Vintage view: Gold coin

THE term provenance in the antique world basically means the earliest known, proven history of something and it comes from the French word provenir to ‘come-forth’.

Provenance can be important for the unique, off-standard thing and for pieces with a connection to a famous person or event. Say for example a rifle came up for sale, said to have been the weapon used by a Republican supporter to assassinate Michael Collins at Béal na Bláth on Aug 22, 1922.

In one scenario, it’s in an auction catalogue and the auction house presents it has having provenance. In our other fictional sale, it’s a classified ad with a vivid description of the weapon’s history.