A Distinguished Collection of Roman Bronze Coins, the Property of a Gentleman

Foreword

The coins in this collection were assembled over a remarkably short period of 8 years (1933-41). Assisted in the main by Herbert Seaby and Leonard Forrer, and by his own participation in the London auctions of, among others, the collections of Christopher Corbally Browne and, most notably, the Revd. Edward Sydenham, their original owner succeeded in bringing together a group of Roman bronzes that has been unavailable for study for 75 years. Among the 194 lots are pieces from the great continental sales of the 1920s and 1930s, including the collections formed by Clarence Bement, Franz Trau, Sir Arthur Evans, Capt. Edward Spencer-Churchill, Howard Levis, Paul Vautier and many others. Careful perusal of illustrated auction catalogues from the period 1890-1920 would probably enable the provenances of some of the coins here to be extended even further back in time.

While the posthumous sestertius of Titus featuring the newly-completed Coliseum (lot 50) is the highlight of the collection, there are many other pieces worthy of note, including the impressive Weber/Vierordt medal of Severus Alexander and Julia Mamæa depicting the Monetæ (lot 165) and the Bement/Drabble sestertius of Hadrian addressing his British troops (lot 81).