La Galerie Numismatique at Waldorf Astoria

La Galerie Numismatique Offers Variety

Next on my pile of auction catalogs is one that friend and fellow blogger, George Cuhaj passed to me a few weeks back. It's a sale from La Galerie Numismatique, a Swiss firm from Lausanne that specializes in coins, medals, banknotes and military orders, all of which are represented in this auction which is set to close Sunday January 13th.

La Galerie Numismatique has begun a tradition of holding auctions in conjunction with the NYINC and their sales are a refreshing alteration from the norm in terms of variety of selection. Auction XI brings to the show a grand array of Russian coins including another Family 1 1/2 Rouble piece, a good run of ancient coinage, a huge selection of medals and nearly half of the catalog is devoted to orders and medals - military decorations and others.

There is so much to look at in this sale, I found it difficult to pinpoint special items, though a few things did stand out as more unusual. Under the listings for Romania they have grouped Moldavia, Transylvania, Romania Kingdom, and Romania Republic issues. It' a wonderful compilation which offers some aluminum splashes, a pattern proof set of 1914 as well as several other attractive patterns, a very rare 1608 Rudolf klippe Taler, several medallic gold issues of Carol II and a great run of four Moldavian coins from the 1400's.

In the Medals section I noticed many fascinating pieces sporting themes ranging from Agriculture to Automobiles, Geology to Horse racing, National Defense to Military Schools, Royalty to Science and Ships to Street dedications. One that caught my eye was lot 542, a gilt bronze medal from 1906 for the Israelite Society for Charity. It mentions Bucuresti and seems to honor the 50 Anniversary of the reign of Carol I.