A few weeks ago John Hooker, the man who seems to consider himself the world’s greatest living numismatist, 'identified' using a popular handbook a photoshop picture of a coin as an issue of a central European bishop who never issued coins. Now, through another piece of numismaniacal spot-the-difference picture-matching he has publicly queried the collecting history of a coin currently being offered by CNG (Triton XVIII, Lot: 817. Estimate $2000). He says (" Pedigreed [sic] "Abrincatui" stater on Triton sale" the object stated by the seller to have been found in the Le Catillon (Jersey) hoard is illustrated in an 1890s book, which he says shows that the CNG collecting history is false. But perhaps we should check the facts, as in the case of any assertion about the dugup antiquities trade. Compare the two coins. Here's the CNG one, and here from a handy numismatic library is the other:
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| Henri de la Tour, Atlas de monnaies gauloises, 1892, J5. |
I’m puzzled as to why thinks that the coin he illustrates from the CNG sale is ‘the same specimen’ as the other one, take a look at the 'lyre' symbol and the annulets/floriate symbols adjacent to it and what happens above the horse's rear quarters if nothing else. It seems to me he’s doing all this simply to waste our time… I think Hooker owes CNG and the rest of us an apology for misleading everyone.
Cue comments - John Howland and Peter Tompa: "yap yap yap..."
UPDATE 25th November 2014
Oh look, he's deleted his 'identification'. Then he owes CNG an apology and me thanks for checking his numismatic facts for him, and a metal detectorist for drawing his attention to where fuller information may be found.
Cue comments - John Howland and Peter Tompa: "yap yap yap..."
UPDATE 25th November 2014
Oh look, he's deleted his 'identification'. Then he owes CNG an apology and me thanks for checking his numismatic facts for him, and a metal detectorist for drawing his attention to where fuller information may be found.
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