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Author Topic: [Provenance Research] ANS Archive Numbers  (Read 1085 times)

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Offline Curtisimo

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[Provenance Research] ANS Archive Numbers
« on: June 05, 2022, 03:29:19 pm »
I recently acquired a coin that was once held by the American Numismatic Society. I have the ANS archive number: 1001.1.25440

Does anyone know if there is any provenance information that can be interpreted from the ANS #? I know that the coin must have entered the collection in or before 1955.  The coin came with a small slip of paper with the number “25440” printed on it. My best guess is that this might mean that the coin was the 440th coin added to the collection in 1925?

Any help would be most appreciated.

Thank you,
Curtis

Offline Altamura

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Re: [Provenance Research] ANS Archive Numbers
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2022, 04:03:09 pm »
It seems to be this coin: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3752221

As indicated in the auction description this coin is from the Archer M. Huntington Collection. Huntington was a former president of the ANS who had his collection lent to the ANS but bequeathed to the Hispanic Society of America: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archer_Milton_Huntington

After the HSA got in financial problems they forced the ANS to give back the Huntington collection and sold it via Sothebys: https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v11n32a13.html
Many of these coins are meanwhile back in the ANS thanks to people buying and donating them, but not all.

Somewhere in the web there is an article describing all this in detail, but I don't find it anymore >:(.

Regards

Altamura


Offline Altamura

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Re: [Provenance Research] ANS Archive Numbers
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2022, 04:12:24 pm »
... Somewhere in the web there is an article describing all this in detail, but I don't find it anymore >:(. ...
I found it :): https://digitalcommons.sia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=stu_proj

Regards

Altamura

Offline Curtisimo

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Re: [Provenance Research] ANS Archive Numbers
« Reply #3 on: June 05, 2022, 05:19:49 pm »
Thanks Altamura.  That is indeed my newly acquired example.

I had been researching Archer Huntington and his association with the ANS which is how I knew that the coin must have entered the ANS collection prior to his death in 1955.

I was not aware of the dynamics between the Hispanic Society of America and the ANS regarding the collection.  Thank you for the links and additional information.  Based on the links you provided I am now inclined to believe that the "25440" on the tag is meant to signify that this coin was numbered 25440 of the 37,895 coins that were loaned to the ANS by the HSA as part of the "1947 Loan."

I was curious about how much info could be gained from the accession numbering system that the ANS uses or if it is consistent over time.  I have some examples from the Art Institute of Chicago and the accession numbers make very transparent the year the coin entered the collection.

Offline Altamura

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Re: [Provenance Research] ANS Archive Numbers
« Reply #4 on: June 06, 2022, 02:50:49 am »
In the collection of the ANS you find coins which have remarks containing numbers of the same structure as your 1001.1.25440:
http://numismatics.org/collection/2015.12.14
http://numismatics.org/collection/2015.12.17

It looks as if these numbers have been the inventory numbers of the Hispanic Society of America.

You could just write to the ANS and ask them, they should know that :): https://numismatics.org/

Regards

Altamura

Offline Curtis JJ

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Re: [Provenance Research] ANS Archive Numbers
« Reply #5 on: January 07, 2023, 09:14:02 pm »
It's been several months, and parts of your question have but answered, but if my notes (pasted below) add more to the story ... hopefully you'll see the answer, and others researching the topic.

I have three of the Huntington-ANS (American Numismatic Society)-HSA (Hispanic Society of America) coins. I'm very interested in "object biography" (AKA provenance/collection history), so I've tried to read and take notes on everything publicly available about the collection. (I'm sure there are some people at HSA, ANS, CNG, Sotheby's, and Jesus Vico who know more, but I haven't tried contacting them yet.)

Like yours, all of mine have "1001" accession numbers. I believe the prefix "1001" applies to all of Huntington coins that were de-accessioned. (Technically, it's actually "1001.1." but I don't know whether "1001.2." and so on were ever assigned). The number after 1001.1., as you know, was the HSA accession number, which was also used by the ANS. Most of those remaining in the ANS Collection have numbers beginning "2012.49."

I do not think there is any indication of the original year the coins were loaned to HSA. I think your "25440" tag means that it's the 25,440th coin accessioned/loaned into HSA from the Huntington collection (of about 37,895 total coins). To be honest I haven't tried to confirm the details (e.g., if the numbers were assigned at the initial loan or accession of the bequest), but I believe it's a count. I've also seen 3 and 4 digits HSA numbers ("686" the lowest), but never one over 37895 (mine are "10488," "22362," and "22981").

All of the Huntington coins seem to have had "1001.1" prefixes at the Sotheby's 2012 sale, whether or not they returned to the ANS. I'm not sure when, exactly, that prefix attached -- if it is a deaccession number, if that was the full number at HSA. (I suspect the former, since the coins don't seem to have been described that way before being sold.) The ones labeled as ex-ANS and sold by CNG (and by Jencek) were part of the group of about 19,000 coins returned to the ANS in 2012, and then sold again. (They had previously been at the ANS for decades, and the HSA before that, and all original numbers preserved; see below.)


HUNTINGTON COLLECTION TIMELINE

pre-1946: The coins were held in the basement at HSA;
1946-1947: The entire coin collection was moved to the ANS (possibly completed as late as 1949, but not later);
1955: Collection formally bequeathed to the HSA upon death of A.H.M., remaining on "permanent loan" to ANS;
c. 1946/1947-2012: Coins housed at the American Numismatic Society (under HSA's accession numbers);
1980: * Something important happened to the status of the loan, I need to double-check and update, but the ANS commented on it re: their legal status and their own investment;
2008 (23 Jan): HSA Board of Trustees adopts resolution to sell the collection;
2008-2012: ANS initiates legal battle & public campaign to prevent the sale, eventually losing the judgment in court;
2012 (8 March): Sotheby's sells the entire collection (37,895 coins) to a consortium of buyers (presumed to include Spanish firm Jesus Vico) in a closed-bid sale;
2012-2013: Huntington Collection coins appear on the market from NAC, Vico, Morton & Eden, NGSA, Palombo, Heritage, possibly others, making first public appearances since the Sotheby's sale;
2012 (May-June): Approximately 19,000 coins from the Sotheby's sale returned to the ANS in anonymous donation (including 3,000 Roman AR and AE);
2013 (summer): 7,493 more coins returned to ANS on "permanent loan";
2013-2017 (?): Of 19,000 coins returned, several thousand (?) were deaccessioned (re-deaccessioned!) & sold (mostly via CNG, but several hundred may have first appeared at Jencek, incl. one of mine);
2014-?: Additional Archer M. Huntington re-acquired by purchase & given accession numbers starting "2014," "2015"....


Things I don't know and/or haven't yet found published:

(1) During what period was Huntington's collection originally formed?
(2) When was it originally deposited at HSA?
(3) Between c. 1947 and 2012, did the Huntington coins have a different prefix?
(4) Does the ANS assign "1001" to all deaccessioned coins?
(5) Where is the Huntington EID MAR Denarius?
Unfortunately, being a topic of major controversy, the HSA no longer makes any mention of his numismatic activities. (It sounds like his coin collection was probably formed c. 1898-1910s [outbreak of WWI], but I can't say with any confidence.)


ONLINE REFERENCES:

A.M. Hunting Bios:
- ANS / Archives – Authorities, Archer M Huntington [LINK];
- HSA / Hispanic Society of America (no mention of coins!) [LINK];
- Hadrien Rambach, Introductory Essay, NAC Auction 67 (17 Oct 2012), The Archer M. Huntington Collection of Roman Gold Coins, Part I [LINK];
- See also: Coinsweekly (n.d.), "Huntington, Archer Milton (1870-1955)," excerpted from Rambach's essays in NAC 67 (Huntington, I), NAC 91 (LaBorde, I) [LINK];
- Hadrien Rambach, “Provenance Glossary" (Part I) [LINK];
- See also: CNG, Triton XVII (6 Jan 2014), page 159: “Roman Coins from the Archer M. Huntington Collection" [LINK]
- Zhengcheng Li (2016) "Huntington Coin Collection and Donation Protection," Sotheby's Institute of Art [LINK];
-
- Wikipedia [LINK];

ANS Magazine (there are more, I'll add links if I can find them):
American Numismatic Society Magazine, Winter 2008: "...Fate of the Archer Huntington Collection..." [LINK -- unfortunately not the best digitization];
ANS Magazine, Summer 2013, Elena Stolyarik, “From the Collections Manager New Acquisitions" [LINK or PDF Issue];
ANS Magazine, Fall 2014: E. Stolyarik, New Acquisitions [PDF Issue];

Art & Coin News:
ArtsJournal.com, 13 June 2012: "1,004 Ex-Hispanic Society Coins to Be Re-Auctioned in Spain; American Numismatic Society Retrieves 10,000 Pieces" [LINK];
El Pais, 20 June 2012: "El disperso destino de las monedas españolas de la colección Huntington" [LINK];
Coin Week, 27 Feb 2012: "Huntington Collection of Hispanic Related Coins Offered by Sotheby’s as a Single Lot March 8th" [LINK];
Coin World, 25 June 2012: "First auction set for Huntington Collection of Hispanic..."[LINK];

More News:
Coins Weekly, 2012: “Huntington Collection for Sale” [LINK];
Coins Weekly, Feb 2013: “Over 7,000 Coins from Huntington Collection Return to ANS as Long Term Loan” [LINK];
Coin World, Feb 2013: “Huntington Collection takes long way back” [LINK];


COINS

Apparently I haven't uploaded any to my Member's Gallery yet [LINK], but this is my favorite:

(Coin-in-Hand Video [LINK])
Roman Imperial Coinage. Vespasian (Emperor, 69-79 CE) AR Denarius (17mm, 3.50 g, 6h). Rome mint, struck July-December 71.
Obv: IMP CAES VESP AVG P M. Laureate head right.
Rev: TRI POT. Vesta seated left, draped, holding simpulum.
Ref: RIC II.1 46; RSC / Cohen 561.
Prov: Archer M. Huntington (1870-1955) Collection; loaned, then bequeathed to Hispanic Society of America (HSA 1001.1.22362); housed at the American Numismatic Society (same accession number), late 1940s - c. 2012; 8 March 2012, sold at Sotheby's sealed-bid sale of all 37,895 Huntington coins; acq. by consortium, incl. Jose Vico; returned to ANS among 26,500 other Huntington coins, May 2012 - summer 2013; consigned by ANS to CNG e-Auction 397, 17 May 2017; Lampasas Collection; consigned to CNG e-Auction 487, 10 March 2021; Charles Chamberlain Collection; consigned to CNG e-Auction 509, 9 February 2022; Jackson-Jacobs Collection, present.
“Collect the collectors…” John W Adams’ advice to J Orosz (Asylum 38, 2: p51)

Galleries https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/index.php?cat=27154

Offline Virgil H

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Re: [Provenance Research] ANS Archive Numbers
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2023, 01:13:13 am »
This is fascinating. I find it interesting that ANS went to court to keep the coins, then sold off many that were donated back to them.

Virgil

Offline Meepzorp

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Re: [Provenance Research] ANS Archive Numbers
« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2023, 12:44:29 pm »
Hi VH,

I agree 100%, with both sentences. I was thinking the exact same thing as I was reading CJJ's post.

Meepzorp

Offline Meepzorp

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Re: [Provenance Research] ANS Archive Numbers
« Reply #8 on: January 08, 2023, 12:52:47 pm »
Hi CJJ,

Thanks for the information. As VH wrote, this really is fascinating.

It is interesting because, just yesterday, I was looking through my own collection online. In my Roman Provincial, Corinth section, I have a Divus Augustus coin that is from the Lord Grantley collection. I knew nothing about him, so I looked it up online yesterday. Apparently, there was more than one person named "Lord Grantley". In fact, there were several of them (at least 8 different people). It is all very confusing. As I was researching Lord Grantley, I came across a different Roman Provincial, Corinth coin from his collection. It seems that, among other areas, he collected those types of coins.

Meepzorp

Offline Curtis JJ

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Re: [Provenance Research] ANS Archive Numbers
« Reply #9 on: January 08, 2023, 03:34:03 pm »
Quote from: Meepzorp on January 08, 2023, 12:52:47 pm
... just yesterday, I was looking through my own collection online. In my Roman Provincial, Corinth section, I have a Divus Augustus coin that is from the Lord Grantley collection. I knew nothing about him, so I looked it up online yesterday. Apparently, there was more than one person named "Lord Grantley". In fact, there were several of them (at least 8 different people). It is all very confusing. As I was researching Lord Grantley...
Meepzorp

Ah, yes, that would be John Richard-Brinsley Norton (1855-1943), 5th Lord of Grantley.

Your coin(s) almost certainly came from the Glendining & Co. auction held on 29 June 1944, Grantley Part VI (Greek, Roman) [LINK to catalog on Archive]. There were also some ancients in Part VII (Byzantine, Roman, Parthian, etc.; 25 July 1944) [LINK to catalog on Archive]; and some much earlier anonymous sales noted below ("Well-Known Amateur").

It is a superb provenance for RPC and Greek! (Or for non-ancient types I don't collect -- British, European, etc.) Truly one of 20th century's greatest private collections. Unfortunately he died during WWII, and for those few years auction catalogs were rarely illustrated. He was also, apparently, a bit of a social outcast. Otherwise, the Grantley Collection might've been as famous as the Lockett Collection or Weber. Sadly for us, the coins weren't photographed (nor does any catalog exist that lists the coins individually).

I thought I noticed Grantley tags when perusing your collection site for old collector tag images. (I have a database of them for prov. research purposes.) For anyone interested, you can also see more examples (along with tags of many other important collectors) on the Brit. Num. Soc. site: ["Coin Tickets" starting page]; Grantley is on the 23rd page of the "Main List" [LINK to PDF]; and on the Grantley Bio & Ticket page [LINK to PDF].



I have a couple of Grantley coins too (a modest Syracuse/Pyrrhos bronze [LINK] and [probably, long story] provincial Nero [LINK])...

So I have extensive notes on this collection. Here are a few more, cut-and-pasted:


Grantley had “the finest collection of European coins in Britain” (BM bio [LINK]) and one of the finest collections of British coins ever formed (perhaps second to Lockett?), as well as a famous collection of ancients.

The Foreword to Part I of the sales, by L. Forrer begins:

“John Richard-Brinsley Norton, 5th Baron Grantley (1855-1943) was universally known as one of the foremost coin collectors of our times.” His “vast assemblage of coins” numbered 50,000 or 60,000 (J. Spring [2009: p. 79] gives 50k, quoting Grierson & Blackburn [1986]; Forrer says 60k). The foreword anticipated there would be 5 sales -- it ended up taking 11!


MAJOR SERIES OF 11 SALES AT GLENDINING (1943-5) [LINK] by Glendining’s during WWII (Nov 1943 to Apr 1945, see also Feb 1943). 

The Lord Grantley Collection of British Coins in 5 Parts: Part I [LINK] (English Scottish, Continental; 29 November 1943), Foreword by L. Forrer // Part II [LINK] (British, Gaulish; 27 January 1944) // Part III [LINK] (Saxon; 22 March 1944) // Part IV [LINK] (Silver, 20 April 1944) // Part V [LINK] (Scottish, Irish, Anglo-Gallic, Colonial, etc.; 18 May 1944).

* Ancient Coins in 2 Parts: Part VI [LINK] (Greek, Roman; 29 June 1944); Part VII [LINK] (Byzantine, Roman, Parthian, etc.; 25 July 1944).

Continental in 3 Parts: Part VIII [LINK] (Continental, France, Italy; 25 October 1944); Part IX [LINK] (Continental, Germany, Austria; 18 December 1944); Part X [LINK] (Continental, [Scandinavian], Baltic States; 7 February 1945)

Eastern: Part XI [LINK] (Middle East, Oriental, 26 April 1945)

See also Grantley “Antiques” [LINK] (23 February 1943).

Early Sales of Grantley Duplicates, Most Anonymous (I need to fill in these references): Sotheby, 31 July 1895 [LINK] (“The Property of Lord Grantley, Who is restricting the range of his Collection”); Sotheby, 6 April 1899 (“The Property of a well-known Amateur” [Lord Grantley]), more in 1914; also J. Schulman in 1912 and 1921.


Additional Provenance: Post-Grantley Colls. Richard Cyrill Lockett was no doubt the largest buyer of Grantley's ancient coins at the 1944 sales. For some regions, Lockett bought between many-to-almost all of the group lots. Later sales (including the Glendining-Lockett sales) usually fail to note this, but many/most can be tracked down through Lockett's hand-written purchase records: https://www.britnumsoc.org/275 . Cornelius Vermeule III also had a bunch of Grantley's, presumably via the Lockett Coll.

Pre-Grantley Colls. Some of the coins' prior provenances are listed in the Glendining catalogs, but not many. (Most coins were in big group lots.) However, Forrer notes that many of Grantley's coins "were purchased at the Montagu, Murdoch, Rashleigh, and Carlyon-Britton sales, and some also came from the collection of Sir John Evans." I've also found that he both bought coins from Lincoln (multigenerational London dealers, incl. a large group from the W. Lincoln Collection), and sold coins to them. John Spring’s account suggests Grantley began forming collection after 1879 (following a scandalous divorce). I'm not sure when he stopped buying coins (need to check dates of sales noted by Forrer).

Here is a scan from John Spring's (2009) excellent volume on Ancient Coin Auction Catalogues, 1880-1980 (London: Spink), which I recommend highly to anyone interested in provenance, bibliography, or the commercial or intellectual history of numismatics:


(Just a thumbnail, but it should enlarge [LINK])
“Collect the collectors…” John W Adams’ advice to J Orosz (Asylum 38, 2: p51)

Galleries https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/index.php?cat=27154

Offline Virgil H

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Re: [Provenance Research] ANS Archive Numbers
« Reply #10 on: January 08, 2023, 03:45:44 pm »
This is an absolutely fascinating thread. Thanks for all the info. Your web site is very nice, as well.

Virgil

Offline Meepzorp

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Re: [Provenance Research] ANS Archive Numbers
« Reply #11 on: January 09, 2023, 11:30:34 am »
Hi CJJ,

Thanks again for the information.

I agree with you that it is a shame that the coins weren't photographed nor were they listed individually.

Meepzorp

Offline Meepzorp

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Re: [Provenance Research] ANS Archive Numbers
« Reply #12 on: January 09, 2023, 11:34:38 am »
Hi CJJ,

Thanks for the link to the 1944 Glendining auction. My coin was probably in lot #2281. It was a bulk lot of 45 coins.

Meepzorp

 

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