32, containing only these coins, has been produced, albeit in limited numbers). The coins illustrate the importance of athletic games to the ancient Greeks and Romans, and the great prestige the games brought to their participants - above all, the victors - and to the cities that organised and held them. Anthony began his career as a sergeant in 1953, rising to the rank of major by the time of his retirement in 1978 - he continued on as a valued part of the DIA until his ultimate retirement in 2002 (a short autobiography of AFM will appear as part of the online version of this catalogue). What is important to emphasise here, aside from his dedication and thoroughness, is his relationship to coins, which began because of his interest in sports and athletic events. In the early 1970s, he became aware of the coins and medals of the modern Olympics, leading him to acquire the first Olympic coins designed for general circulation as money since ancient times, the Finnish 500 Markkaa pieces of 1951 and 1952 (they appear, below, as lot 321). Subsequently, he acquired his first ancient Olympic coin in Chicago in 1976; and then, somewhat later, he came into contact with BCD who proved very helpful, especially by using the services of an impecunious student to serve as his correspondent. This led him not only to the acquisition of more-and-more coins, but also to the writing of a number of popular, but invariably accurate, thought-provoking and scholarly valuable, articles on sport on ancient coins. Finally the time has come to put these coins on the market again. And so we have done something very unusual, indeed: we have produced a catalogue that does not have coins in numismatic order. Rather, they have been ordered by subject, and then geographically. Ideally, this will make this catalogue a very special reference on its own. All will be explained in the special introduction to the Milavic Collection. Finally, if I may make a personal observation, especially relevant in the present time, that Maj. Milavic’s enthusiasm and diligence in learning about his coins, and the history behind them, proves, as we should already know, that truly dedicated military personnel are not just one-sided ‘warriors’, but are highly intelligent, intellectually curious and multi-sided. The second section of this catalogue, Part 2, begins with lot 333 - a really nice silver coin of the Aedui (estimated at 750 CHF) and ends, 318 lots later, with lot 652, a very rare silver coin of king Smpad of Armenia (oddly enough, also estimated at 750 CHF). After two other attractive Celtic pieces and an early issue of Massalia, we come to the coins of Magna Graecia, Sicily and Carthage (lots 337-369). Not too many, but they include quite a few spectacular pieces: the Syracusan tetradrachm with the facing head of Athena by Eukleidas (lot 363, est. 150,000 CHF.) and, also estimated at CHF 150,000. (lot 365), a wonderful dekadrachm signed by Kimon and once in the Cabinet des Médailles of the Bibliothèque Nationale. The next section, lots 370-432 ranges from Pantikapaion to the Cyclades. One of the more amazing pieces is lot 381 (est. 30,000 CHF), an unpublished tetradrachm of Ainos with a truly wonderful obverse. Another great coin is the magnificent BCD stater of Thebes with Dionysos (lot 412, est. 50,000 CHF). Lots 433-524 range from Asia Minor through Kyrene (including more coins from the Battos Collection (we first had coins from this well-known collection in Nomos 9 , back in 2014). There is a wonderful tetradrachm of Mithradates III of Pontos (lot 434, est. 75,000 CHF), fascinating early electrum, like the stater dating back to the dawn of coinage and struck at an uncertain mint in Ionia (lot 447, est. 60,000 CHF), the Adams, Brand and Pozzi gold stater of Antiochos II (lot 485, est. 22,500 CHF), and, finally, a remarkable and unpublished gold drachm of Kyrene from the Battos Collection (lot 524, est. 15,000 CHF). Roman coins begin with lot 525, a denarius of Q. Sicnius (est. 300 CHF) and continue on to a fascinating contorniate, struck in Rome c. 411-425 and bearing a 5th century style portrait of Caracalla (lot 590, est. 7500 CHF). In between is a little of everything: gold, silver and bronze: there’s an extremely rare aureus of Saloninus Caesar struck in Commagene (lor 582, est. 100,000 CHF), and a fascinating group of early Severan bronze from Peloponnesian mints (lots 542-559, ests. 150-250 CHF). The remainder of the sale, lots 591-652, are East Roman and Byzantine, along with three-outliers: 650 (est. 500) an Umayyad Fals overstruck on a follis of Licinius I (!), 651 (est. 2500 CHF), a billon denier struck by Balian of Ibelin in Jerusalem in 1187, and 652 (est. 750 CHF), a very rare quarter tram of Smpad of Armenia. In other words, as usual, there’s something for everyone here. Enjoy!