August 2004 Coin Newsletter

by Steve Hill

Welcome, Cyberfriends, to the August edition of the Numismatic report at the height of our English Summer.

July has been a hectic month, which started with our general auction on the 15th, a successful sale. The Douglas Griffiths collection of ancient coins proved to be very popular indeed, covering a cross section of the ancient world; and Paul Hill was particularly pleased with the results. Many of the coins sold over estimate and the consignors were very pleased to observe the results for themselves in our in-house auction room.

After this collection the English hammered commenced with the collection of gold nobles which sold mainly within or above estimate. The rarities were fetching the premium prices above estimate but the more common pieces proved to be accurately estimated and every noble sold. These were followed by the collection of hammered crowns which also proved popular with some of the Charles I pieces going well over estimate. The Elizabeth I crowns were also in vogue and overall the consignors of these collections were extremely pleased with these results. We hope there will be more to offer from these sources in our future auctions later this year. The foreign coins were also selling well, though the German front cover coin failed to find a new owner on the day.

A silver Siglos from Croesos in Lydia depicting a confrontation
between a lion and bull – August Circular £525

We are now heavily involved in cataloguing for our October auctions which will be fully previewed in next month’s column. Needless to say, we have some very exciting British coins for sale as well as a large contingent of Ancient and Foreign which will all be part of the Coinex week phenomenon in London. A preview with pictures will be online in early September.

A rare Edward III Groat where the top of the King’s chain mail can be seen as
a row of pellets across his breast – August Circular £2,250

As July came to a close we conducted a one day valuation event in York to coincide with our half yearly visit to the racecourse for the ever popular Coin and Stamp show. Paul Mathews from the Stamp department and Emily Reid, Paul Hill and I from Coins had a successful time meeting clients old and new in the lovely racecourse building. The weather was good which perhaps kept the attendance figures a little down this year, otherwise we had a very successful show and bought a great deal of new stock for future Circular listings.

A Republican denarius depicting the Goddess Diana with a prancing
hound on the reverse – August Circular £140
As soon as we arrived back in the office from this event, the August edition of the Numismatic Circular had arrived with subscribers. August 2nd was a rather hectic day as those subscribers not on holiday were making the usual telephone calls to secure those all important coins for their collections. A subscription to the Circular is so important to stand a chance of obtaining that elusive piece. So far the hammered coinage has sold like the proverbial hot cakes, and milled gold again has proved most popular with some very valuable orders. We have also sold a great number of the tokens as well as the copper and bronze pennies. The results for a summer edition have been very pleasing so far.

The extremely rare Pattern Two Pounds of George III dated 1820 – only 60
examples were struck – August Circular £14,500

A very rare overdate Penny in superb condition of
Queen Victoria, 1858 over 3 – August Circular £750

Interesting views of the Eddystone and Spurn Point Lighthouses circa 1800
on this magnificent Devon token issue – August Circular £500

Our next trip is in two weeks time to the American Numismatic Association’s annual Money show this year in Pittsburgh. Jeremy Cheek, Massimiliano Tursi and I will be in attendance from Spink at the David L Lawrence Convention Center in central Pittsburgh. We look forward to welcoming clients old and new at this event.

A wonderful depiction of William and Mary conjoined facing right on this medallion
celebrating their invitation to the British Throne – August Circular £950

Until the next edition of this column, enjoy your coins...

Stephen Hill
Associate Director