MDC MONACO AUCTION 8

MDC Monnaies de Collections sarl introduces its next major numismatic auction by expert Nicolas Gimbert in Monaco. Our experts have carefully selected 1446 rare coins and medals gathered in a beautifully illustrated 488 pages auction catalogue. Auction will take place over two days, live with Biddr Switzerland and on all reference numismatic platforms. A sumptuous series of ancient Roman medallions of Magnentius, Maximian Herculius, Maxentius, also the return in Europe of an extraordinary quality and extremely rare English coin minted during the brief reign of Edward VIII, namely a 5-pound PROOF 1937 graded NGC PF 67 ULTRA CAMEO (lot 1050). Amongst others: a fine series of 30 rare Vatican coins; an ancient collection of XVIIth and XVIIIth century thalers in exceptional quality and often Fleur de coin.

   

lot 135.
ROMAN EMPIRE Maximian Herculius (AD 286-305). 2 1/2 Aurei medallion, undated (294-305), Rome.

Obv. IMP C MA VAL MAXIMIANVS P AVG. Bust wearing the Nemean lion-skin facing right.

Rv. HERCVLI CONS - ERVATORI AVGG. Hercules seated on a rock, Nemean lion-skin on his lap, holding a club to his right with his left hand, bow and quiver to his left.

2 1/2 Aurei medallions are known under the tetrarchy; our unpublished and unlisted coin is in this series. The bust with Nemean lion-skin, inspired by the coinage of Commodus, clearly demonstrates the link between Maximian Herculius on the obverse and Hercules on the reverse. There are other examples.

   

lot 136.
ROMAN EMPIRE Maxentius (306-312). 4 Aurei medallion (quaternio), commemorating the Temple of Venus and Rome restoration undated (c.308). Rome.

Obv. IMP C M VAL MAXENTIVS P F AVG. Bearded head left.

Rv. CONSERVA - TO - R VRBIS SVAE / PR. Helmeted Rome seated left with a shield adorned with the she- wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, holding a spear and a victoriola on a globe holding-out a crown.

   

lot 138. ROMAN EMPIRE Constantine I (307-337). 1 1/4 Solidus medaillon (festaureus) 335, Fifth workshop, Thessaloniki.

Av. CONSTANTI - NVS MAX AVG. Diademed head right.
Rv. VOTIS XXX in a wreath; in exergue (workshop).

Calicó 5200 - RIC.207 - Gnecchi 66 - Bastien, Donativa, 81g; Gold - 5.44 g - 25 mm - 12 h.

This gold medallion weighs 11/4 Solidus and corresponds to an Aureus according to the weight standard of the Diocletian reform. In Constantinian times, these multiples were issued for festive occasions by the Imperial Court, hence their Germanic name of festaureus. Our coin commemorates the 30th anniversary of the reign of Constantine I, which the emperor celebrated in July 335 with grand celebrations in Constantinopolis the new capital he named after himself.

   

lot 140. ROMAN EMPIRE Magnentius (350-353). 3 Solidi medallion, commemorating the liberation of the city of Aquileia, undated (c.351), Aquileia.

Obv. D N MAGNEN - TIVS P F AVG. Draped and cuirassed three-quarters bust right.

Rv. LIBERATOR REI PVBLICAE / SMAQ. Emperor in military attire on horseback. Right hand holding a scroll. Left hand holding a cornucopia.

The coin features the bust of Magnentius, depicted bare headed without attributes on the obverse, on the reverse as liberator of the state from the tyranny of Constantine I’s son. This commemorative depicts his entry into Aquileia at the end of year 350 or beginning of 351. Magnentius, Flavius Magnus Magnentius, was born circa 303 to parents with barbarian ancestry. He was rapidly promoted in the Roman army and became commander of Constans personal guard in 340. In 350, he led a successful revolt supported by his soldier, wearing the Emperor's purple mantle. Constans and Nepotianus were executed in Rome. Decentius was appointed Caesar to fight the Germans on the Rhine. In 351, Constantius II, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, avenged these actions but was defeated and Magnentius seized Siscia. In September 351 at the deadly battle of Mursa, Magnentius fled to Lyon where he committed suicide in 353.

   

lot 242.
ARGENTINA Argentine Confederation (1831-1861). 8 Escudos 1832/1, RA, Rioja.

Obv. * PROVINCIAS DEL RIO DE LA PLATA. Radiant sun with face.

Rv. IN UNION Y LIBERTAD. RA. P. 8S. Coat-of-arms within wreath above crossed flags and cannon; drum below; below (date).

Date amended 1832 to 1831, unpublished variety. Normal wear on the high reliefs with original luster. Mint state.

 

lot 299. BELGIUM Leopold I (1831-1865). gold Specimen 100 Francs, Duke and Duchess of Brabant wedding, PROOF 1853, Brussels.

Obv. LEOPOLD PREMIER ROI DES BELGES. Bare head left, signature L. WIENER.

Rv. L. L. PH. M. V. DUC DE BRABANT M. H. A. DUCHESSE DE BRABANT / 21-22 AOUT 1853. Conjoined busts right, LEOP. WIENER signature.

Considered a gold 100 Francs specimen. The striking of a 37 mm specimen corresponds to a 5 francs coin.

   

lot 353. CHINA Republic of China (1912-1949). Xu Shichang dollar, plain edge, with attribution to Dr J. A. BUSSIÈRE, Year 10 (1921). Unique, of the greatest historical interest!

Av. Xu Shichang (Hsu Shih-Chang) Three-quarters bust.
Rv. Chinese characters text. Beijing Hospital pavilion entrance view.

Unique, with attribution on the reverse, to Doctor Jean Augustin Bussière (1872-1958), French military doctor. After his baccalaureate, Jean Augustin Bussière joined the Brest École de Médecine de la Marine in 1890, then the Bordeaux Ecole de Médecine de la Marine et des Colonies. He goes to Cherbourg in 1895 and soon after to Senegal where plague, cholera and other tropical diseases were rife. He then works in French India, Karical, Mahé and Pondicherry, where he manages the Medicine School and meets his wife, she is daughter of Lyon traders. In 1902 he reinforced the vaccination team at the Institut Pasteur in Saigon (Tonkin, Northern Vietnam) before being appointed in Persia. He then travels back to France and becomes deputy to the Director of the Colonial Health Service.

Admirer of Yersin's medical discoveries he chooses to go to Tianjin in China, 41 years old, he is then unaware he will be in China for the next 41 years. He becomes the medical advisor of the Chinese presidency and shares with Dr. Watt Wing the last days of Yuan Shikai in 1916. He then is doctor to presidents Li Yuanhong (1916-1917), Feng Guozhang (1917-1918), Xu Shichang (1918-1922) or Cao Kun (1923-1924). He becomes a major figure of the French presence in China and is appointed Alliance Française director and French Red Cross Beijing committee chairman. On his country estate northwest of Beijing, he grows a garden and looks after the needy in the countryside using the wealthier city citizens’ funds. During WWII, defying danger he helped the Chinese fight against the Japanese invaders and becomes a hero for China and is so described by President Xi-Jinping during his visit in France in 2014. In 1954, back in France, he returned to his native village by the Sioule river and passes away the age of 86.

   

lot 425. FRANCE Henri II (1547-1559). Gold Gallia demi-Henri d ´or, undated (1552), Paris.

Obv. HENRICVS. II. DEI. G. FRAN. REX. Laureate armored bust right.

Rv. OPTIMO PRINCIPI. Helmeted Gaul seated on the trophy of arms left holding a tiny Victory in her right hand, Victory holding out a crown; in exergue under the floor line: GALLIA.

   

lot 452. FRANCE Louis XIII (1610-1643). Gold Huit Louis d'or ‘tête laurée’ 1640, A, Paris.

Obv. LVD. XIII. D. G. FR. ET. NAV. REX. King’s laureate head left, below (date).

Rv. CHRISTVS. REGNAT. VINCIT. ET. IMPERAT. Crowned cruciform opposed Ls; lis in quarters. Milled edge.

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