The Brutus Eid Mar-type gold aureus that sold for £2.7m at Roma Numismatics in October 2020 – an auction record for any classical coin at the time. Richard Beale pleaded guilty to a series of charges in connection with its unlawful sale.
The firm, that last year became mired in a scandal concerning the sale of coins with faked provenances, will cease trading on Friday, May 24.
Founded by Richard Beale in 2008, Roma Numismatics was the highest-grossing auction house for coin sales in the UK in 2022 with total sales of over £16m and last year reported robust sales of £12.5m. However, speculation has surrounded its future since January 2023 when Beale was arrested in New York and subsequently pleaded guilty to a series of charges in connection with unlawful sales of ancient coins. A representative at Roma confirmed its imminent closure to ATG in a phone call on Monday this week.
Beale admitted two counts of conspiracy and three counts of criminal possession of stolen property including falsifying the provenance of the rare Brutus Eid Mar-type gold aureus that sold for £2.7m in London in October 2020 - an auction record for any classical coin at the time.
According to court documents, Beale had bought the coin for €450,000 in cash in 2015 and later paid for fabricated provenance papers. At the sale, the coin was said to have been previously owned by Bernard de Chambrier (1878- 1963) and the antiquarian Baron Gustave Charles Ferdinand von Bonstetten (1816-92).
New York Supreme Court judge Althea Drysdale called Beale’s actions “woefully wrong and illegal”, as well as “harmful to both the buyers and the nations whose cultural property [was] illegally acquired”.
Richard Beale was also accused of falsifying the provenance of this silver tetradrachm struck in c.460BC in commemoration of the refounding of the city of Naxos that sold in October 2020 for £240,000.
Beale was also accused of falsifying the provenance a silver tetradrachm struck in c.460BC in commemoration of the refounding of the city of Naxos that sold in the same sale for £240,000.
The coins were seized by US authorities and repatriated to Greece and Italy, their countries of origin.
Beale also admitted to creating provenances for a number of silver Alexander the Great decadrachms sold by Roma Numismatics, including one that made £100,000 in September 2017. They were offered with their origins from the so-called ‘Gaza Hoard’ disguised.
Following his guilty plea, Beale faces a maximum sentence of 25 years, although this is likely to be reduced.
His firm held its final sales on April 24-25 – events that appeared to be a ‘fire sale’ of remaining inventory and included the firm’s coin trays and display cabinets among the closing lots. In recent weeks several members of staff have left the company while buyers have been asked to use new bank account details for payments. Any clients with unclaimed merchandise are encouraged to contact the firm at its Villiers St, London office.
