Who is "Aesnumismatics"?

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  Collecting lore is to "buy only from reputable dealers" because you cannot trust fly-by-night cowboys, or people that have come into antiquities selling by accident but actually know sweet nothing about artefacts at all. You can only trust a seller if you know who you are dealing with and what their actual expertise is. Some dealers have archaeology degrees, others come from other related backgrounds (art history for example). And in the case of some anonymous ones, you can only judge by what they are selling. One such shadowy dealer is the one calling themself "aesnumismatics" who deals through other people's storefronts, for example many auctions on Catawiki. We've discussed this dealer a couple of times here before: 

 PACHI Thursday, 7 October 2021, 'Yandex Catches Another Misdescribed Artefact' they sold an item that was called a "Beautiful Byzantine Applique" 12th-14th century" with photos that were out of focus. It was in fact an early 20th century cufflink, probably Russian in origin. Catawiki removed the object very soon after someone announced on a forum that they'd used Yandex to expose their expert's mistake.

PACHI Wednesday, 24 November 2021 'Another Yandex Reality Check on the International No-Questions-Asked Antiquities Market Aesnumismatics sold a "Viking Era Bronze Important Ring representing the Mythological scene Odin sacrificing himself under the Tree Yggdrasil 9th.-11th Century AD" with collecting history "purchased by the current owner in 2016 in Austria, Wien. Collected Since: 1980's. Previous owners history: Old Austrian Private Collection. The Seller can prove that the lot was obtained legally, provenance statement seen by Catawiki". This ring was shown to have recently been published on a Russian website of recent finds and was found in Ukraine and dates to the early modern era, 15th-17th century.

Friday, 8 April 2022, 'Dealing With Russia (I) Koban Culture Artefacts on Western Markets' The dealer under discussion old Koban culture item (from Caucasus region of Russia or thereabouts) as "Viking" so more than 1500 years later than it is. How did they get it?

PACHI Friday, 6 May 2022, 'More Antiquities Bend Time and Space: Parallel Presence Artefacts', several brooches sold as old European collection material turn out to have been more recently dug up and sold in Ukraine.


PACHI Sunday, 3 July 2022, 'More Dual Presence (Ukrainian) Artefacts Spotted on Austrian Market Several brooches sold as old European collection material turn out to have been more recently dug up and sold in Ukraine. The dealer mixes up "Ostrogothic" brooches with brooches from an entirely different cultural circle and only excavated in Ukraine, where they form part of the national heritage.

If you look at the closed auction that are referred to in the above text, you'll see that absolutely no paperwork is mentioned in the sales offer of any of them.

"Aesnumismatics" is a rather a shadowy figure. According to Catawiki, they are based in Austria, and have been a Catawiki member since May 27, 2016 and mainly deal in small artefacts and a few coins through 'private' sales through Catawiki. They have received 3690 reviews in total (560 in last 12 months). Currently they have on offer 104 lots of artefacts in the following categories:

Ancient History Auction (98)
Ancient Jewellery Auction (3)
Ancient Coins Auction (2)
Interiors Auction (Home Inspiration) (1)

Some of the descriptions are comical in the transparentness of their blague and attempts to fit it into the picture created by written sources:

Ancient Roman Bronze Rare Brooch-Fibula shaped as Galloping Horse-Symbol of Equestrian Class and alussion of the Trojan Horse. This interesting types with a horses were also an alussion of the legendary Trojan Horse from the Homers Iliad. Absolutely Intact with it pin and high quality of the metal and lovely dark natural patina. See Photo Extremely Rare with this style and body position and with rare elements like Saddle and Ruff [sic] Size: 3,5 cm. Purchased by the current owner in 2016 in Austria, Wien. Collected Since: 1990's. Previous owners history: Old Austrian Private Collection. The Seller can prove that the lot was obtained legally , provenance statement seen by Catawiki.

In other cases, Aestnumismatics is cited as a source by other dealers: 

Viking age. Brons Rare pendant / amulet in the form of a combat galley with die-cut circle decoration. – [...] A higly interesting type dedicated to some of the most important element of the Vikings army-their fleet and in particular their specific galleys. Very good grade of preservation with a nice natural dark patina and still wearable! Very Rare with this shape. Material: Bronze. Date:9th.-11th. Century AD. Size: 5,5cm. Purchased by the current owner in 2020 from Aesnumismatics in Vienna, before that it was bought by the previous seller in 2011 in Austria, Wien from Collector fair. Collected Since:1980’s. Previous owners history: Old Austrian Private Collection. The Seller can prove that the lot was obtained legally, provenance statement seen by Catawiki.

Another, a rather suspicious looking gold disc on Lot-Art

Lot 39448957 Ancient Roman Gold Golden military phalera  Ancient Roman phalera in exceptional gold with an image of the Emperor Constantius II (337-361 AD) [bla bla] Slightly cracked on the back, the silver part on the back is broken, with the original part of the leather breastplate between the silver and golden part of this extremely rare phalera. Material: gold. Date: (337-361 AD) Dimensions: 2. 8 cm. Weight: 1. 97 g. Purchased by the current owner on Catawiki from Aesnumismatics, before in 2013 in Vienna, Austria at a collectors fair. Before that: Collected since: the 1990s. History of the previous owners: Former private Austrian collection.

Or there is this rather rough-and-ready looking perforated bowl being sold on @Collectors' Plaza

Ancient Roman Bronze Roman legionary filter RARE  The Roman soldiers had these with them when they were on the road and intended to filter their food. The diameter is 10 cm. One side has a tab with a hole. The tab is to hold the filter and the hole is to hang it. You don`t come across articles like this very often. Ancient Roman Very Rare and Interesting Bronze Legionary Filter Very interesting object for filtering liquids. Some parts are broken and missing, some cracks. very thin. See Photo Not common object very useful to purifying. Size:11.9cm. Item No.I73 Purchased by the current owner in 2014 in Austria, Wien from Collector fair. Collected Since: 1960`s. Previous owners history: Old Austrian Private Collection. afterwards in the collection of the present owner, bought at catawiki from Aesnumismatics on 16.09.2020. The Seller can prove that the lot was obtained legally , provenance statement seen by Catawiki.

More interesting however is the number of items this Vienna (?) seller is apparently importing directly from Russia and Ukraine.