December 2003 Coin Newsletter

By Steve Hill

November has continued the momentum in the rejuvenation of the British coin market. We held a successful coin auction on the 12th November, and our sales from week to week cease to slow down. As soon as we stock decent coins they sell and the frequency of new material ever decreases fuelling the price increases.

I do detect a slight resistance to the high value items, athough - as has been proved many times before -if the quality is present then a coin will always sell, and usually for a premium price. If the quality is VF or less then there is that reluctance to purchase. The year of 2003 has seen a strong increase in British coin prices as the appreciation of quality has become so much stricter, it is only the quality coins that are breaking the records. The very fine and lower grade coins have been much more static, but nothing has particularly gone down in price.

People these days seem to have more spending power, which has also accounted for this market growth. Some people I have spoken to recently at auctions are reluctant to participate, perhaps because they think they do not stand a chance of buying their desired pieces at a price that is right for them. I think this is a theory that was proved correct with a selection of the rarer pieces in November's auction. Before the auction I thought that with the interest in the viewing of the rarer items that my estimates may have been more conservative than I thought. However in the end the lower estimates seem to be the figures that were achieved rather than the upper ones. People who were expected to attend or bid had not participated. When asked - after the event - why this was, they expressed that they thought the coins would go much higher, what with the performance of Slaney earlier in the year and that therefore there was no point in trying. This is exactly the wrong attitude for the coin hunter and goes to show that you should always try to buy the things you desire at auctions, no matter what the circumstances. Auctions are a gamble there is always a chance you may buy what you want sometimes for significantly less than your bid, the key factor is participation though, come to the auctions and see for yourself. The record prices are not achieved unless a few bidders participate and today there are a few people who are kicking themselves for not bidding in our November auction. Of course the few coins I am talking about are the very rare Charles II patterns from the La Riviere collection.

The quality of the Petition Crown was of course nowhere near the record breaking Slaney piece, but at almost very fine was still respectable and attractive. In the auction it was bid for by two dealers rather than collectors and was sold for just below the low estimate for £29,000 hammer, a real bargain as this coin was offered for retail in November 1997 for £25,000.

The companion Reddite Crown proved to be a very good buy too. A much rarer coin in the sale room, none being offered in a British auction since the inferior Jones piece of 1996. Before that this same coin was offered as part of the 1991 Willis collection where it fetched £8,800, on this outing it mustered a top bid of £11,000 hammer selling to a collector who was very pleased with his "cheap" purchase indeed.

The final bargain was I feel the front cover coin which sold for its low estimate of £8,000, the first I have ever seen personally of this rare coin I felt it would edge nearer to the top estimate with the superb quality evident for a tin piece. All the successful bidders were very happy with these purchases and all commented they had bought them for less than they thought possible for such rare coins. It is not because of lack of confidence in the market, but through lack of confidence in participation that caused this to happen. The other pewter Charles II Crown which was a whole grade below the front cover piece sold for £7,000 hammer still reasonable considering it was sold for £6,500 in November 1997. The obverse silver cliché achieved top estimate at £2,000 hammer and the gold 1662 broad also reached its upper estimate at £3,000 hammer. Surprisingly the silver broad also achieved the same figure despite being hundreds of times rarer than the gold version, which had a mintage of over 3,000 pieces. In contrast, the silver piece had perhaps a mintage of ten, I guess.

It was the section of gold hammered and milled coins that performed really well in this sale. The British gold market has been very strong up to now especially in the hammered series and this was certainly sustained and increased to some extent.

All the hammered gold coins achieved top estimate or more, as did most of the milled. Prices of note included an impressive £13,000 hammer for a Henry VIII gold Sovereign and an amazing £9,500 hammer for an Elizabeth I gold Pound.

Lot 11: This Henry VIII gold sovereign fetched £13,000 hammer in the November coin sale

Lot 14: This Elizabeth I gold Pound reached an amazing £9,500 hammer in November

In the milled section £8,000 hammer was achieved for a very nice Charles II 1684 Five Guineas and £10,500 hammer for a 1693 William and Mary example. A superb two guinea piece of 1694 fetched £4,800, with £2,500 for a 1701 fine work example and £4,600 for a Queen Anne 1711 piece. Even a lower quality five guinea of George I went for more than double estimate at £4,800 hammer, and £2,700 hammer was achieved for a pleasing guinea of William III.

Lot 30: An impressive Charles II Five Guineas of 1684 fetched £8,000 hammer in our auction


Lot 34: This very nice William and Mary Five Guineas broke five figures at £10,500 hammer

Lot 35: A very impressive William and Mary Two Guineas of 1694, it fetched £4,800 hammer

Lot 39: This fine work William III two guineas fetched £2,500 hammer in November

The only bargain I can spot in the gold was a half guinea of Queen Anne dated 1712 which sold for only £1,500 hammer £300 under the low estimate. The next lot after this was a very nice Vigo silver crown which sold for £4,200 hammer. A very rare Australian sovereign the Victoria 1887 Melbourne shield back sold for an impressive £3,600 hammer and the small section of VIP Proof coins was also well supported. The rest of the sale continued in the same vein with almost all lots selling. Top price in the foreign section was £13,000 hammer for the rare USA dollar of 1795. The overall total was 96% sold with a hammer price of some £380,000, an impressive result when compared to the pre-sale estimate of £216,000 to £274,000.

Lot 43: This superb Queen Anne Two Guinea fetched £4,600 hammer in November

Lot 44: Perhaps the bargain of the sale this Queen Anne Half Guinea fetched a mere £1,500 hammer

Lot 45: This nicely toned Queen Anne Vigo Crown fetched £4,200 hammer in November

Lot 47: This lower grade George I five guineas reached an amazing £4,800 hammer

Lot 84: This extremely rare 1887 Melbourne Mint Shield Sovereign achieved £3,600 hammer

Lot 286: Top price in the foreign section of the November
catalogue was this USA Dollarof 1795 that reached £13,000 hammer.

As you read this report our last Numismatic Circular of 2003 should be with our subscribers and contains a very impressive group of coins, banknotes and numismatic books, over £300,000 worth. The rarest coin offered this time is the fabled Edward VIII Brass Threepence and this one is quite special in that it is a Matt Proof specimen rather than a currency piece and is we believe unique as such. It also has the adopted George VI reverse rather than the stylised Madge Kitchener reverse which was used on the rare currency versions sent out to the vending machine manufacturers who were trying to prepare new machines to accept the twelve sided design. The rest of the milled list consists of rarities be they patterns or proofs or very rare date or variety currency pieces. It is a very impressive list which also includes a short list of gold as well as some good medallions, ancient Greek and Roman and British hammered.

The February list will be our annual listing of Irish, Scottish and Channel Islands coinage as well as a very interesting group of tickets and passes.

The auction and show season is now over as we approach Christmas and the New Year. Our next coin auction is not until March 31st when we will be auctioning a very impressive collection of British and Foreign coins, collected in the 1940s, which includes some major milled and hammered rarities and a very impressive group of siege pieces from around the world.

The show season for us starts again in January when Jeremy Cheek and I will attend the Orlando, Florida, FUN show with a table. We will then travel to New York to attend the various auctions and activities though we will not have a table there. This show of course clashes with the Winter York Stamp and Coin Fair and you will find Paul Hill and Emily Reid in attendance at this show. In February we are hoping to conduct a valuation trip to Australia for coins stamps and banknotes, and I hope we may also participate in the Dublin Coin Fair in Ireland too. March will see us again at the Paris Coin Fair and hopefully in Munich. The beginning of April we will be in Harrogate and in Tokyo, Japan in May. In June we hope to arrange a trip to the Long Beach show on the west coast of the USA. As you can see we have a very hectic schedule of shows we endeavour to attend, and there will be more to come after that.

2004 should prove to be very exciting and may I wish you all a very happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year.



Stephen Hill
Associate Director
Coins