January 2006 Coin Newsletter

Firstly we would like to wish our clients a happy and prosperous New Year. January has seen some changes in the Spink team, with Paul Dawson joining us to head up Coin Dealing. Paul has been involved with coins for over twenty years and has run his own coin business for seven of those. We are delighted to welcome Paul to Spink, and he in turn is looking forward to meeting clients, both old and new.

The marketplace has as usual got off to a fast start, with the first major coin fair of the year taking place in New York. The Waldorf Astoria was the perfect location for the bustling International Numismatic Convention, where Spink had a table overlooking the room.  It was truly an international event, with collectors from around the globe aged between 13 and 85 all buying for their collections. The strongest sector both at the Convention and in the auctions preceding this was that of Ancient coins. Demand is obviously still high as auction prices for quality material have again been strong, confirming a lack of new and quality material in the marketplace.

Nearer to home, the York Coin Show will get under way this weekend (Friday 19th & Saturday 20th January) where the Spink team will have its usual table. York has become increasingly popular in the last few years, and Paul Dawson, David Guest and Caroline Holmes look forward to seeing many of you there.

The year ahead at Spink looks especially busy, with an exciting auction calendar. The Auction department has been working hard and has secured several good collections and individual pieces to be sold in 2006. Some very good named collections will go under the hammer this season, making Spink catalogues a good addition to anyone’s library (subscription information is available here). The first coin auction of the year will be the Lucien LaRiviere Collection of Irish Coins & Medals on the 22nd of February - further information about this sale is available in the news section online.