The Alfred Franklin Collection of Ancient Coins has been assembled carefully over the course of many years, with a constant and unerring eye for quality and historical interest, with a focus and enthusiasm for artistry and portraiture.
It has been an enormous pleasure for Baldwin’s to be able to help develop this collection of Ancient Greek and Roman coins, and we are now delighted to be able to offer this extraordinary collection for public sale at our May auctions in London.
An Attractive Cestius & Norbanus Aureus
L Cestius & C Norbanus (43 BC), Gold Aureus, 7.95g
Well-struck and of good style. About extremely fine, a rare variety.
Estimate: £8,000-10,000
The collection encompasses the Greek and Roman periods with a meticulous appreciation, with particular devotion given to Roman imperial gold Aurei; a very comprehensive run of Roman Republican and Imperial silver coinage; and a select group of beautiful and artistic Greek silver coins.
Many of the items have provenances to major London dealers and international auctions, some with pedigrees reaching back for many decades.
An Attractive Lebedos Tetradrachm
Ionia, Lebedos (2nd Century AD), Silver Tetradrachm, Stephanophoric type, Magistrate Athenaios, 16.75g
Good metal and of arresting style, extremely fine.
Estimate: £2,500-3,000
Alfred Franklin is a retired Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, and has been familiar to the London numismatic scene for a number of years as an active and enthusiastic collector who will always aim for the best quality available. His visits to view stock or forthcoming auctions are invariably a delight, always accompanied by lively conversation encompassing a broad range of subjects.
“My interest in numismatics was stimulated when, as a small boy living in a poor neighbourhood in post-war austerity London, I was given a present of a tobacco tin containing a number of aluminium coins from various European countries. As the decades passed I was able to indulge my fascination with the history, artistic representation, design, political delusion, civic pride and national identity embodied in examples of coinage and they formed a happy diversion from my day job.
“I ultimately progressed to collecting ancient coins for their beauty, a better understanding of the period and the locations in which they were produced, and most importantly for what they have to teach about the foundations of Western Civilisation.
“It is my hope that these coins will bring as much interest, inspiration and pleasure to their future collectors as they have to myself.”
Hadrian (AD 117-138), Gold Aureus, struck AD 125-128, 7.33g
Good portrait, extremely fine.
Estimate: £8,000-10,000
Sicily, Segesta (c. 420-410 BC), Silver Didrachm, 8.68g.
Well-centred and of particularly attractive style, irridescent cabinet tone, good very fine and very rare.
Estimate: £2,000-2,500
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