Irvine, Calif. (November 2012) — Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio announces the sale at auction of the Robert O. Ebert Collection. Formed over a period of years by Robert Ebert — accomplished engineer, businessman and son of Rubbermaid founder — the coins will cross the auction block at the Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio Official NYINC Auction, January 11-12 2013, at The Waldorf Astoria. Lot viewing will begin Wednesday, January 9, 2013, in New York City, with earlier viewings by appointment in Irvine, California, December 17-21, 2012 and in New York City, January 2-7, 2013.
Comprised of over 1,700 gold, silver and bronze coins spanning from the early Republic era to the Byzantine Empire, The Ebert Collection focuses on the coinage during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, including Provincial, Aelius Caesar, Antinoüs and Sabina coinage.
“Excitement surrounding what is perhaps the most comprehensive private collection of Hadrian coins has been intense,” said Richard Ponterio, executive vice president of Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio. “More than 800 of the Hadrian coins in this collection would have made a wonderful assemblage all on their own, but Mr. Ebert supplemented the assortment with Aurei, Denarii, Sestertii, Quadrans, Asses, Dupondii, Cistophori and Bronze Medallions of other emperors. Not only did he succeed in composing an academic collection of denominations, types and variants, but also vied for the best quality possible, all across the board.”
One of the highlights offered in this collection is a superb Gold Aureus of the DIVIS PARENTIBVS type (RIC 232B). Its reverse portrays a facing, miniature bust of his adoptive father Trajan, and the Empress Plotina, Trajan’s widow. Among the multitude of Bronzes in the collection is a Medallion of Hadrian, featuring a youthful, bearded bust of the emperor on the obverse. The reverse is adorned by a beautifully rendered, balanced scene portraying Silvanus, the Roman god of uncultivated land, walking toward a temple at the base, of which is a lighted altar with a sacrificial animal.
In addition to the Hadrian coins featured in The Robert O. Ebert Collection are gold, silver and bronze issues that further reflect Roman history, and span from the early Roman Republic era to the late Imperial period. Among more than 100 gold pieces are nearly four-dozen Gold Aurei, showcased by a Mint State Aureus of Pertinax with Laetitia (RIC 4(a), and silver Denarii that are generally in stellar condition, much like a very-well centered Julius Caesar portrait Denarius.
“The Robert O. Ebert Collection is sure to be the highlight of the NYINC Auction,” said Kent Ponterio, senior numismatist of world and ancient coins for Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio. “The combination of specialized Hadrian coins and type-oriented Roman coinage will allow collectors to go home with something special for their cabinets, whether it be a specific RIC number of a Hadrian Sestertius, or one of the more than 100 Aurei in the collection.”
Other highlights of the Robert O. Ebert Collection include:
• Octavian and Julius Caesar. Gold Aureus. Crawford 490/2, Syd.1321
• Cleopatra & Marc Antony Tetradrachm RPC-4094
• Caligula. Bronze Sestertius. RIC 46
• Trajan. Gold Aureus. RIC 257
• Hadrian. Gold Aureus. RIC 298 var.
• Hadrian. Bithynia. Silver Cistophori Tetradrachm.
• Aelius. Gold Aureus. RIC 439
• Sabina. Gold Aureus. RIC 418b
• Septimius Severus Medallion
• Tetricus I. Gold Aureus. RIC 22 var.
All lot descriptions and images in the Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio Official NYINC Auction will be available to view online beginning December 2012 via StacksBowers.com. Printed catalogs are available upon request by calling 800.458.4646. Online bidding and pre-auction bids will also begin in December on StacksBowers.com, by email atauction@StacksBowers.com and by phone at 800.458.4646.
About Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio
Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio is the world and ancients auction division of Stack’s Bowers Galleries. It was founded in 1982 as Ponterio & Associates by Richard Ponterio, renowned specialist in world and ancient numismatics, who is now executive vice president of Stack’s Bowers Galleries. Past auctions have included such notable coin collections as the Wa She Wong Collection, the John S. Davenport Collection, the Witte Museum Collection, the Amat Collection, the Joe Lasser Collection, and the James Hunnicut Collection. Distinguished paper money collections include the East Bay Collection of International Bank Notes, and the Eduard Kann Chinese Bank Note Collection, along with treasure collections from the shipwrecks “Nicobar,” “Rooswijk,” and “Capitana.” For more information about the Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio Official NYINC Auction, call 949.253.0916 or visit StacksBowers.com.
