16 12th March 2011 london selection - coins & medals
“The newcomer to the tabulation this year past is Timeline. Their contribution is small but certainly should not be ignored”
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cent). Although they dispose of a few interesting but lower-priced items – so do not miss their catalogues – their commercial interest lies in their ability to attract lots and buyers for more noteworthy items, mostly in the British field. They had the biggest increase in the number of lots offered (42.5 per cent). Baldwin’s three-part sale of the
Michael Hall collection of commemorative medals from the Renaissance contributed £729,901 and 1794 lots to their take. Keep these three catalogues safe; they are a comprehensive reference unlikely to be found outside an extensive library. London Coin Auctions gave a very
steady performance, totals up 8.3 per cent. They sell mainly British material and, with some exceptions, mainly at the lower end of the market. In this context it is worth remembering the general principle that there is more lower end material than high-flyers. It is the former
Below: Baldwin’s knew they had something special on their hands when they put this Charles I gold triple unite on the cover of their September 28-29 sale catalogue. With the rare date of 1644, it went just above top estimate at £62,000.
end that keeps trade flourishing. Bonhams (aka Glendinings) remain
very steady, showing a modest increase year on year. The last two years have seen rises of +1.6 per cent and +1.7 per cent. Trade gossip has it that moving from Knightsbridge to New Bond Street, nearer to the capital’s numismatic centre, would help. The newcomer to the tabulation this
year past is Timeline. Their contribution is small but certainly should not be ignored. Their main speciality is small- scale antiquities of Roman and medieval origin and they took £612,074 for this in the year. However, they also offered 737 lots of coins and took £188,919 for them. Their total may be small in the general context to date, but many of the lots offered are of intense scholastic interest and Timeline should be congratulated on the care exercised in the preparation of their well-illustrated catalogues.
Above: this Henry VII sovereign – dating from 1505 and one of the best examples seen in recent years – was estimated at what Richard Falkiner deemed a ‘brave’ £70,000-90,000 at Dix Noonan Webb on September 29. The auctioneers’ bullishness proved well founded, however, when it went on to take £160,000. On the medals front DNW took £60,000 for one of the most desirable medal groups of the Second World war, this Distinguished Conduct Medal group of Sgt ‘Jack’ Byrne, below, which sold to a collector on September 16.
Above: this rare Charles I three-pound piece, struck at Oxford, left its £50,000-60,000 estimate well behind when it took £140,000 at Spink’s December 1-2 sale.
Left: the Professional Footballers’ Association paid £210,000 for Second Lieutenant D.S. Bell’s VC group, including his memorial plaque, at Spink on November 24. A former Bradford Park FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers player – as well as an amateur player for both Newcastle United and Crystal Palace – Bell quit in 1914 to volunteer for the army. A hero of the Somme in 1916, he was killed before he learnt of the award.
Above: this Victoria pattern crown in gold, sold in the famous Murdoch Collection sale at Sotheby’s in 1904, remained in the purchaser’s family until it was rediscovered a couple of years ago, subsequently selling at auction in Plymouth for £16,000. On September 30 St James’s Auctions took £114,000 hammer for it.
Left: the highlight of the sale of the Michael Hall collection of
commemorative medals at Baldwin’s on May 4 was this Holy Trinity silver medal by Hans Reinhart the
Elder (active c.1539), which took £48,000.
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