Exciting win, this one - it may be tiny, and it's not very pretty, but it's a particularly special one for me. The coin is an obol from Elymais, from the reign of Kamnaskires IV, c. 63/2-54/3 BC, 9mm, 0.50 g.
Why so special? Four reasons:
1. This becomes my
sixth plate coin from Pieter Anne van't Haaff's
Catalogue of Elymaean Coinage.
2. With this purchase I have now cornered the market on this particular Elymaean variety. I now own both of the illustrated coins for the VH 8.2 subtype 3-1:
(3-1.a, above, is ex-van't Haaff Collection, and it also appears at Parthia.com as
PDC 10496)
3. To the best of my knowledge - based on some cursory research - it appears that the two coins above may be the
only extant/known examples of this particular subtype. I've not spotted a third anywhere thus far.
4. This is a sort of weird one for me. The coin I just won (3-1.b) comes not only with some good past sales history (Rauch and CNG) but is also from the Asher D. Atchick Collection. I realize that name won't mean anything to anybody here, but I couldn't believe it when I saw it in the EAuction that just concluded at CNG. And, in fact, the name was attached not only to this Elymaean, but also to a number of very nice Parthian coins in the auction. Atchick was my mother's maiden name and, accordingly, the original surname of everyone on the maternal side of the family. It is a safe assumption that all Atchicks are related given the name's rarity. (The same is true of my paternal surname, btw) Most Atchicks are in the Philly area, which is where I am originally from. To have found out, as I did upon stumbling on the auction listing a couple weeks back, that I had a relative who had acquired a fairly extensive Parthian collection - and who not only owned, along with me, a subtype of this particular Elymaean rarity - but that indeed it is the ONLY other example besides the one I already owned - was pretty amazing. I reached out to CNG in the hopes of contacting Mr. Atchick, only to find out - sadly, and as I had feared - that the coins at auction from his collection were part of an estate sale. He had passed last year. Online research confirms he lived in the Philly area. To the best of my knowledge I never met him, and I don't know how many branches apart we may be on the family tree. (I'm not obsessed with family history, like so many people are) But the ex-Atchick provenance, along with #'s 1, 2, and 3, above, do make this a special pickup for me.
CNG's promo for the sale, which I did not see until after contacting CNG about Atchick, had this: "This sale features the Asher D. Atchick Collection. Asher was a loyal CNG customer for years, participating in nearly every electronic auction from their inception in the early 2000s to the spring of this year. The coins in this sale brilliantly demonstrate the kind of quality and variety that a dedicated collector can assemble through our auctions, even on a fairly modest budget."
Posted 01/09/2020 10:26 am
