The collection is expected to fetch £1 million (approximately CAD $1.72 million) and will be sold to benefit the Heberden Coin Room at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University’s Museum of Art and Archaeology. The Heberden Coin Room houses around 50,000 Greek and Roman provincial coins and is recognized as the world’s leading coin collection.
Dr. Alexander Sturgis, director of the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, stated, “The proceeds from the sale will endow the post of the curator of Greek coins at the Heberden Coin Room. This will secure the long-term future of Greek numismatics at the University of Oxford, where the subject has a rich and illustrious tradition.”
Bradley Hopper, coin specialist at Noonans, elaborated on the significance of the collection: “The collection stands as a testament to the greatest achievements of classical numismatics, with the 254 specimens covering many geographical areas of the Greek world, from Italy to Bactria, and representing the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods. Known as the Phillips Family Collection of Ancient Greek Coins, it was assembled over approximately 90 years by father and son. However, at the family’s request, their anonymity will be preserved, and the title used throughout is a pseudonym.”
Among the collection’s many highlights is a magnificent Dekadrachm of Carthage, which was gifted from father to son on Christmas Day in 1963 and is estimated to be worth £20,000-26,000 (CAD $34,400-44,700) [lot 117].
Another standout piece is a gold stater from the ancient Greek city of Pantikapaion, struck circa 350-340 BCE. Decorated with a bearded head of Pan, this coin is estimated at £40,000-£50,000 (CAD $68,800-86,000) [lot 118]. Additionally, a stater from Crete, struck between circa 425-400 BCE, features the head of a Minotaur. This coin was once part of the Sir Arthur J. Evans Collection—the archaeologist who discovered the palace at Knossos—and was exhibited as part of the Burlington Fine Arts Club’s Exhibition of Ancient Greek Art in 1903. It is also estimated at £40,000-£50,000 (CAD $68,800-86,000) [lot 214].
The collection shares a particular focus with the Ashmolean’s own holdings, emphasizing Archaic and Classical coins from Italy and Sicily. These coins are renowned for their artistic quality and beauty, as exemplified by the three Sicilian decadrachms included in the sale. Notably, two examples were struck at Syracuse under the tyrant Dionysios I, circa 400-380 BCE. Each coin, depicting a galloping charioteer, is estimated at £40,000-£50,000 (CAD $68,800-86,000) [lots 94 & 96].