Gold and Croesus at Live Auction

The auction features an unusually choice selection of Danish banknotes this time, headed by the collection of husband and wife Johnny and Jette Birkegaard Bæhr, which, in addition to many popular rarities, has some serious surprises in the form of unique proofs from 1777–1814. They were saved from Denmark’s oldest paper mill, Strandmøllen, to which they had been sent for destruction in the early 19th century. At the auction, we’ll also be presenting no fewer than 70 fine, late Roman and Byzantine numismatic pieces, minted under some 50 different rulers and from Niels Stampe’s collection. Stampe (b. 1940) worked as a typographer for 32 years at the newspaper Fyens Stiftstidende, where he had a weekly coin column from 1979–1998. He is known for his undying commitment to association activities and for his cheery disposition, and he has always had a knowledgeable and interested eye for anything to do with the world of numismatics. The remainder of Niels Stampe’s sizeable Byzantine collection will go under the hammer at various Online Auctions throughout 2024.

The auction features a string of Danish and Danish-Norwegian coins. In silver, we have everything from exciting types from the Viking Age and the early Middle Ages, to splendid Norwegian Frederik I shillings and an array of large silver coins from Christian IV In gold, there are a number of distinguished, rare pieces from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, headed by three double ducats and an exquisite gold twenty crown from 1931. This time, too, we’ll be seeing a wide selection of international goodies, ranging from a gold stater from the reign of King Croesus and two aurei from the reign of Maximianus I, to an English 5 Guinea from 1683. Of the exceptional suites, we have a fantastic series of no fewer than 45 coins from the Danish West Indies, including a number of extremely rare private coins and tokens. The interesting, North German forgeries of Danish-Norwegian crowns from the latter half of the 17th century known as “mystery crowns” are sometimes seen at auction, but never before have as many as 10 different specimens been offered, many of which are, by their very nature, also extremely rare.