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 Replies: 16 / Views: 3,755 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
I was recently fortunate enough to have the winning bids on several coins from the David Sellwood collection. Sellwood, as many who frequent this board know, was an eminent numismatist who literally wrote the book on Parthian coins. He was a member of the British Numismatic Society and he served as president of the Royal Numismatic Society from 1979 through 1984. He passed away in 2012. As an avid collector of Parthian coins for about twenty years, I can safely say that there is no more personally-meaningful pedigree for coins in my collection than "ex-David Sellwood collection." The six coins I won are not all very pretty but, as I said, they mean a lot to me nonetheless. I feel privileged to steward them between the time Sellwood owned them and the time they pass along from me. The Vonones is quite rare and, like many of this issue, is mostly likely overstuck on a Phraataces and Musa tetradrachm (Sellwood type 58). The second Vologases III (the last coin below) is, as the Baldwin's catalog stated, light in weight and is probably plated...perhaps an ancient counterfeit. I will have these uploaded to my Forvm gallery, along with about a dozen other recent acquisitions, in a couple of days - but wanted to share them here first. - Bob Mithradates I drachm, 171 â€" 138 BC Sellwood 13.6 or 13.10  Orodes II tetradrachm, 57 â€" 38 BC Sellwood 48.1  Orodes II tetradrachm, 57 â€" 38 BC Sellwood 47.4 variant  Vonones I tetradrachm, 8 â€" 12 AD Sellwood 63.6  Vologases III tetradrachm, 105 â€" 147 AD Sellwood 79.25  Vologases III tetradrachm, 105 â€" 147 AD Sellwood type 79  |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
Congratulations Bob, it must be very satisfying to own such a collection. Let us know when you have posted the other coins.
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
They are all very nice coins with outstanding provenance. Congrats, an excellent addition to any collection.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
7066 Posts |
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
435 Posts |
You say they aren't very pretty...I think they are wonderful coins without such great provenance....and with, well..
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Pillar of the Community
3772 Posts |
Excellent selection of coins.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2368 Posts |
Beautiful coins that I'd be proud to own. Nice one, Bob!
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
I have Sellwood's book on Parthian coins. I treasure it more than I do the coins! I have seen lots of Parthian coins over the years, but I have seen only one copy of the definitive book on the subject. I consider myself most fortunate for this reason. It must be a collectors piece in it's own right.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Thanks, all, for the nice comments.
Sel_69l: yes, Sellwood's "An Introduction to the Coinage of Parthia" is invaluable and fairly hard to come by - and when it's available for purchase, it doesn't come cheap. The 1980 second edition was indispensable for collectors of the series for years, although those collectors have a few more options for attribution assistance these days (Fred Shore's book, Parthia.com, etc.). Dr. G.R.F. Assar, the world's foremost authority on the series since Sellwood's death, said a few years ago that he would work to complete the third edition that Sellwood had been working on when he died. But we'll see...with the nine-volume "Sylloge Nummorum Parthicorum" underway, which promises to be the definitive word on the subject, I'm not so sure if he'll really feel compelled to follow through...but I hope he does. At $200 per volume, the SNP will be beyond most collector's means, and I suspect that most of those folks just want help identifying the coins - they may be less interested in the typological details, stylistic analysis, die linkage, etc., that are covered.
In the meantime Assar has been re-attributing many of the coins in various articles for the past fifteen years, and some of those articles are available on-line.
Thanks again.
Bob
Edited by Kamnaskires
11/28/2014 09:02 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5155 Posts |
As an avid collector of eastern coins, all I can say is I am jelous of BobL. Great score. Like a vulture I will be flying around the Bob L collection in the distant future.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1315 Posts |
They all look fanststic, congrats BobL!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Thanks, Doucet. Pish, the other new ones are now uploaded (you had asked about this). If interested, they can be seen on the front page here: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/ga...hp?cat=16274Older stuff can be seen in the four folders at the top of that page. Thanks for the interest. Bob |
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
435 Posts |
An absolutely wonderful collection, Bob. I have long thought that the Parthian silvers are amongst the most attractive of ancients.....a balance of East and West.
I have had my eyes open for a reasonable Parthian tetradrachm to add to my eclectic ancients collection for some time. Seeing your great display has renewed my desire to acquire one....
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Thank you, Valecrucis. Yes, it's a fun and rewarding collecting area. Sold off my Romans and Greeks some years back to focus on Parthian AR's, and have never regretted it. I do hope you add a Parthian tet soon! Good luck in the hunt.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
Not a collector of Parthians but interesting collection you have there.
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Replies: 16 / Views: 3,755 |
Posted 11/27/2014 6:39 pm
