Press Releases

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New record set at auction for a chinese banknote for HKD $990,000

New world record auction price for a Victoria Cross to a British recipient, sold at Spink -19th November 2009

London - Spink is pleased to announce a new world record auction price for a Victoria Cross to a British recipient awarded to  Flight Lieutenant W. 'Bill' Reid. The medal group sold this morning for £348,000 to an anonymous bidder in the room. Mark Quayle, medal specialist for Spink commented, “this was a fully justified price reflective of a remarkable act of gallantry.”....more

The Pierron Collection of Bristish Commonwealth Missing
Colours
This will be a landmark auction, there having never been a catalogue solely devoted to this subject. Missing colours are undoubtedly the most spectacular and visual of all errors ...more

Frank Sinatra’s stamp box to be sold at auction with Spink in
July
On the 15th of July 2009, Spink will auction The “Blue Eyes” Collection, a group of over 500 fine and rare stamp boxes. Estimates for the collection range from £30 to £30,000 ...more

£24,250 for ‘Animals’ VC’ awarded to Rip, the heroic dog
This afternoon at Spink a full auction room witnessed the sale of the Dickin Medal awarded to the brave canine, Rip, D.M. There was a great deal of interest in the lot. In the end the hammer fell with the winning bidder, who wishes to remain anonymous, paying £24,250 for the lot...more

Block of stamps, formerly held in the Queen’s collection, sells for £207,100.

Spink stamp collectors were presented with a rare opportunity to bid for an item formerly owned by Her Majesty The Queen in the Great Britain Stamps & Postal History Auction....more

The ‘Animals’ VC’ awarded to Rip, the heroic dog, up for auction at Spink in London
Spink is pleased to announce the sale of the Dickin Medal awarded to the brave canine, Rip, D.M. The lot is expected to fetch between £8,000 and £10,000 when it comes up for sale in Spink’s London auction room on the 23rd of April 2009...more

World Banknotes fetch enormous prices at Spink in London
Spink sold just over 1,000 banknotes during its World Banknotes sale in London. Several languages were overheard in the room where bidders actively pursued lots, bidding against those on the phone and those using Spink Live to participate in the sale. It was a truly international event with an outstanding result: a sale total of £1,478,254....more

$5 Canadian Note sells for £13,900 at Spink in London
Today Spink held the first half of a two day sale of ‘Banknotes of the World’ in London.the Merchants Bank of Canada, $5, Montreal Note dated 1 November 1919 with a red serial number 000001. The note was purchased by an anonymous bidder for £13,900....more

New World Record Price for a British Commonwealth Queen Elizabeth
II Stamp.

The “Aphrodite” Collection of Cyprus stamps & covers was sold today at Spink in London. The sale realised a fantastic total of £628,411 with 372 lots coming under the hammer throughout the course of the day. .....more

Rare Number One Notes Sell in Hong Kong Auction.

Spink offered a unique opportunity to obtain serial numbers never before released on the open market today in Hong Kong. Thirteen notes from The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation were auctioned and fetched a total price of over HK$1million. All thirteen lots were low numbered banknotes but what made this collection exceptional were the seven number 1 serial number notes. All number 1 notes are practically impossible to acquire. In the United Kingdom Her Majesty the Queen is presented with all Bank of England number 1 banknotes.....more

TITANIC LETTER fetches fantastic price at auction.

A letter from a first class passenger onboard the Titanic was sold at auction today by Spink Smythe in New York City for $16,200. The letter, dated April 10, 1912, was written by passenger George Graham of Harriston of Canada, a sales manager for the Eaton's department store company, to a business colleague in Berlin, Germany....more

Rarest Number one notes from hong kong return home for sale.

Spink are pleased to offer a unique opportunity to obtain serial numbers never before released on the open market. This Saturday Spink will auction 13 notes from The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. All thirteen lots are low numbered banknotes but what makes this collection exceptional are the seven number 1 serial number notes....more

Jefferson and Edison signatures, Two Titanic Letters in Public Auction

Two letters from first class passengers onboard the Titanic will be offered for a sale at a public auction in New York City and online, January 16, 2009. Both are written on White Star Lines stationery imprinted with the words, “On board R.M.S. Titanic,” and one may be the very first letter written on the ship by an early-boarding male passenger. “Letters from passengers aboard Titanic are extremely rare, and are among the most prized artifacts from the disaster,” said Robert Litzenberger, Autograph Specialist of Spink Smythe (www.SpinkSmythe.com), the Dallas, New York and London-based auction house conducting the sale. “The letters are expected to sell for $10,000 to $20,000 each.”...more

Positive News for Medal Auction Market; Spink Sale Exceeds Estimate by 54%

(London) – The auction room at Spink’s London headquarters was once again overflowing today for the sale of Orders, Decorations, Medals & Militaria. Bidders from around the world participated in the sale in person, via telephone and through Spink’s online bidding service, Spink Live. The sale’s total was an outstanding 54% more than the estimate. Mark Quayle, Head of the Medals Department at Spink commented, “It is reassuring to see that in a time of global financial crisis the market for Orders, Decorations and Campaign Medals remains buoyant for both vendor and purchaser alike.”...more

WORLD RENOWNED ART COLLECTOR JOSEPH HACKMEY TO SELL STAMP COLLECTIONS AT AUCTION AT SPINK
Joseph Hackmey at his London home with Tim Hirsch and Olivier Stocker

Spink are pleased to announce the sale of the award winning Joseph Hackmey Philatelic Collections of Classic Ceylon and New Zealand. These are, without doubt, the finest collections of these countries ever formed and are expected to fetch in excess of US$10 million at auction. Joseph Hackmey, the renowned arts and philatelic collector, began collecting Ceylon and New Zealand in the early 1980s, coinciding with the auctions of The Patrick Pearson Collection and The Bartrop Sale. Hackmey’s collections contain numerous rare and unique items with outstanding provenance. The auction will feature rarities previously held by the world’s most renowned collectors including Ferrari, de Worms, Caspary, Dale-Lichtenstein, Pack, Stanley, Agabeg, Pearson and John Woolfe, to name but a few.  

The collections will be sold through two auctions taking place at Spink-Shreve Galleries in New York. The first sale will be held in early 2009 with a second sale following in autumn 2009. We feel certain that collectors of Ceylon and New Zealand, as well as new collectors from around the world, will be thrilled with the opportunity to purchase items from one of the most prestigious collections to come onto the market in the 21st century.

Two beautifully presented hardbound catalogues will be produced for the upcoming sales and will be available approximately four weeks prior to the auction. They are sure to be an important addition to any philatelic reference library, whether personal or institutional.

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