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Attractive and Rare Plates of Roman Coins

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:275.00 USD Estimated At:400.00 USD
Attractive and Rare Plates of Roman Coins
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(King, John Glen). (NUMMI FAMILIARUM ET IMPERATORUM ROMANORUM). (London, 1787). Folio [34.5 by 24.5 cm], modern half brown calf with contemporary marbled sides; spine with five raised bands, ruled and lettered in gilt. 26 + 102 engraved plates in ochre depicting Roman coins. 128 plates in all. No title or descriptive text was ever issued. Manuscript index and other material bound or laid in. Generally fine. Not in Lipsius or virtually any other numismatic bibliography before Dekesel. Medallist to Catherine the Great, King apparently prepared these unusual plates to accompany an intended history of Roman consular and imperial coins. Privately published and rare: Dekesel located seven copies, including this one. The manuscript material bound at the front of the volume is by John Latham (1740-1837), the British ornithologist, who appeared to think these plates were intended for Gessner’s work (a reasonable supposition). Dekesel K89. Ex RBW Library.