2017-06-14 Wed

The Paul Balla collection is done up with true craftsmanship and a lot of care, with each Roman Emperor represented by multiple reverse types and portrait styles. The first offering from this collection finds its way to the monthly internet auction. The collection includes 303 individuals and group lots drawn from a much larger Balla collection, mostly of Roman Imperial silver denarii but also including several Republican issues and a few antoniniani of the mid-third century. And there is good news for collectors who are interested in this series, there’ll be no scope for duplication despite the multitude of coins for each ruler.

Dr. Paul Balla was born in Ujvide'k, Hungary in the year 1893 and was an avid character. He studied law and international law at the Universities of Budapest, Berlin, Paris and Bordeaux. Before the outbreak of World War I, he entered the Austro-Hungarian army as a first lieutenant. He was badly injured on the Italian front and returned to combat after fully recovering. He later served on the Eastern front until captured by the Russians. However, a year later he successfully escaped and was demobilized at the war's end in November 1918.

After serving his time in war, he completed his studies in diplomacy and in 1923 began his career in the Hungarian Foreign Office. He worked closely with Hungarian Prime Ministers Paul Teleki and Nicolas Kallay, until Germany invaded Hungary in 1944. He along with his wife Margit moved to Canada in 1953 and then to the United States in 1957. During in the final stages of his life, he taught Latin, French and German at St. Leo College in Florida.

It was during the 1920s and 30s that he added Roman silver coins to his collection. His wife assisted him in cleaning, identifying and maintaining coins in the collection. At the time of his death, the collection contained 1,894 coins. Much of his coin collection was because of local farmers who found buried coins in their fields. With the exception of a relatively few coins, the collection was focused on Roman Imperial silver denarii and some antoniniani.

After his death, his daughter took care of his prized possession. She passed away in October 2016. Dr. Balla's grandson, Zala Forizs who is the trustee of the Margit Forizs Trust, is now selling the collection. However, he and his sisters, Emese Wood and Reka Viczian, have kept some coins for themselves as it holds a sentimental value to them.