Costa Mesa, CA – Coming on the heels of a record-breaking 2021, the World and Ancient Department at Stack’s Bowers Galleries continued to solidify their status as a market leader. The year 2022 saw the firm realize remarkable World and Ancient auction sales that surpassed $108 million, marking the second consecutive year that the $100 million benchmark has been exceeded. The department also offered more than 30,000 lots in total for the year, easily surpassing the record they set in 2021. Another colossal record was set by their spring Hong Kong sale, which realized in excess of $43 million—making it the single highest grossing auction of non-American coins held by any firm in history. Continuing to display that strength throughout the year, the department’s final Collectors Choice Online Auction in November represented their largest in terms of both total lot count and prices realized, as over 3,600 lots attracted the impressive sum of $2.1 million.
Numbers alone, however, don’t reveal the entire story. Numerous prestigious collections were presented by the department, many of which will become synonymous with the material contained therein. There was the Mark and Lottie Salton Collection, with its immense arrays of Ancient Greek and British coinage, and the Pat Johnson Collection, with its acute focus upon Latin American numismatics. The Augustana Collection featured gold rarities from across western Europe, while the items in the Sigma Collection spanned more than two centuries of exceptional Russian coinage. The Robert C. Knepper Collection offered a hyper focus upon the wildman iconography within coins—the overwhelming majority of which emanated from the much-divided duchy of Brunswick-Luneburg.
Meanwhile, Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ World and Ancient Department remains extremely busy with what already promises to be another year of broken records and surging growth, with their 2023 January NYINC sale serving as their largest to date, comprising over 5,700 lots.
To consign your ancient coins and world coins and paper money to an upcoming Stack’s Bowers Galleries event visit StacksBowers.com, call 800-458-4646, or email Consign@StacksBowers.com.
Highlights from 2022
World Coins (Top 5)
NETHERLANDS. Kapen. Imitation 8 Rose Noble, ND (ca. 1600). EF. Realized: $962,500
POLAND. 80 Ducats, 1621-SA//II-VE. Bromberg Mint. Sigismund III. PCGS AU-50. Realized: $900,000
POLAND. Medallic 10 Ducats, 1595. Vilnius Mint. Sigismund III. PCGS AU Details. Realized: $480,000
MEXICO. “Royal” Presentation Cob 8 Reales, 1725/3-Mo D. Mexico City Mint, Assayer D. Luis I. NGC AU-55. Realized: $432,000
GREAT BRITAIN. Gold “Una and the Lion” 5 Pounds Pattern, 1839. London Mint. Victoria. NGC PROOF-64. Realized: $408,000
Ancient Coins (Top 5)
ROMAN. ELAGABALUS, A.D. 218-222. AV Aureus (7.03 gms), Antioch Mint, A.D. 218-219. NGC Ch MS★, Strike: 5/5 Surface: 4/5. Realized: $312,000
ROMAN. SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS, WITH JULIA DOMNA, CARACALLA & GETA, A.D. 193-211. AV Aureus (7.38 gms), Rome Mint, A.D. 202. NGC Ch AU, Strike: 5/5 Surface: 3/5. Fine Style. Realized: $192,000
ROMAN. GETA AS CAESAR, WITH CARACALLA, A.D. 198-209. AV Aureus (7.26 gms), Rome Mint, A.D. 200-202. NGC Ch AU★, Strike: 5/5 Surface: 5/5. Realized: $168,000
Asian Coins (Top 5)
CHINA. Silver “Long Whisker Dragon” Dollar Pattern, Year 3 (1911). Tientsin Mint. Hsuan-t’ung (Xuantong [Puyi]). PCGS SPECIMEN-63+ Realized: $3,000,000
CHINA. Kiangnan. 3 Mace 6 Candareens (50 Cents), CD (1899). Nanking Mint. Kuang-hsu (Guangxu). PCGS MS-62+ Prooflike Realized: $1,200,000
CHINA. Silver Dollar Pattern, ND (1914). Tientsin Mint. PCGS SPECIMEN-67. Realized: $1,170,000
CHINA. Dollar, ND (1916). Tientsin Mint. Hung-hsien (Hongxian [Yuan Shih-kai]). PCGS MS-67. Realized: $840,000
CHINA. Dollar, Year 3 (1914). PCGS PROOF-65. Realized: $720,000
About Stack’s Bowers Galleries
Stack’s Bowers Galleries conducts live, Internet and specialized auctions of rare U.S. and world coins and currency and ancient coins, as well as direct sales through retail and wholesale channels. The company’s nearly 90-year legacy includes the cataloging and sale of many of the most valuable United States coin and currency collections to ever cross an auction block — The D. Brent Pogue Collection, The John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, The Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection, The Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection, The Joel R. Anderson Collection, The Norweb Collection, The Cardinal Collection, The Sydney F. Martin Collection and The Battle Born Collection — to name just a few. World coin and currency collections include The Pinnacle Collection, The Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection of World Gold Coins, The Kroisos Collection, The Alicia and Sidney Belzberg Collection, The Salton Collection, The Wa She Wong Collection, and The Thos. H. Law Collection.
The company is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, with galleries in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. Offices are also located in New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, Vancouver, Hong Kong and Paris. Stack’s Bowers Galleries hosts an annual Global Showcase in August featuring United States coins and currency, Ancient coins and World coins and currency in its Costa Mesa auction gallery. They are also the Official Auctioneer for several important numismatic events, including the New York International Numismatic Convention, the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Spring, Summer and Winter Expos, the Spring and Fall Hong Kong shows, and the Maastricht Paper Money Shows.
