May 2005 Coin Newsletter

Dear Numismatist,

Welcome to the May 2005 edition of the Spink Coin Department newsletter. This late issue is due to a particularly busy few weeks at Spink following our highly successful Eliasberg and Samuel King auctions. A report on both sales follows below.

Please note that the June issue of the Numismatic Circular will be sent to our subscribers in the next few days. To set up a new subscription to the Circular, please click on the "catalogue subscriptions" link to the right, to view our prices and print off a subscription form to return to us. Alternatively, you can contact us direct.

We hope that you enjoy this issue.

Kind regards,

Spink's Coin Department

ELIASBERG PRICES STUN NUMISMATIC WORLD

Spink and American Numismatic Rarities (Wolfeboro, New Hampshire) are proud to announce the results from the sale of the Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection of World Gold Coins and Medals. The two-day sale, held in New York City on April 18 and 19, realized a spectacular total of $10,118,246 (£5,621,247). Spink in London had a live voice link directly into the saleroom, a first for any London coin auctioneer.

Prior to this historic auction, hundreds of bidders from every continent registered to bid (37 nations), each anxious to compete for the thousands of prizes in the Eliasberg collection. The superb attendance and worldwide marketing of the collection yielded fierce bidding, record prices and many surprises.

Hadrien Rambach, Spink Coin specialist commented, “This collection had everything to seduce the collector – diversity, quality, and freshness to the market. The exceptional prices achieved during this marathon auction of more than 2,500 lots, proved once again how healthy the market is for coins with superb provenance.”

“The energy in the auction room was electric, and we are so proud of the way this sale turned out,” said ANR President Christine Karstedt. “Our staff worked very hard, along with the staff at Spink, to bring this collection to market, and we are delighted to have been a part of this historic and memorable event.”

The highest individual price achieved was $379,500 (£210,833), paid by a dealer bidding on behalf of a client for the Venice 50 zecchini of Doge Alvise Mocenigo IV (1763-78). The excitement was palpable leading up to this lot, described as “a centrepiece of the Eliasberg collection and a singularly impressive coin.” The final bid represented a new world record for an Italian coin struck after the Roman Empire.

Most lots surpassed their estimates, some by as much as ten times pre-sale expectations. There was active bidding via the Internet and on the telephones throughout the two-day sale. The atmosphere in the New York saleroom was certainly comparable with other great coin sales of the past, including Pittman in 1999 and Hammel in 1982. In total, nine lots sold for more than $100,000 (£55,555), and the top seller in a strong English section was the uniface 1825 5 pounds pattern that sold for $41,400 (£23,000).

THE SAMUEL KING COLLECTION - AUCTION RESULTS

The Highly Important Samuel King Collection of Gold Coins was sold by auction on 5th May 2005, with 60 eager bidders competing for 217 lots.

A feeling of great anticipation among the various dealers and collectors filled the room from the start as people speculated how much this unique collection would realise. In the end, attendants of the sale had all been witness to Spink’s highest grossing auction session ever with a hammer total of £1,417,595 for 202 sold lots, an average hammer price of £7,018 per lot.

The highest price of the day was achieved by the celebrated Queen Anne Vigo Five Guineas (lot 142), dated 1703. Bidding began at £30,000 and quickly escalated, with several interested parties itching to bid at the lower levels. The bidders thinned out and the gavel finally fell at £130,000 whereupon the room erupted into spontaneous applause at the new world record price for a Five Guinea piece.

The hammered gold coins were the first lots to come up for sale and achieved fantastic results, with all lots sold and nearly every lot selling for well over its estimate. Highlights included:

The milled section began with some degree of anticipation as most people were curious as to what the large run of Five Guinea pieces would realise. Highlights included:

Catalogues are still available for purchase with the Spink book department.

• 350 Roman coins
• 133 Greek coins
• 4 Byzantine coins
• 18 Celtic coins
• 34 hammered coins
• 394 milled coins
• 12 tokens

Some of our highlights this month are as follows:

MYSIA. PARION (c. 480 B.C.), AR Drachm (?) (3.92g)...  £140 Pulcheria (sister of Theodosius II), AV Tremissis (1.45g)... £850 Henry VI, first reign (1422-61), AV Noble, 6.98g., annulet issue... £2,250

Viking Coinage (c.885-954), Viking coinage of York... £525 Victoria, Pattern Florin, 1848, young laureate head left, rev... £1,650 George II, Guinea, 1747, older laureate head left, rev... £2,750

NB: If you are interested in any of this month's featured stock highlights, you can find these by entering part or all of the descriptions into the "Search Spink" facility online.

As we regularly add to our online stock lists, please remember to check the site frequently to avoid disappointment. To browse through the offered stock, please click here.

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