Roma Numismatics Ltd
E-Sale 24 30 January 2016
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Servius Sulpicius AR Denarius. Rome, 51 BC. Laureate male head right, SER behind, SVLP before / Naval trophy, naked and bound captive on right, draped figure looking on to left. Crawford 438/1; Sydenham 931; Sulpicia 8. 3.66g, 20mm, 12h.
Very Fine, attractive old cabinet tone. Shallow impression on obverse where Gonzaga countermark was previously inlaid.
From the Andrew McCabe Collection;
Ex Gonzaga Collection.
The eagle previously inlaid on the obverse of this coin was the collection mark of the Gonzaga family, the rulers of Mantua. The vast Gonzaga art collection was the culmination of artistic patronage and collecting pursued by generations of this Mantuan family during the 15th and 16th centuries. Perhaps the most notable patron of the family was Isabella d'Este, Marchioness of Mantua from 1490, one of the most committed Renaissance collectors and descendant of the ruling family of neighbouring city state, Ferrera. Through Isabella, the impressive coin collection of the Gonzaga's may have also contained coins previously belonging to the Este family, whose dynasty ended in the absence of any legitimate heir, resulting in the annexing of Ferrera by the Papal States and the sale of the family's assets. Despite this, the Gonzaga's befell a similar fate in the early 17th century, when Imperial German Troops sacked the Ducal Palace during a dispute over Gonzaga succession, resulting in the rapid dispersal of their collection. This coin therefore, is likely to have been part of the Gonzaga collection before the start of the war of Mantuan succession in 1628, and may have been part of a major European collection much earlier.
Very Fine, attractive old cabinet tone. Shallow impression on obverse where Gonzaga countermark was previously inlaid.
From the Andrew McCabe Collection;
Ex Gonzaga Collection.
The eagle previously inlaid on the obverse of this coin was the collection mark of the Gonzaga family, the rulers of Mantua. The vast Gonzaga art collection was the culmination of artistic patronage and collecting pursued by generations of this Mantuan family during the 15th and 16th centuries. Perhaps the most notable patron of the family was Isabella d'Este, Marchioness of Mantua from 1490, one of the most committed Renaissance collectors and descendant of the ruling family of neighbouring city state, Ferrera. Through Isabella, the impressive coin collection of the Gonzaga's may have also contained coins previously belonging to the Este family, whose dynasty ended in the absence of any legitimate heir, resulting in the annexing of Ferrera by the Papal States and the sale of the family's assets. Despite this, the Gonzaga's befell a similar fate in the early 17th century, when Imperial German Troops sacked the Ducal Palace during a dispute over Gonzaga succession, resulting in the rapid dispersal of their collection. This coin therefore, is likely to have been part of the Gonzaga collection before the start of the war of Mantuan succession in 1628, and may have been part of a major European collection much earlier.