Introduction to the RBW Collection Roberto Russo
My close and long-standing friendship with RBW now spans over 20 years: a long string of wonderful memories of his visits to Naples, Capri, Sorrento, Pompei and Paestum, not to mention my trips to Palo Alto, Napa Valley and San Francisco, which will connect us forever. How could I ever forget all those splendid evenings spent in New York, London, Zurich,Paris and Rome, enjoying the premier wines of RBW (a refined connoisseur), almost always in the company of Charles Hersh, who is forever in our memories.
Like BCD, Athos Moretti, Charles Hersh, B. Biaggi, Abekassis and D. Berend, RBW
has
always represented the sensitive, refined and intelligent world of collecting of the second half of the 20th Century, when today's means of mass communication did not exist, and the serious collector's only possibility of cultivating their passion involved travelling extensively in order to visit the great dealers of the time. These collectors were extraordinary characters who didn't just collect coins; they loved them, studied them, and struck up friendships with the best-known academics and dealers. RBW decided early on to collect Roman Republican coins: not just denarii, or even just silver, but all Republican coins.
Today Republican denarii are perhaps the most collected ancient coins. Republican gold, however, is the preserve of a small elite, and in most cases they are pursued by collectors of Roman gold coins in general. In fact, it is impossible for a person interested in ancient history to resist the wondrous allure of names such as Sulla, Titus Quintius Flamininus, Brutus, Lepidus, Caesar, Pompey, Labienus Particus, Domitius Ahenobarbus, Marcus Antonius and Antyllus. For this reason, these splendid coins almost always become the prologue to an extensive Imperial gold coin collection. Then we have the bronze coins, which have two different stories. The Republican cast coins, or Aes Grave, often becom e part of a much larger collection of Italian cast coins; in fact there are a large number of collectors of these primordial coins, which are more similar to archaeological objects than coins as we know them. On the other hand, struck bronze coins are largely overlooked by almost all collectors, and only a select few are interested in these pieces. What is the reason for this lack of interest? Is it because it is so difficult to find extremely well-preserved specimens? Or perhaps it is due to the monotony of the types, with the ever-present prow reverse? Or perhaps it is the overwhelming number of issues and types? Can it be explained through the lack of availability of specialist literature, which would make this extremely complicated subject more accessible to collectors? Probably only apart of the answer to our question can be found in each of these reasons. Here is how I like to define a collection of Republican coins: silver is the torso, gold is the head, andbronze are the limbs; for a well-proportioned body none of these parts can be missing or notably inferior to the other parts. This is what my friend RBW understood: he collected Republican coins with the same ardour and enquiring spirit as Bahrfeldt or Sydenham. In his search, a very expensive aureus had the same value to his collection as a small rare uncia, the commercial worth being only a secondary detail. In fact, he actually went even further by collecting colonial Republican coins with the same determination, a collection which he has decided to continue to cultivate.
One must not be misled by the relatively limited number of gold coins offered in this catalogue, which while rich in extremely rare coins, represents only a part of the original collection. In fact, the majority of the RBW Republican gold coins were offered at Triton III back in 1999, lots 808 to 851. Thus, the RBW collection was perfectly balanced among gold, silver and cast and struck bronze. The quality and rarity of the silver and gold offered is alone sufficient to guarante e that the sale will be a great success, and it will represent an utterly unique opportunity for Republican collectors to enrich their collections. Even the cast bronze