Heritage Offers Rarities Certified by NGC Ancients, Including a Gold Coin Over 2,500 Years Old

From the dawn of coinage to the Byzantine Empire, rarities certified by Numismatic Guaranty Company® (NGC®) are being offered in an upcoming Heritage Auctions sale. More than 130 coins certified by NGC Ancients are part of the NYINC Platinum Session World & Ancient Coins Signature Auction, being held January 8, 2024.

Among the top highlights of this auction is a Lydia Croesus 561-546 BC “Heavy Series” Gold Stater graded NGC MS★, 5/5 Strike and 5/5 Surface (lot 31029) with an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. Around 561 BC, Croesus ascended to the Lydian throne in what today is Turkey. Croesus is credited with a crucial reform — the introduction of a bimetallic coinage in both gold and silver, gradually supplanting the existing electrum currency. The gold staters initially minted by Croesus adhered to a "heavy" standard of approximately 10.7 grams, the same weight as the newly introduced silver stater denomination.

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Other NGC Ancients-certified coins in this auction include:

• a Roman Imperatorial Marc Antony and Lucius Antonius 41 BC Gold Aureus graded NGC Ancients Ch XF, 5/5 Strike and 2/5 Surface (lot 31046), with an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000
• a Roman Imperatorial Quintus Labienus 40-39 BC Silver Denarius graded NGC Ancients Ch AU, 5/5 Strike and 2/5 Surface (lot 31047), with an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000
• a Lydia (Croesus or later) after c. 561 BC “Light Series” Gold Stater graded NGC Ancients Ch MS, 5/5 Strike and 5/5 Surface (lot 31031), with an estimate of $50,000 to $70,000
• a Zeugitana, Carthage c.270-260 BC Gold Trihemistater graded NGC Ancients AU, 5/5 Strike and 4/5 Surface, with Fine Style and pedigreed to the Wetmore Collection (lot 30016), with an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000
• a Roman Empire Nero Claudius Drusus (posthumous, c.AD 41-50) Gold Aureus graded NGC Ancients AU, 5/5 Strike and 4/5 Surface (lot 31051), with an estimate of $40,000 to $50,000
• a Roman Empire Constans AD 337-350 Gold Medallion graded NGC Ancients MS, 5/5 Strike and 3/5 Surface (lot 31065), with an estimate of $30,000 to $50,000
• a Byzantine Empire Leo V AD 813-820 Gold Solidus graded NGC Ancients MS★, 5/5 Strike and 4/5 Surface (lot 31068), with an estimate of $25,000 to $40,000

Estimates are provided by the auction house. The $ symbol indicates the US Dollar.