Knidos Drachm: Two photos of the same coin 99 years apart

[Danny S. Jones]

This coin has been in my collection for several years now, and it is very well provenanced.  It has been in some famous collections over the years and featured in several auctions. It was sold in 1908 in an auction by Jacob Hirsch from the Consul Eduard Friedrich Weber Collection. Weber is pictured below. It isn't often that you can find one of your coins in a catalog this old, so I was excited to find this photo. The resolution isn't the greatest, but you can see the coin today compared to the auction catalog photo from November 16, 1908.

Hope you enjoy!
Regards,
Danny

Drachm of Knidos, Caria
330-250 BC
OBV: Head of Aphrodite, right, wearing stephane, earring and necklace: border of dots.
REV: AYTOKΡΑΤΗΣ, Forepart of Lion, right. KNI mintmark below.
BMI Caria, Cnidus 40, p. 90; SNG Keckman 174-5. BMC 40.
XF, 2.74g 16mm

Ex: Consul Weber Collection (Hirsch XXI, 1908, #3134 p.216);
Ex: Jameson Collection #1537;
Ex: von Aulock Collection #2607;
Ex: Kirk Davis #F98;
Revue Numismatique, 6e se'rie - Tome 154, 1999, #112, p.71, plate VIII;
NFA XXIX (1992), 145;
MMAG, FPL 383, (1976), 12

[Joe Sermarini]

Nice!

[Dino]

Very nice.

[peterpil19]

Hi Danny,

Thanks for sharing.

Out of interest, how did you track down its provenance?
Did you do it yourself or did it come with the coin when you bought it?


Peter

[Danny S. Jones]

When I purchased this coin several years ago, the seller provided an earlier sales receipt which had it's provenance listed from two previous sales. From there, I was able to track down the rest that you see here. Each auction that it was in listed in gave me more information.
This particular coin has been circulating among collectors for many years.

[gordian_guy]

Nice lineage!

c.rhodes

[djmacdo]

And in addition a nice specimen of a very scarce coin!

[Rupert]

I would assume that the catalogue picture is probably not a photograph of the actual coin but of a plaster cast, as was very frequently done to get better pictures at a time when photography was more difficult than today. That would explain the not-so-good legibility of the legends, and also the complete lack of toning.

Rupert

[Danny S. Jones]

Thanks for that insight and observation. That would definitely explain the slight variation in detail.

Regards
Danny

[dougsmit]

I would assume that the catalogue picture is probably not a photograph of the actual coin but of a plaster cast, as was very frequently done to get better pictures at a time when photography was more difficult than today. That would explain the not-so-good legibility of the legends, and also the complete lack of toning.

Rupert

Never complain of illustrations made from plaster casts unless you have dealt with the pencil rubbings of Dattari/Savio!  The one on the right is reversed from the original.  That helps a little.

[Joe Sermarini]

We are amazed to find a photograph of a coin that is 100 years old (and it is amazing). Imagine, someday collectors will be looking at photos that are 1000 years old.

[dougsmit]

We are amazed to find a photograph of a coin that is 100 years old (and it is amazing). Imagine, someday collectors will be looking at photos that are 1000 years old.

Every so often I feel compelled to ask what the oldest photos of ancient coins are but I get few examples.  I still believe my late 1850's  still life including a bracelet made of antoniniani (Postumus???) to be oldest but I would like to see the earliest close up photos of coins all by themselves.  I would love to see a wet plate macro image if any exist.

[stevex6]

Very cool OP-coin and photo, goldenancients (congrats on adding that beauty to your collection)

 

Oh, and great example as well, Mentor (cool ol' photos)

Ummm, this is all that I can add to your interesting thread ...