Germany comes down on Collectors with a heavy hand

German numismatists ring the alarm bells

German cultural authorities have begun searching private homes and seizing entire collections of antique coins, if provenance of only a few coins in the collection is not documented.

These invasions are being conducted under the new German laws on importation of cultural property. Coins being subjected to such scrutiny are not restricted to ancient coins presumed to have been excavated - medieval and antique modern coins are also subject to the same measures. In one case, a pensioner from the Thuringian Eisenberg recently acquired four old coins on an Internet auction site. Shortly afterwards his house was searched, ending with seizure of his entire collection.

Collectors are understandably alarmed, because very few coins in their collections have provenances that will satisfy the new laws. When a collection becomes suspect only a short time is being allowed to prove licit origin before the collection is seized, and then even if the suspicion is unfounded, it is very difficult to recover the collection.

Not only coins, but all "cultural objects" more than 100 years old are
subject to these new cultural laws, leading to fears that stamp collections, collections of graphic arts and antique jewelry may also be targeted. The list of "cultural objects" in the 1970 UNESCO Convention is very extensive, including such common things as coins, postage stamps, photographs and printed books.

Read the whole story at: www.cointalk.com

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Victorian parure in Classical style with ancient Roman coins

A touch of history ... Victorian parure in Classical style with ancient Roman coins, wire works and lotus

(you can click the picture to get to its descriptive page)

Fashion in the last quarter of the 19th century was strongly inspired by Etruscan archaeological finds and the Pompeii excavations. Combine this with the impact on the fashion of Egyptian motives caused by opening of the Suez channel in 1870 and then take a good look at this magnificent parure. We see original antique coins, skilfully elaborated filigree work, big red stones and stylised lotus flowers.

It then becomes obvious that the jeweller who made this was not only an excellent craftsman but also very creative in combining the distinctive styles into a typical 19th Century Western European interpretation of different styles of ancient jewelry. To have the piece look even more authentic the good man in his enthusiasm incorporated no less then nine original ancient silver coins.

The age of the coins is around a stunning 2,000 years! It would be too much to describe them all but on the one hanging down in the center we recognize an elephant and the word CAESAR. Gaius Julius Caesar (July 13, 100 BC – March 15, 44 BC) was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. He also issued coins featuring images of elephants, suggesting that he favoured this interpretation of his name.

To our experts, who are used to see a lot of jewelry, it was the thrill of the month to find a silver parure from the Victorian era that has such a strong historical and classical expression. It is therefore that, although we hardly ever offer silver jewelry, we gladly make an exception for this parure. This, to us, is a "piece unique" and looks even more magnificent when being worn.

Antique jewelry object group: parures, necklaces, bracelets and earrings
Country of origin: unknown
Style: Victorian eclectism - (styles overview)
Style specifics: Typical for the Victorian era is the marriage of various sources of inspiration, in this case the Neo Egyptian style the classical style and the archaeological style.
Period: ca. 1880 (events and facts in 1880)
Source of inspiration: the antique world (Etruscans, Egypt, Greece and Rome)
Material: silver (except the system of the earrings that is gold) - (precious metals)
Technique: Filigree; this is in fact thin wire twisted into refined motifs. This technique demands very high skills and precision from the maker.
Precious stones: All stones in the parure are red strass or
paste used as ruby-imitation. In the necklace there are nine stones (eight round and one heartshape), the bracelet has one big heart shape and six smaller round brilliant cut stones. The earrings have one pear shaped stone each. - (precious stones)
Birthstones: Ruby is the birthstone (or month stone) for July. - (general birthstones explanation)
More background information on: neo egyptian, eclecticism, archaeological jewelry, eclecticism jewelry, parure, paste jewelry, Julius Ceasar
Hallmarks: No trace. - (general hallmarks info)
Condition: excellent condition - (our condition scale)
Dimensions: Circumference necklace approximately 45.00 cm (17.72 inch), circumference bracelet approximately 17.80 cm (7.01 inch), height earrings approximately 2.80 cm (1.10 inch)
Weight earrings: 3.50 gram (2.25 dwt)
Weight bracelet: 34.80 gram (22.38 dwt)
Weight necklace: 74.00 gram (47.58 dwt)
Weight parure: 112.30 gram (72.21 dwt)


Reference Nº: 08311-4252

See also our:
all parures, victorian bangles, victorian bracelets, victorian earrings, victorian necklaces, victorian parure, victorian jewelry or our latest acquisitions, antique jewelry, estate jewelry, vintage jewelry or modern jewelry

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