EXCLUSIVE SHOWCASE
An exclusive selection of historically significant treasures of unparalleled rarity from our private collection, that are not formally priced.
Please enjoy the showcase!
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POA
Ancient Roman Kitten’s Paw Print and Human Finger Marks on Terracotta Floor Tile
Eastern Roman Empire
c.100-400AD
Two ancient fingers, likely the index and middle, have been dragged diagonally across the surface, perhaps during marking, counting, or handling before firing.
Directly on top of these indents, a young kitten left a single paw print, stepping over the human marks as if curious, capturing a fleeting moment of playful curiosity, as if the kitten followed its master’s hand across the surface, creating an extraordinary overlapping narrative in clay.
A museum quality display of human and animal interaction, curiosity, and the accidental evidence preserved in clay for almost two millennia.
(You can almost hear the tile makers shout when you hold this piece!)
POA
Ancient Roman Bronze Military Plaque with Latin Inscriptions Referencing Emperor Septimius Severus.
Eastern Roman Empire
194 AD
Hand-engraved by a skilled craftsman of the Roman army, this exceptional bronze plaque dates precisely to AD 194, during the early reign of Emperor Septimius Severus.
The inscription preserves the emperor’s full titulature — Imperator, Pater Patriae, Consul, and the phrase “ TR POT II, which indicates the second year of Severus’ tribunician power, allowing this artefact to be dated to a single year.
latin Inscription:
IMP CAESAR S SEVERUS
TR POT I I IMP PP COS
VETERANUS MILITAS
English Translation:
'Emperor Caesar Septimius Severus,
holding tribunician power for the second time, Imperator, Father of the Fatherland, Consul.
Veteran of military service.'
POA
Ancient Roman Bronze Military Plaque with Latin Inscriptions naming a Soldier of Legio XX Valeria Victrix under Emperor Vespasian
Eastern Roman Empire
69-79AD
This bronze military plaque bears well-preserved Latin inscriptions, hand- engraved in the late first century, commemorating a soldier named ‘L. Augustus Germanicus’ of Legio XX Valeria Victrix (Legion 20 of the Roman army, under Emperor Vespasian (69-79AD).
Latin Inscription:
LEG XX
IMP CAESAR OIVI
VESPASIANI F O M
L AUGUSTUS GERMANIC
NOMINA MILITUM COS
English Translation:
'The Twentieth Legion.
Under Emperor Caesar Vespasian.
Lucius Augustus Germanicus.
[This records] the names of the soldiers, dated by the consulship.'
This gold Double Crown was struck during the reign of Charles I of the Stuart dynasty (1625–1649) at the Tower Mint, London, c.1630–1631. It represents a transitional period in English coinage, when milled gold coins were emerging from centuries of hammered tradition.
When minted in 1630–1631, this gold Double Crown carried a face value of ten shillings. At the time, this sum could sustain a modest household for several weeks.
This example, approaching 400 years old, was struck just 11–12 years before the outbreak of the English Civil War, and 18–19 years before Charles I was executed for treason on 30 January 1649.
Charles I’s reign was defined by both dynastic ambition and massive political upheaval, and coins such as this tell the story excellently.
