(1779-89) 40 Zec Fr.1426 Paolo Rainier MS(PCGS#369212)

January 2018 NYINC World Coins Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

21136

等级

XF45

价格

1,159,477

详细说明

Impressive Multiple Zecchini of Paolo Renier ITALY. Venice. 40 Zecchini, ND. Paolo Renier (1779-89). PCGS EF-45 Secure Holder. 139.23 gms. Fr-1426; C-113; Paolucci-pg. 130 #3(R6); CNI-VIII.526, 92; Papadopoli-pg. 807/8 #2; Mont-3040(R5); Gamberini-1803(R8); Nomisma-388(R5). EXCEEDINGLY RAREand possibly unique. Struck with 10 Zecchini dies on a quadruple thick planchet. Doge kneeling before St. Mark, legend "S.M. VENET. PAVL. RAINER."; Reverse: Standing Christ in lens-shaped frame amid stars holding globus cruciger "SIT * T * XRE * DAT * TV * REGIS * ISTE * DVCAT *" (Grant, O Christ that Thou shalt Rule [the Nations]). CNI lists coins of 50, 40, 24, 18, 10, 8 and 4 Zecchini of this Doge, all of which are distinguished by this same immemorial Venetian design. All are ''senza sigle'', without Mintmaster's name. At the time of striking, such a gigantic gold coin would have represented a significant amount of wealth even for the leading figures in the Republic for whom such over-sized Presentation coins were made. Paolucci notes the rarity as "known from two or three specimens only, or unique". The opportunity to acquire any multiple Zecchini does not present itself often let alone the chance to obtain one of this magnitude and rarity. The fact that this specimen has survived for more than 230 years is impressive in its own right. Contact marks and minor edge bumps as is common for pieces of this size and purity. A chance to attain a significant piece of numismatic history that may not occur for again for a prolonged period of time. Reminiscences of Anne and Daniel Aghion This beautiful coin has been in the family as long as we can remember. As we tried to piece together its provenance, we found ourselves reminiscing. Periodically, our father would show us the Venetian 40 Zecchini as one of the most cherished of his family's treasures. Because of the turmoil of exile and wars, there were few such treasures. We would stare at it in wonder; such wonder in fact, that we never asked where it came from. We grew up in France. Our mother was from Brooklyn, New York. Just after World War II, she made her way to France where she met our father and fell in love at first sight. Our father came from a family of Sephardic Jews. Our grandmother's family came from the once-thriving Jewish community of the free port of Livorno, in Italy. Our grandfather's family came from Alexandria, Egypt, where they were pillars of the Jewish community. As landowners in the Ottoman Empire, they grew cotton and developed connections with Europe as traders and bankers. The Aghions were very active in the cultural and intellectual life of this cosmopolitan city. Gustave Aghion, our grandfather's uncle, commissioned the building of his home leading French architects of the time, brothers Auguste and Gustave Perret. (Despite outcries in international architectural circles, it was recently torn down.) The family were great philanthropists in Alexandria, in particular creating a free school open to Jews, Muslims and Copts alike. One Aghion is a character in Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet; another in Herman Hesse's Siddhartha. Our grandfather lived in Egypt briefly, but spent most of his life in Paris. He was a newspaper man, the deputy publisher of the largest circulation daily in France before World War II. As such a man he traveled extensively, including in the early 1920s to the United States to visit the great newspapers of the time. His father, a cousin of Gustave, was Jules Aghion. Jules moved from Alexandria to Paris where he worked as an agent de change, the stock trader or investment banker of the time. He became well-known for the development of telegraphic services that provided the Paris investment banking community with critical and timely information on companies operating in Egypt. Those companies were thriving and many were publicly traded on the Paris stock-exchange. France, at the time, was a major source of funding for Egyptian infrastructure (transportation, electricity, public works and more) associated with the opening of the Suez Canal. At the time, it was common practice for Paris stockbrokers to accept gold coins as collateral to cover an investment. All the coin dealers were located around the Palais Brongniart, the seat of the Paris stock exchange in the 19th and 20th centuries, and it was easy to cash in, in case of default. We long thought that the Venetian 40 Zecchini came into our family long ago, in London, Safed, Thessaloniki, or Amsterdam. Indeed, one of our ancestors, the Grand Rabbi of the powerful Jewish Portuguese community of Amsterdam, lived in all these cities in the 17th century. But we now know that the coin was minted in the 18th century by Doge Paulo Ranieri. After a careful review of our family's archives, we think the Venetian 40 Zecchini probably came from our great-grandfather Jules, and that he obtained it in Paris while working as an agent de change, in circumstances as described above. Apart from his high-profile banking activities, Jules Aghion was very involved in the post-impressionist art community in Paris. He was the brother-in-law of Félix Vallotton, and close friends with artists and art dealers. This 1902 painting by Vallotton shows Jules playing poker with Ms. Bernheim (her husband was one of the most successful art dealers of the time) and two other family members. The painting is now part of the permanent collection at the Paris Musée D'Orsay. Jules Aghion was also the recipient of a personally autographed copy of the first 1904 French translation of Theodore Roosevelt's American Ideals. Estimate: $60,000 - $80,000. Provenance: Descended in the family of current owners Anne and Daniel Aghion. PCGS #369212. PCGS EF-45 Secure Holder. Click here for certification details from PCGS.