July 2004 Coin Newsletter

by Steve Hill

Welcome, Cyberfriends, to the July 2004 edition of the Numismatic report. June has been a comparitively quiet month, as we move into the British summer.

However, this has not stopped the Circular list selling really well and the momentum for purchasing coins from us has really not slowed at all. The problem is always trying to find new material to put into our Circular and at our auctions.

The milled gold on the June list has been received very well and I think we have made one of our biggest overall sales figures in a single Circular issue ever from this listing of these coins. A number of the Five Guinea pieces have sold, as well as the rare guineas, this is in unison with the hammered coin list also selling very well indeed. The Anglesey tokens have also been ordered in bulk it seems which is very pleasing for such a specialised series. The milled silver has also been received very well and a quick wander through what is now left on our website listing of the unsold coins shows that there are only a few items left to choose from now. The ancient Greek and Roman sections have also fared rather well this time and the coin market generally continues to be buoyant.

Our auction catalogue for the sale on Thursday July 15th is out now and early viewers are making appointments already to come and see the lots. The sale begins with the Douglas Griffiths collection of Ancient Coins encompassing mainly Roman coinage with some examples of other empires as well. The collection began after Mr Griffiths was inspired by a visit to the Roman baths at Bath in England. It shows how much visiting a place of antiquity can have an influence on your collecting habits and ambitions. The collection formed over 35 years runs to 183 lots and should be well viewed and contested I feel. The next major section of the sale consists of the run of hammered gold Nobles, 27 pieces from the reigns of Edward III to Henry VI, all of which are very nice and desirable. Hammered gold continues to be in vogue, so no doubt they will all sell on the day.

After this we find the important run of hammered crowns starting with the Edward VI pieces, one of each date, closely followed by both dates of Elizabeth I and the Eight Testerns piece, an attempt to introduce a silver trade coin to compete with the Spanish. There are three James I Crowns and then the larger Charles I section with ten different Tower Mint pieces, one each of Shrewsbury and Bristol, four Oxford and two Exeter. There follows six different Scottish Ryals. Again I expect many of these pieces will be keenly fought over.

Next follows the more general properties and milled coinage, of which the highlight for me is lot 276 the William and Mary Halfcrown of 1690 which is the best one I have seen of this scarce date. There are also three extremely rare proof gothic florins of 1867, 1871 and 1880 up for sale too, and an extremely rare Elizabeth II decimal pattern set of 1961.

At lot 307 the World coins commence and lot 309 is a rare Kookaburra type 12 pattern penny, in good EF condition. There is also an extremely rare Ten Ducat Austrian coin of Ferdinand II at £7,000-8,000. The key foreign coin in the sale and the piece that graces the front cover is the extremely rare Prussian Speciestaler of Firedrich II “The Great” in a superb state of preservation it is estimated at £24,000 – 28,000. There are only three specimens of the original 1755 piece in existence, but this piece is one of the 16 restrikes made in 1787 denoted by its grained edge. The rest of the sale contains general foreign and finishes at lot 519. It will be a day to look forward to.

Other news for July is that Emily Reid and I as well as Paul Mathews from our stamp Department and Barnaby Faull of our banknote department will be conducting a one day valuation event in York on Thursday 29th July at the Marriott Hotel by the race-course. If you have anything you would like to show us please contact Layla Burns at Spink to make an appointment (+44 (0)20 7563 4080). You can also email her at lburns@spink.com. We will be attending the coin and stamp fair on the Friday and Saturday at York racecourse too where we hope to meet clients old and new.

I will be back with my next report at the beginning of August as we prepare for the annual American Numismatic Association Show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Until then enjoy your coins.

Stephen Hill
Associate Director