10 12th March 2011
london selection - coins & medals Totals climb by a third
■ Upward trend in sales continues for another year
Richard Falkiner reports
THE outstanding feature of 2010’s London-based coins and medals auctions is that the totals are exactly a third
up on 2009 at £36.4m. It is further illustration that, for the
last three years at least, the numismatic trade has proved strong, strong, strong. January’s New York sales have merely served to confirm this (see ATG No 1977, February 12). Don’t forget that the tabulation
reflects auctions held only in London. Baldwin’s figure, for example, does not include two sales in Hong Kong and one in New York that raised a further £1.66m: their world total climbed to just over £5m, up from £4.6m in 2009. This is my 17th consecutive year
surveying these results based on the information furnished by London’s auction houses. The first (1994) recorded a London take of £9.26m. Recent history has shown just how large the rises have been: 2008 saw a massive 42 per cent rise followed by a market correction of a drop of 8.71 per cent. As already mentioned, the past year has seen the general upward trend return, with a 33.2 per cent rise. So what is behind the general upward
trend? A key element has been the massive increase in sales of bank notes. When these surveys began they were hardly a relevant factor, but now look at their significance: Spink took £4.49m from 5200 lots in 2010, while DNW netted £459,602 from 4326 lots. The
Morton & Eden achieved outstanding prices for both coins and medals in London this year:
Left: among several very high prices, this Russian Order of St Andrew awarded to the 1st Earl of Durham (1792-1840), ambassador to Russia, in July 1835, was estimated at £140,000-180,000, by Morton & Eden on June 10. It soared to £1.1m hammer.
Then on November 11, this very rare Roman aureus, left, made £170,000 against an estimate of £40,000-60,000.
FULL TABLE OF RESULTS ON PAGE 12
other houses also handle bank notes but their totals scarcely alter the overall picture. This element gives a different
OPENING SOON
perspective on the performance of the two aforementioned major houses. The bank note figures reduce the coins and commemorative medal money figures to £4.42m (Spink) and £3.74m (DNW) respectively. Spink remain top for London, but
with a reduced margin. While there is a considerable distance between Spink and DNW on the coins front, the figures show just how close they are when it comes to orders, decorations and medals.
Meanwhile,Morton & Eden have soared ahead thanks to one or two spectacular results on the Russian orders front (see highlights). Spink’s total turnover was up 39.7
per cent, while DNW saw a rise of 24.4 per cent, with a particularly good performance on the coin front, up 64.3 per cent, following a drop of 18.2 per cent the previous year. The year at M&E was comparatively
lacklustre for coins and this might be because they lacked any major sales of commemorative medals – particularly the best Renaissance medals – of which they had several over the past decade.
It is worth remembering that although
the Admiral Lord Nelson Star of the Order of the Bath that M&E offered on October 1 went unsold (and so is not included in the tabulation) it did sell afterwards for an undisclosed sum to an English buyer. To learn that the National Maritime Museum made no attempt to acquire the order despite, I am told, being offered a fine contribution, is lamentable. The estimate on this illustrious item was a prudent £300,000-500,000. St James’s had a fine year; their take
increased by almost two thirds (62.7 per continued on page 16
World orders and decorations bought and sold. Medal mounting and replacement medals a speciality. Now with the UK’s largest retail stock of
British Campaign Medals, Orders and Decorations No.7 Whitcomb Street, London WC2H 7HA
Tel/Fax: 020 7352 0308 Tel: 020 7930 8836
richard@chelseamilitaria.com
No.7 Whitcomb Street London WC2H 7HA
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