CMEPTHIK

Auktion Sincona №24 12-13 October 2015 Text version of the catalog https://yadi.sk/d/LxVeYNdhhwzcT

In my recent communications, especially with young collectors of Russian coins, I discovered that many of them have absolutely no idea who Leonid Soedermann was. Wait a minute, why did I write his name as Soedermann and not Sedermann or Sodermann as one may find written by others? Who was he, that enigmatic man with the last name Soedermann? In <st1:country-region w:st="on">Finland, and later in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Switzerland, he lived under that very name, but spoke and wrote using very good Russian, and when he signed his name in Russian, he signed it as Leonid Sergeevich Sedermann. He was a very private person and his whole persona was shrouded in an aura of mystery and that very mystery has always been a source for assumptions, rumors and myths about him. In the mid-80ies in the Journal of the Russian Numismatic Society, Randolph Zander told a story how in 1964 in New York, where Soedermann visited as a member of the International Association of Professional Numismatists (IAPN) for an annual congress, they met and traded some rare coins with each other. For the pattern rouble of Alexander I, Soedermann took a set of pattern nickel coins of 1911 that came from the auction of King Farouk collection. Zander wanted that pattern rouble very much and was fully aware that the trade was in Soedermann’s favor. Soedermann was a member of IAPN, which, by itself is a big achievement. To become a member, besides an impeccable reputation, one has to be recommended by three active members, preferably from different countries, and if there are no objections from any member, the candidacy goes up for voting and has to receive 66% of “yes” votes. All abstained votes are counted as “no’. Soedermann had a coin store in Helsinki, called “Coins and Medals Ltd.,” and in the beginning of 1960s he was a member of IAPN. According to Zander’s impression Soedermann was more a collector than a dealer and between his own collection and his store inventory he had the best collection of Russian coins outside of the Hermitage. Many rumors were circulation about Soedermann. I do not know which ones were true and which ones were myths. Soedermann himself was a very reserved man. Not long before Zander passed away, I visited him and we spent a few very pleasant hours reminiscing about old times. Zander was under impression that before the communist revolution, Soedermann lived in St. Petersburg and was just as a former officer of Russian Army, Gustaf Mannerheim a descendant of Finnish Swedes. Presumably, that was the reason why he went to <st1:country-region w:st="on">Finland after the revolution. The fact that he himself signed his name in Russian as Sedermann is very typical of former Russian citizens where it is common in documents to substitute letter “oe” for “e”. And as far as numismatics is concerned Soedermann's had an old and deep connection to the business. According to Bernhard Brekke, Soedermann’s wife was Ilyin’s distant relative. Nobody knew the whole story of that connection just as nobody knew the exact circumstances of problems and of future Soedermann’s divorce from his new country, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Finland. In our conversation, Zander repeated what he said before, that Soedermann was very unsociable, difficult to deal with especially in business and projected an impression of a tough cookie. According to known facts, but unknown reasons, Finish authorities asked Soedermann to leave the country and allowed him to take all of his belongings, including his coins. The coins were presumed to be the reason for frictions, nobody knew the extent as to how or why. There was even an assumption that Soedermann was a Russian spy. Out of all countries to move to he chose <st1:country-region w:st="on">Switzerland, and spent the rest of his life there. Many leading European auction houses, beginning from the late 60s, were constantly offering his coins for sale. The coins were always sold anonymously and did not have any attributions connecting them to Soedermann. One of those houses was Schweizerischer Bankverein (SBV). Remember that name; its descendants will appear in my story later. Some of those sales, a Bank Leu sale for example, became a landmark sale for Russian coins. Assumptions that certain coins belonged to Soedermann were often confirmed by small pieces of known information and sometimes by simple deduction. From Vsevolod Arefiev, I know that Soedermann once offered him a COMPLETE set of the Georgy Mikhailovich catalog, including unpublished plates for the coins of Peter I, but negotiations were often delayed and Soedermann eventually sold that set to Spink in London. Not many museums, and even more so private collectors, can claim ownership of a set of that rarity. I also know, as a fact, that Soedermann sold Ted Uhl, an American paper money dealer, two of the rarest banknotes of Russian Alaska, 10 and 25 roubles. The rumored price of that sale was $10,000. Also rumored, but never confirmed, was the information that Soedermann was the owner of an incredible collection of Russian silver artifacts and other antiques. For some time, the numismatic world lost sight of Soedermann’s coins, but recently, many of his coins have been offered by several auctions in a row by SBV’s descendant, Sincona. After the merger of SBV and UBS, the numismatic department of SBV became the numismatic department of UBS, but then later separated from the Bank and became Sincona. One can think whatever one wants, but most of SBV’s and UBS’s staff, as well as their storage bins are at Sincona’s disposal. It is doubtful that Sincona will state Soedermann’s collection and the provenance of the purchased coins on their invoice, but taking into consideration all the secondary signs of coins belonging to his collection, even an indirect reference to that outstanding numismatist is a tremendous plus to any coin, as great as it is. Many great names in Russian numismatics, and authors of irreplaceable works, knew Soedermann and dealt with him. Such names like Zander, Brekke, Divo and many others. As they say, there is no smoke without a fire, and even though most of the information about Soedermann, the man, remains unknown, there is no doubt that he was an extraordinary person. He was a man, without any doubt, deserving of respect and if the coins from his collection could tell stories, what interesting stories they would be.

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