Electronic Auction 351
Date: 2015-05-20 00:00:00
Lots: 919
Total starting: $ 0.00
Total realized: $ 0.00 (+0.00%)
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Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Electronic Auction 351 . 1
IBERIA, Beuibum (as Salacia). 1st century BC. Æ Half Meitat (27mm, 11.35 g). Cross with annulets in quarters / Two opposed crescents; P to right. ACIP 992; SNG BM Spain –. Near VF, light green patina. Very rare.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Electronic Auction 351 . 2
CALABRIA, Tarentum. Circa 280 BC. AR Nomos (22.5mm, 7.84 g, 3h). Youth on horseback right, crowning horse with wreath; ΣA to left, ΦIΛI/[APXOΣ] in two lines below / Phalanthos, holding grape bunch, astride dolphin left; AΓA below. Vlasto 673; HN Italy 960. Good VF, struck with worn obverse die.From Group SGF.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Electronic Auction 351 . 3
CALABRIA, Tarentum. Circa 280-272 BC. AR Nomos (20.5mm, 6.32 g, 7h). Nude warrior, shield and two spears on his back, thrusting third spear, on horse rearing right; EY to left, ΦINTY[ΛO]Σ below / Phalanthos, holding Nike, who crowns him with wreath, riding dolphin left; ΠOΛY to left; below, prow left. Vlasto 720–2; HN Italy 1002. VF, toned, obverse off center.From the collection of Alexandre Carathéodory Pasha (1833-1906).CNG is pleased to present selections from the collection of Alexandre Carathéodory Pasha, a leading statesman in the Ottoman Empire, whose interest in collecting ancient coins was inspired by his meeting with the French diplomat and numismatist William-Henri Waddington at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. Twenty Greek coins of the Eastern Aegean and Western Asia Minor are being offered in CNG 99, and the majority of the collection is being offered in CNG Electronic Auction 351, which runs concurrently with CNG 99 and closes on 20 May 2015.Alexandre Carathéodory Pasha (or Karatheodory; in Greek: Αλέξανδρος Καραθεοδωρή; 1833–1906) was a prominent Greek scholar, diplomat, and statesman in the Ottoman Empire. Carathéodory was born in Constantinople to an eminent Constantinople Phanariot family. His father, Stefanos Carathéodory, was the personal physician to Sultans Mahmud II and Abdul-Aziz. His mother's ancestors, the Mavrocordatos and Mourousis, had for centuries served as Princes of Moldavia and Wallachia.After obtaining a doctoral degree from the Paris Faculty of Law, Carathéodory pursued a career in the public service of the Ottoman Empire. In 1874, he was appointed ambassador to Rome. In 1878, as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, he participated in the preliminary negotiations with Russia that led to the Treaty of San Stefano, ending the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878). Later that same year, Sultan Abdul-Hamid II dispatched Carathéodory to Germany as head of the Ottoman delegation to the Congress of Berlin. His skillful negotiations with various European statesmen, including Bismarck, Disraeli, Salisbury, and Gorchakov, resulted in the revision of the San Stefano peace terms in favor of the Ottoman Empire (Treaty of Berlin, 1878). Disraeli characterized Carathéodory as "full of finesse and yet calm and plausible." During the Berlin negotiations, he had the opportunity to discover in his French counterpart, William-Henri Waddington, a common interest in ancient Greek culture and civilization. Waddington told Carathéodory of his archaeological pursuits and the collection of ancient coins he had assembled in Asia Minor.Upon his return to Turkey, Carathéodory was appointed Governor-General of Crete with the task of calming the escalating tensions between the island's Christian and Muslim inhabitants in a situation that was approaching civil war. Soon, however, he was called back to Constantinople, where he became Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ottoman Empire (1878-1879). He was the only Greek to ever occupy such a prominent position. In 1884, the Sultan appointed him Prince of the autonomous Greek island of Samos (1885-1894). It is during those nine years, and inspired by Waddington's enthusiasm for ancient coins, that he took up coin collecting and amassed the present collection.In addition to his political career and historical pursuits, Carathéodory translated from Arabic to French the Traité du Quadrilatère, attribué à Nassiruddin-El-Tussin, a seminal work on the mathematics of the 13th-century Persian astronomer. He also authored research papers and scholarly essays on Aristotle's Meteorology, Homeric studies, as well as a series of mathematics theses that are still in use. Their shared interest in mathematics forged a bond with his nephew, Constantine Carathéodory, a professor of mathematics at the University of Munich, who contributed to the research of thermodynamics and the development of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity (vide Encyclopaedia Britannica).In 1895, amid renewed religious and social tensions in Crete, Abdul Hamid II appointed Carathéodory as Governor of the island for a second time. Unsuccessful once again in restoring order, Carathéodory resigned the post in December of the same year and was appointed First Translator to H.I.M. the Sultan. In his book, Constantinople, City of the World's Desire, Philip Mansel notes that Abdul Hamid called Carathéodory "a man with remarkable ability, not only the cleverest diplomat in Turkey, but one of the cleverest in Europe." In 1901, Carathéodory attended the funeral of Queen Victoria as a member of the Ottoman delegation. This was his last official assignment.His funeral in 1906, in Constantinople, was officiated by the Patriarch and all the Holy Synod. It marked, according to Mansel, the end of the Phanariot tradition begun by his Mavrocordato ancestors. In 1923 his children and grandchildren left Turkey. Some of them settled in Greece, others in Egypt, Switzerland, and Belgium.The present coin collection was passed on to Catherine Pilavachi-Carathéodory, who was the daughter of Stefanos A. Carathéodory, the eldest son of Alexandre Carathéodory Pasha. Catherine and her family left Egypt for Lausanne, Switzerland in 1961. The collection was inherited by Catherine's son and Alexander's great-grandson, Paul Pilavachi, who is its current owner.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Electronic Auction 351 . 4
LUCANIA, Herakleia. Circa 281-278 BC. AR Nomos (19mm, 7.47 g, 10h). Helmeted head of Athena right; E behind neck / Herakles standing left, holding club and bow, lion skin draped over arm; to upper left, owl standing right; [AP]IΣ to left. Van Keuren 87; HN Italy 1385. VF, toned, struck with worn obverse die, areas of roughness and some cleaning marks on reverse.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Electronic Auction 351 . 5
LUCANIA, Metapontion. Circa 540-510 BC. AR Nomos (28mm, 7.09 g, 12h). Ear of barley with eight grains / Incuse ear of barley with eight grains. Noe 16 (same obv. die); HN Italy 1459. VF, toned, rough surfaces, ragged and chipped edge.Ex Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 314 (6 November 2013), lot 36. Lot includes old collection holder marked "New Netherlands Coin Company, New York, Jan. 1937, $2.50".
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LUCANIA, Metapontion. Circa 540-510 BC. AR Nomos (29mm, 7.35 g, 12h). Ear of barley with seven grains; META upward to right / Incuse ear of barley with seven grains. Noe 112; SNG ANS 209-16; HN Italy 1479. VF, toned, some porosity and granularity.
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LUCANIA, Velia. Circa 340-334 BC. AR Nomos (20mm, 7.53 g, 7h). Helmeted head of Athena right; Θ behind neck / Lion standing right; Φ above, Θ below. Williams 273 (O155/R207); HN Italy 1284; SNG Copenhagen 1548 (same dies). VF, toned, struck from a worn reverse die.Ex Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 312 (9 October 2013), lot 44. Lot includes old collection holder marked "June 1937, Paul S. Szego, 812 B'Way, N.Y.C. $10.00".
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LUCANIA, Velia. Circa 334-300 BC. AR Nomos (22mm, 7.34 g, 3h). Kleudoros group. Helmeted head of Athena left, helmet decorated with sphinx; monogram behind neck guard / Lion standing left, tearing at prey; monogram above, Φ below. Williams 323 (O172/R241); HN Italy 1293; SNG ANS 1327; SNG Ashmolean 1255; BMC 77; Dewing 463 (all from the same dies). VF, toned, porous, a few scratches.Ex ArtCoins Roma 9 (29 April 2014), lot 68.
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BRUTTIUM, The Brettii. Circa 216-214 BC. AR Drachm (18mm, 4.33 g, 6h). Second Punic War issue. Diademed bust of Nike right; trophy to left / Dionysos standing facing, crowning himself and holding scepter; I and incense altar to right. Arslan dies 57/81'; Scheu S14 corr. (I not noted on rev.); HN Italy 1959; SNG ANS 20 (same dies); Hermitage 148 (same dies). Good VF, toned, edge chipped, bumped, and filed in antiquity, probably to fit in bezel.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Electronic Auction 351 . 10
SICILY, Syracuse. Second Democracy. 466-405 BC. AR Tetradrachm (24.5mm, 17.00 g, 6h). Struck circa 450 BC. Charioteer driving quadriga right; above, Nike flying right, crowning horses; in exergue, ketos right / Diademed head of Arethusa right; four dolphins around. Boehringer Series XV, 516 (V271/R367); HGC 2, 1311; SNG ANS 165 (same dies); SNG Lockett 934 (same dies). Near VF, toned, obverse off center, tiny flan flaw on obverse, some roughness on reverse.
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CARTHAGE, Second Punic War. Circa 220-215 BC. Æ Trishekel (32mm, 20.40 g, 12h). Head of Tanit left, wearing wreath of grain ears and single-pendant earring / Horse standing right; palm tree in background to left. MAA 84; Müller, Afrique 147; SNG Copenhagen 344. VF, gray-brown patina, roughness.
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CARTHAGE, Second Punic War. Circa 220-215 BC. Æ Trishekel (29mm, 18.55 g, 12h). Head of Tanit left, wearing wreath of grain ears and single-pendant earring / Horse standing right; palm tree in background to left, ligate Punic Ṭ and Š below. MAA 84b; Müller, Afrique 154; SNG Copenhagen 341–3. Good VF, gray-brown patina.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Electronic Auction 351 . 13
CARTHAGE, Second Punic War. Circa 220-215 BC. Æ Trishekel (30.5mm, 19.87 g, 12h). Head of Tanit left, wearing wreath of grain ears and single-pendant earring / Horse standing right; palm tree in background to left, ligate Punic Ṭ and Š below. MAA 84b; Müller, Afrique 154; SNG Copenhagen 341–3. VF, brown patina, a couple flat spots, light scratch on obverse.
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CARTHAGE, Second Punic War. Circa 203-201 BC. BI 1½ Shekels (25mm, 10.05 g, 12h). Head of Tanit left, wearing wreath of grain ears and single-pendant earring / Horse standing right, head left, raising foreleg; pellet below. MAA 81a; Müller, Afrique 231; SNG Copenhagen 394. Good VF, dark brown patina, traces of green encrustation. Very low grade billon, resembling bronze.From the collection of Alexandre Carathéodory Pasha (1833-1906).CNG is pleased to present selections from the collection of Alexandre Carathéodory Pasha, a leading statesman in the Ottoman Empire, whose interest in collecting ancient coins was inspired by his meeting with the French diplomat and numismatist William-Henri Waddington at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. Twenty Greek coins of the Eastern Aegean and Western Asia Minor are being offered in CNG 99, and the majority of the collection is being offered in CNG Electronic Auction 351, which runs concurrently with CNG 99 and closes on 20 May 2015.Alexandre Carathéodory Pasha (or Karatheodory; in Greek: Αλέξανδρος Καραθεοδωρή; 1833–1906) was a prominent Greek scholar, diplomat, and statesman in the Ottoman Empire. Carathéodory was born in Constantinople to an eminent Constantinople Phanariot family. His father, Stefanos Carathéodory, was the personal physician to Sultans Mahmud II and Abdul-Aziz. His mother's ancestors, the Mavrocordatos and Mourousis, had for centuries served as Princes of Moldavia and Wallachia.After obtaining a doctoral degree from the Paris Faculty of Law, Carathéodory pursued a career in the public service of the Ottoman Empire. In 1874, he was appointed ambassador to Rome. In 1878, as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, he participated in the preliminary negotiations with Russia that led to the Treaty of San Stefano, ending the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878). Later that same year, Sultan Abdul-Hamid II dispatched Carathéodory to Germany as head of the Ottoman delegation to the Congress of Berlin. His skillful negotiations with various European statesmen, including Bismarck, Disraeli, Salisbury, and Gorchakov, resulted in the revision of the San Stefano peace terms in favor of the Ottoman Empire (Treaty of Berlin, 1878). Disraeli characterized Carathéodory as "full of finesse and yet calm and plausible." During the Berlin negotiations, he had the opportunity to discover in his French counterpart, William-Henri Waddington, a common interest in ancient Greek culture and civilization. Waddington told Carathéodory of his archaeological pursuits and the collection of ancient coins he had assembled in Asia Minor.Upon his return to Turkey, Carathéodory was appointed Governor-General of Crete with the task of calming the escalating tensions between the island's Christian and Muslim inhabitants in a situation that was approaching civil war. Soon, however, he was called back to Constantinople, where he became Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ottoman Empire (1878-1879). He was the only Greek to ever occupy such a prominent position. In 1884, the Sultan appointed him Prince of the autonomous Greek island of Samos (1885-1894). It is during those nine years, and inspired by Waddington's enthusiasm for ancient coins, that he took up coin collecting and amassed the present collection.In addition to his political career and historical pursuits, Carathéodory translated from Arabic to French the Traité du Quadrilatère, attribué à Nassiruddin-El-Tussin, a seminal work on the mathematics of the 13th-century Persian astronomer. He also authored research papers and scholarly essays on Aristotle's Meteorology, Homeric studies, as well as a series of mathematics theses that are still in use. Their shared interest in mathematics forged a bond with his nephew, Constantine Carathéodory, a professor of mathematics at the University of Munich, who contributed to the research of thermodynamics and the development of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity (vide Encyclopaedia Britannica).In 1895, amid renewed religious and social tensions in Crete, Abdul Hamid II appointed Carathéodory as Governor of the island for a second time. Unsuccessful once again in restoring order, Carathéodory resigned the post in December of the same year and was appointed First Translator to H.I.M. the Sultan. In his book, Constantinople, City of the World's Desire, Philip Mansel notes that Abdul Hamid called Carathéodory "a man with remarkable ability, not only the cleverest diplomat in Turkey, but one of the cleverest in Europe." In 1901, Carathéodory attended the funeral of Queen Victoria as a member of the Ottoman delegation. This was his last official assignment.His funeral in 1906, in Constantinople, was officiated by the Patriarch and all the Holy Synod. It marked, according to Mansel, the end of the Phanariot tradition begun by his Mavrocordato ancestors. In 1923 his children and grandchildren left Turkey. Some of them settled in Greece, others in Egypt, Switzerland, and Belgium.The present coin collection was passed on to Catherine Pilavachi-Carathéodory, who was the daughter of Stefanos A. Carathéodory, the eldest son of Alexandre Carathéodory Pasha. Catherine and her family left Egypt for Lausanne, Switzerland in 1961. The collection was inherited by Catherine's son and Alexander's great-grandson, Paul Pilavachi, who is its current owner.
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MOESIA, Kallatis. 2nd century BC. AV Stater (21mm, 8.29 g, 1h). In the name and types of Lysimachos of Thrace. Diademed head of the deified Alexander right, with horn of Ammon / Athena Nikephoros seated left; monogram to inner left, KAΛ on throne; in exergue, ornate trident left. AMNG I 256; Müller 264. Good VF, lustrous. Very rare.
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THRACE, Apollonia Pontika. Late 5th-4th centuries BC. AR Drachm (14mm, 2.87 g, 7h). Facing gorgoneion / Upright anchor; crayfish to left, A to right. Topalov, Apollonia 45; SNG BM Black Sea 160-1 var. (symbols reversed). Good VF.Around 610 BC, Ionian Greeks from Miletos established an important outpost on the western Black Sea coast. Originally called Antheia, and located on a natural peninsula and three nearby islands, the city quickly became a prosperous trading post by exporting copper, honey, grain, and timber, while importing wine, salt, textiles, and pottery for resale to the inland Thracians. The city's key trading partners at the time included fellow-commercial centers Miletos, Athens, Lesbos, Chios, and Rhodes.Prosperity soon enabled Antheia to expand and develop as an important cultural metropolis. An important temple to Apollo was constructed within the city in the late 5th century BC. For 500 talents, it commissioned the Greek sculptor Kalamis (of Boeotia) to cast a 13 ton, 10 meter high, bronze statue of Apollo for the new temple (Strabo VII.6.1). So popular was this temple of Apollo, that the city was now renamed Apollonia in its honor. In 72 BC, during his war against the Thracian Bessi, the proconsul of Macedon, Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus (cos. 73 BC), sacked the city and had the statue transported to Rome, where it was displayed on the Capitol (Pliny, NH XXXIV.18; Strabo VII.6.1).The 5th and 4th century BC coinage of Apollonia Pontika reflects that city's origins: commercial wealth and maritime power. The gorgon was a popular apotropaic device, seen as warding off evil; thus a number of ancient Greek cities adopted it as a coin design. The anchor and the crayfish attest to the city's reliance on maritime commerce for its economy, and the anchor depicted on these coins is actually one of the first anchors of modern design rendered in Greek art.
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THRACE, Apollonia Pontika. Late 5th-4th centuries BC. AR Drachm (14mm, 2.78 g, 5h). Facing gorgoneion / Upright anchor; crayfish to left, A to right. Topalov, Apollonia 45; SNG BM Black Sea 160-1 var. (symbols reversed). VF.Around 610 BC, Ionian Greeks from Miletos established an important outpost on the western Black Sea coast. Originally called Antheia, and located on a natural peninsula and three nearby islands, the city quickly became a prosperous trading post by exporting copper, honey, grain, and timber, while importing wine, salt, textiles, and pottery for resale to the inland Thracians. The city's key trading partners at the time included fellow-commercial centers Miletos, Athens, Lesbos, Chios, and Rhodes.Prosperity soon enabled Antheia to expand and develop as an important cultural metropolis. An important temple to Apollo was constructed within the city in the late 5th century BC. For 500 talents, it commissioned the Greek sculptor Kalamis (of Boeotia) to cast a 13 ton, 10 meter high, bronze statue of Apollo for the new temple (Strabo VII.6.1). So popular was this temple of Apollo, that the city was now renamed Apollonia in its honor. In 72 BC, during his war against the Thracian Bessi, the proconsul of Macedon, Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus (cos. 73 BC), sacked the city and had the statue transported to Rome, where it was displayed on the Capitol (Pliny, NH XXXIV.18; Strabo VII.6.1).The 5th and 4th century BC coinage of Apollonia Pontika reflects that city's origins: commercial wealth and maritime power. The gorgon was a popular apotropaic device, seen as warding off evil; thus a number of ancient Greek cities adopted it as a coin design. The anchor and the crayfish attest to the city's reliance on maritime commerce for its economy, and the anchor depicted on these coins is actually one of the first anchors of modern design rendered in Greek art.
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THRACE, Byzantion. Circa 340-320 BC. AR Siglos (17.5mm, 5.08 g). Heifer standing left on dolphin left / Incuse punch of mill-sail pattern. SNG BM Black Sea 21–8. VF, toned, some roughness and light scratches.From the collection of Alexandre Carathéodory Pasha (1833-1906).CNG is pleased to present selections from the collection of Alexandre Carathéodory Pasha, a leading statesman in the Ottoman Empire, whose interest in collecting ancient coins was inspired by his meeting with the French diplomat and numismatist William-Henri Waddington at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. Twenty Greek coins of the Eastern Aegean and Western Asia Minor are being offered in CNG 99, and the majority of the collection is being offered in CNG Electronic Auction 351, which runs concurrently with CNG 99 and closes on 20 May 2015.Alexandre Carathéodory Pasha (or Karatheodory; in Greek: Αλέξανδρος Καραθεοδωρή; 1833–1906) was a prominent Greek scholar, diplomat, and statesman in the Ottoman Empire. Carathéodory was born in Constantinople to an eminent Constantinople Phanariot family. His father, Stefanos Carathéodory, was the personal physician to Sultans Mahmud II and Abdul-Aziz. His mother's ancestors, the Mavrocordatos and Mourousis, had for centuries served as Princes of Moldavia and Wallachia.After obtaining a doctoral degree from the Paris Faculty of Law, Carathéodory pursued a career in the public service of the Ottoman Empire. In 1874, he was appointed ambassador to Rome. In 1878, as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, he participated in the preliminary negotiations with Russia that led to the Treaty of San Stefano, ending the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878). Later that same year, Sultan Abdul-Hamid II dispatched Carathéodory to Germany as head of the Ottoman delegation to the Congress of Berlin. His skillful negotiations with various European statesmen, including Bismarck, Disraeli, Salisbury, and Gorchakov, resulted in the revision of the San Stefano peace terms in favor of the Ottoman Empire (Treaty of Berlin, 1878). Disraeli characterized Carathéodory as "full of finesse and yet calm and plausible." During the Berlin negotiations, he had the opportunity to discover in his French counterpart, William-Henri Waddington, a common interest in ancient Greek culture and civilization. Waddington told Carathéodory of his archaeological pursuits and the collection of ancient coins he had assembled in Asia Minor.Upon his return to Turkey, Carathéodory was appointed Governor-General of Crete with the task of calming the escalating tensions between the island's Christian and Muslim inhabitants in a situation that was approaching civil war. Soon, however, he was called back to Constantinople, where he became Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ottoman Empire (1878-1879). He was the only Greek to ever occupy such a prominent position. In 1884, the Sultan appointed him Prince of the autonomous Greek island of Samos (1885-1894). It is during those nine years, and inspired by Waddington's enthusiasm for ancient coins, that he took up coin collecting and amassed the present collection.In addition to his political career and historical pursuits, Carathéodory translated from Arabic to French the Traité du Quadrilatère, attribué à Nassiruddin-El-Tussin, a seminal work on the mathematics of the 13th-century Persian astronomer. He also authored research papers and scholarly essays on Aristotle's Meteorology, Homeric studies, as well as a series of mathematics theses that are still in use. Their shared interest in mathematics forged a bond with his nephew, Constantine Carathéodory, a professor of mathematics at the University of Munich, who contributed to the research of thermodynamics and the development of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity (vide Encyclopaedia Britannica).In 1895, amid renewed religious and social tensions in Crete, Abdul Hamid II appointed Carathéodory as Governor of the island for a second time. Unsuccessful once again in restoring order, Carathéodory resigned the post in December of the same year and was appointed First Translator to H.I.M. the Sultan. In his book, Constantinople, City of the World's Desire, Philip Mansel notes that Abdul Hamid called Carathéodory "a man with remarkable ability, not only the cleverest diplomat in Turkey, but one of the cleverest in Europe." In 1901, Carathéodory attended the funeral of Queen Victoria as a member of the Ottoman delegation. This was his last official assignment.His funeral in 1906, in Constantinople, was officiated by the Patriarch and all the Holy Synod. It marked, according to Mansel, the end of the Phanariot tradition begun by his Mavrocordato ancestors. In 1923 his children and grandchildren left Turkey. Some of them settled in Greece, others in Egypt, Switzerland, and Belgium.The present coin collection was passed on to Catherine Pilavachi-Carathéodory, who was the daughter of Stefanos A. Carathéodory, the eldest son of Alexandre Carathéodory Pasha. Catherine and her family left Egypt for Lausanne, Switzerland in 1961. The collection was inherited by Catherine's son and Alexander's great-grandson, Paul Pilavachi, who is its current owner.
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THRACE, Byzantion. Circa 80-75 BC. AR Tetradrachm (35mm, 14.70 g, 12h). In the name and types of Lysimachos. Diademed head of the deified Alexander right, with horn of Ammon / Athena Nikephoros seated left, left arm resting on shield, transverse spear in background; monogram to inner left, BY on throne. Callataÿ Group 4, dies D4/R5; SNG Copenhagen 1139; Winterthur 3724 (same dies). Fine, toned, small edge chip, a few small scratches, cleaning marks, and small deposits.From the collection of Alexandre Carathéodory Pasha (1833-1906).CNG is pleased to present selections from the collection of Alexandre Carathéodory Pasha, a leading statesman in the Ottoman Empire, whose interest in collecting ancient coins was inspired by his meeting with the French diplomat and numismatist William-Henri Waddington at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. Twenty Greek coins of the Eastern Aegean and Western Asia Minor are being offered in CNG 99, and the majority of the collection is being offered in CNG Electronic Auction 351, which runs concurrently with CNG 99 and closes on 20 May 2015.Alexandre Carathéodory Pasha (or Karatheodory; in Greek: Αλέξανδρος Καραθεοδωρή; 1833–1906) was a prominent Greek scholar, diplomat, and statesman in the Ottoman Empire. Carathéodory was born in Constantinople to an eminent Constantinople Phanariot family. His father, Stefanos Carathéodory, was the personal physician to Sultans Mahmud II and Abdul-Aziz. His mother's ancestors, the Mavrocordatos and Mourousis, had for centuries served as Princes of Moldavia and Wallachia.After obtaining a doctoral degree from the Paris Faculty of Law, Carathéodory pursued a career in the public service of the Ottoman Empire. In 1874, he was appointed ambassador to Rome. In 1878, as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, he participated in the preliminary negotiations with Russia that led to the Treaty of San Stefano, ending the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878). Later that same year, Sultan Abdul-Hamid II dispatched Carathéodory to Germany as head of the Ottoman delegation to the Congress of Berlin. His skillful negotiations with various European statesmen, including Bismarck, Disraeli, Salisbury, and Gorchakov, resulted in the revision of the San Stefano peace terms in favor of the Ottoman Empire (Treaty of Berlin, 1878). Disraeli characterized Carathéodory as "full of finesse and yet calm and plausible." During the Berlin negotiations, he had the opportunity to discover in his French counterpart, William-Henri Waddington, a common interest in ancient Greek culture and civilization. Waddington told Carathéodory of his archaeological pursuits and the collection of ancient coins he had assembled in Asia Minor.Upon his return to Turkey, Carathéodory was appointed Governor-General of Crete with the task of calming the escalating tensions between the island's Christian and Muslim inhabitants in a situation that was approaching civil war. Soon, however, he was called back to Constantinople, where he became Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ottoman Empire (1878-1879). He was the only Greek to ever occupy such a prominent position. In 1884, the Sultan appointed him Prince of the autonomous Greek island of Samos (1885-1894). It is during those nine years, and inspired by Waddington's enthusiasm for ancient coins, that he took up coin collecting and amassed the present collection.In addition to his political career and historical pursuits, Carathéodory translated from Arabic to French the Traité du Quadrilatère, attribué à Nassiruddin-El-Tussin, a seminal work on the mathematics of the 13th-century Persian astronomer. He also authored research papers and scholarly essays on Aristotle's Meteorology, Homeric studies, as well as a series of mathematics theses that are still in use. Their shared interest in mathematics forged a bond with his nephew, Constantine Carathéodory, a professor of mathematics at the University of Munich, who contributed to the research of thermodynamics and the development of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity (vide Encyclopaedia Britannica).In 1895, amid renewed religious and social tensions in Crete, Abdul Hamid II appointed Carathéodory as Governor of the island for a second time. Unsuccessful once again in restoring order, Carathéodory resigned the post in December of the same year and was appointed First Translator to H.I.M. the Sultan. In his book, Constantinople, City of the World's Desire, Philip Mansel notes that Abdul Hamid called Carathéodory "a man with remarkable ability, not only the cleverest diplomat in Turkey, but one of the cleverest in Europe." In 1901, Carathéodory attended the funeral of Queen Victoria as a member of the Ottoman delegation. This was his last official assignment.His funeral in 1906, in Constantinople, was officiated by the Patriarch and all the Holy Synod. It marked, according to Mansel, the end of the Phanariot tradition begun by his Mavrocordato ancestors. In 1923 his children and grandchildren left Turkey. Some of them settled in Greece, others in Egypt, Switzerland, and Belgium.The present coin collection was passed on to Catherine Pilavachi-Carathéodory, who was the daughter of Stefanos A. Carathéodory, the eldest son of Alexandre Carathéodory Pasha. Catherine and her family left Egypt for Lausanne, Switzerland in 1961. The collection was inherited by Catherine's son and Alexander's great-grandson, Paul Pilavachi, who is its current owner.
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THRACE, Chersonesos. Circa 386-338 BC. AR Hemidrachm (12.5mm, 2.47 g). Forepart of lion right, head reverted / Quadripartite incuse square with alternating raised and sunken quarters; pellet and grape bunch in opposite sunken quarters. McClean 4079; SNG Copenhagen –. Good VF, toned. Well centered and struck.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Electronic Auction 351 . 21
THRACE, Selymbria. Circa 425/0-411/0 BC. AR Triobol (11.5mm, 1.52 g, 4h). Cock standing left / Grain ear. Schönert-Geiss, Bisanthe 64 (V1/R2); SNG Copenhagen –; Winterthur 1256. VF, toned, granular surfaces. Very rare.