Kolbe & Fanning
Auction 161 18 Sep 2021
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Complete Gnecchi Sales of Italian Coins
Hamburger, L. & L. CATALOGUE. SAMMLUNG DES HERRN CAV. E. GNECCHI IN MAILAND. ITALIENISCHE MÜNZEN. I. ABTHEILUNG: MÜNZSTÄTTEN ACQUI BIS LUCCA. II. ABTHEILUNG: MÜNZSTÄTTEN MACCAGNO BIS MUSEO. III. U. LETZTE ABTHEILUNG: MÜNZSTÄTTEN NAPOLI BIS ZARA. Frankfurt a. M., 7. Januar 1902 und folgende Tage; 20. Mai 1902 und folgende Tage; 12. Januar 1903 und folgende Tage. Three parts complete, bound in one volume. 8vo, later red cloth, gilt. 290 pages plus preliminaries; 5849 lots; 42 fine Lichtdruck plates of coins. Hand-priced in pencil, with a small number of names recorded. A few faults; very good or better. The complete set of catalogues of this extensive and highly important collection of Italian coins. With his older brother Francesco, Ercole Gnecchi (1850–1932) wrote the classic Monete di Milano (1884 and 1894) and the important bibliography Saggio di bibliografia numismatica delle zecche italiane, medioevali e moderne (1889). Ercole is perhaps best known today for his remarkable collection of Italian coins and the dispersal of it. The story is recounted in Alfred Szego's article in the September 1990 issue of The Asylum, "The Mystery of Ercole Gnecchi." Fearing that King Victor Emmanuel III might employ his royal prerogative to transfer his collection into the royal cabinet, Ercole approached Leo Hamburger in Germany and the "collection was packed into steamer trunks and shipped via stagecoach, disguised as a traveller's baggage." Expertly catalogued, the collection was sold in three segments in Hamburg, 1901–1903. Grierson terms it "Le plus grande collection privée de monnaies italiennes" and, indeed, the sale catalogues stood as the standard reference work on Italian coins until superseded by the King's own corpus. At the sale, Victor Emmanuel bought heavily, "Ercole, though, achieved immortality at a price. He was convicted in the Italian courts of exporting Italian coins without a permit... Ercole had incurred the enmity of Italian numismatists... his name disappeared from the membership list of the Italian Numismatic Society, and... His obituary rated only one page in only one periodical." Ciferri 205. Clain-Stefanelli 10241*. Grierson 309: "Le plus grande collection privée de monnaies italiennes."
Hamburger, L. & L. CATALOGUE. SAMMLUNG DES HERRN CAV. E. GNECCHI IN MAILAND. ITALIENISCHE MÜNZEN. I. ABTHEILUNG: MÜNZSTÄTTEN ACQUI BIS LUCCA. II. ABTHEILUNG: MÜNZSTÄTTEN MACCAGNO BIS MUSEO. III. U. LETZTE ABTHEILUNG: MÜNZSTÄTTEN NAPOLI BIS ZARA. Frankfurt a. M., 7. Januar 1902 und folgende Tage; 20. Mai 1902 und folgende Tage; 12. Januar 1903 und folgende Tage. Three parts complete, bound in one volume. 8vo, later red cloth, gilt. 290 pages plus preliminaries; 5849 lots; 42 fine Lichtdruck plates of coins. Hand-priced in pencil, with a small number of names recorded. A few faults; very good or better. The complete set of catalogues of this extensive and highly important collection of Italian coins. With his older brother Francesco, Ercole Gnecchi (1850–1932) wrote the classic Monete di Milano (1884 and 1894) and the important bibliography Saggio di bibliografia numismatica delle zecche italiane, medioevali e moderne (1889). Ercole is perhaps best known today for his remarkable collection of Italian coins and the dispersal of it. The story is recounted in Alfred Szego's article in the September 1990 issue of The Asylum, "The Mystery of Ercole Gnecchi." Fearing that King Victor Emmanuel III might employ his royal prerogative to transfer his collection into the royal cabinet, Ercole approached Leo Hamburger in Germany and the "collection was packed into steamer trunks and shipped via stagecoach, disguised as a traveller's baggage." Expertly catalogued, the collection was sold in three segments in Hamburg, 1901–1903. Grierson terms it "Le plus grande collection privée de monnaies italiennes" and, indeed, the sale catalogues stood as the standard reference work on Italian coins until superseded by the King's own corpus. At the sale, Victor Emmanuel bought heavily, "Ercole, though, achieved immortality at a price. He was convicted in the Italian courts of exporting Italian coins without a permit... Ercole had incurred the enmity of Italian numismatists... his name disappeared from the membership list of the Italian Numismatic Society, and... His obituary rated only one page in only one periodical." Ciferri 205. Clain-Stefanelli 10241*. Grierson 309: "Le plus grande collection privée de monnaies italiennes."