MACEDON, Amphipolis. 357/6 BC. Electrotype “Tetradrachm” (24mm, 13.25 g, 6h). Non-British Museum electrotype by Robert Ready (marked RR on edge).

Electronic Auction 472
Lot: 489. Estimated: $ 200

Electrotypes, Silver

Sold For $ 1 100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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MACEDON, Amphipolis. 357/6 BC. Electrotype “Tetradrachm” (24mm, 13.25 g, 6h). Non-British Museum electrotype by Robert Ready (marked RR on edge). Laureate and draped bust of Apollo facing slightly right / Ethnic on raised linear square enclosing race torch; P to inner left; all within incuse square. Cf. Head, Guide, Period III.B., 7–8; cf. Boston MFA 539 = Warren 550 = W. Greenwell, “On Some Rare Greek Coins” in NC 1880, p. 6 and pl. I, 5 (for prototype). Toned. As made. Rare Ready electrotype from a non-BM source.

Duplicate from the England - McFadden Electrotype Collection.

This electrotype presents a bit of a mystery. Robert Ready produced electrotypes from coins in the collection of the British Museum, and here his RR is present on the edge, as it is on all that he made. What is unusual is that the prototype for this electrotype was never part of the museum collection. The coin was originally found in the 1859 Saloniki Hoard (IGCH 368), from which W. Greenwell acquired it. He presented the coin in his 1880 Numismatic Chronicle article, and, later it was acquired along with much of Greenwell’s collection by Edward Warren, where it was published again, by Regling. The tetradrachm was then acquired by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, with most of Warren’s coins, where it still resides today. At some point, Robert Ready had been given access to the coin, probably by Greenwell, to make the molds for an electrotype. Undoubtedly, the tetradrachm was quite famous in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as it was illustrated in a number of important numismatic publications by Anson, Gaebler, Rizzo, and, later, by Kraay in ACGC (see the entry for the coin in Lorber [no. 39a] for full publication details).

Closing Date and Time: 15 July 2020 at 12:42:40 ET.

All winning bids are subject to an 18% buyer’s fee.