In 1989, Maurici Siso, who had been dealing with numismatics for longer than twenty years, created in Barcelona the firm AUREO under the direction of his daughter, Maria Teresa. The new company, focused on auctions, issued its first catalogue in April of that same year. Since its very beginning, AUREO was characterized by its transparency: we were the first Spanish firm to make public the prices realized in our sales. Besides this feature, the profusion of photographs and the use of computing in all the aspects of the process gave us a pioneering role in the field.
Another important trait was the emphasis on monographic auctions, an infrequent element in the whole Europe. That kind of catalogues provide the collector with an information that today is still very important, but that in the pre-internet years was just essential. First, in 1990 we auctioned the “Alba”, devoted to the coinage of Fernando VII; then, in 1991, the “Cisneros”, encompassing the Catholic Kings and the 16th Century, and next year the “Rocaberti”, dedicated to the European emissions of the Spanish Habsburg and Bourbons, and so on… More than fifty specialised collections in a wide range of fields, including several on notaphily and the “Breogan” of medals, in those two first decades! And then we started the yearly “Selección” sale, which nowadays is a well-established ritual.
In summer of 2007, AUREO purchased one of the most ancient and prestigious firms of the whole continent, giving birth to AUREO & CALICO, based in the Calico building in the historic centre of Barcelona, near the Roman walls of the city. Since that moment on, our auctions become world-renowned, with such collections as “Caballero de las Yndias”, “Imagines Imperatorum”, “Roma Aeterna”, “Gaspar de Portola” and “Isabel de Trastamara”, to mention just a few.
We are keen to stay at the service of that fascinating science, counting on the confidence of our numerous customers and friends.
Castellano