A. H. Baldwin & Sons Ltd are delighted to announce that they have been chosen to auction the extensive collection of Renaissance and later medals formed by the New York connoisseur and fine art collector, Michael Hall.

The Michael Hall collection comprises in excess of 2000 items, making it by far the largest sale of Renaissance pieces since the Max and Maurice Rosenheim (Sotheby 1923) and Henry Oppenheimer (Christie’s 1936) sales. The first auction is scheduled for May 2010.

Before turning to the world of antiques, Michael Hall’s earlier years were spent in Hollywood. Most memorably, in 1946, he was cast as Fredric March’s son in William Wyler’s “The Best Years of our Lives”. The majority of the collection was formed in the 1960s and ‘70s, a period when Hall was living for much of the time in London.

The medals were purchased from the dealers of the day, in London and other European centres, rather than at auction. Over the ensuing years the collection has remained mostly unseen. Michael Hall gifted most of his British medals to the Los Angeles County Museum some years ago, though some important pieces were retained and will be offered in the sales. The strength of the collection is in early Italian medals, otherwise it remains very comprehensive in the medals of later Italy, France, Germany, the Holy Roman Empire and the Netherlands.

There are extensive groups of Papal medals, many of which featured in the 1981 publication Roma Resurgens, Papal Medals from the Age of the Baroque; and a group of Florentine Baroque medals that will be seen as a match to the Lankheit Collection sold by Morton & Eden (May 2003).

One of the most important pieces to be included in the first sale will be Pisanello’s cast bronze portrait medal of Cecilia Gonzaga. Antonio Pisano, called Pisanello (c. 1395 – c. 1455), was the pioneering artist who, from around 1435, turned his portraiture into a medallic format, the first artist so to do. (more…)

The latest auction organised by Baldwin’s auction department begins with an impressive selection of Ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine coins featuring a very rare Greek Medallion (lot 105, pictured below). It is presumed that this medallion was produced to commemorate an African victory of the emperor Commodus, although it appears to have few details of any specific campaign, and it is thought that this could be the specimen illustrated in Gnecchi.

The British section of the auction comprises over 400 lots and includes a collection of 69 Maundy Sets from the period 1660 – 2008, 38 lots of Anglo-Saxon Pennies and a fine selection of 5 Guinea pieces. Alongside these coins are a selection of high grade British 19th Century copper tokens, including some rare and unpublished varieties. A small but well-formed group of rare English banknotes, includes as the highlight, an Isle of Man, Bank of Mona Specimen £5 from 1867 (lot 596).

The first day of the auction concludes with a highly comprehensive range of world coins including an outstanding collection of Danish coins and an interesting group of South American and Spanish American coinage. The Danish collection of coins features many incredible rarities, including lots 605 and 652, a Christian III (1535-1559) Gold Gulden and a Christian VII (1766-1808) Gold Ducat, both desirable pieces, and an exceptionally rare square gold 6-Daler from 1604 (lot 606), which is possibly a unique die combination. The highlight of the South American/Spanish American collection is lot 706, a gold 8-Escudos which is among the “top five known” in quality for this date. These two collections are complemented by nice groups of coins from modern Cyprus, medieval Georgia and modern Greece.

An outstanding collection of Scottish gallantry and campaign medals forms the basis of the first part of the second day of the auction. Awarded, in the main, to soldiers with the surname Rennie, the most notable amongst the group is lot 1104, an extremely rare Great War Military Medal with two bars (pictured above). This particular medal was awarded to Private W. Rennie Gordon, a member of the Gordon Highlanders who were renowned for their bravery. (more…)

The third and final part of this stunning collection of the coins of the British Empire from Asia & Europe will be sold by Baldwin’s auction department on the 5th May this year as the first part of a two day auction to be held at the CIPFA Council Chamber in London.

A culmination of 15 years of dedicated hard work by a passionate and highly enthusiastic collector, this diverse and beautiful collection has been created not simply for the benefit of those assembling it, but as a collection that will provide future generations of numismatists with a greater knowledge and understanding of a long neglected area of study.

As an avid historian this collector has looked into the history of the country of origin for each of these coins and traced their provenance back to nearly all the great collectors of the coins of the British Empire of the last 40 years. The catalogues for all three of these sales have been produced as inspirational works to stand alongside previous auction catalogues and numismatic books, offering a window to the past for future generations of numismatists to add their thoughts, observations and criticisms. The collectors hope that through their work these aspiring numismatists will gain a better understanding of rarity, striking standards and characteristics of these coins.

As with the past two sales this auction contains only the best possible grade of coins and includes items from Hong Kong, Cyprus and Sierra Leone as well as coins from the Straits Settlements, Indian Princely States and Independent Kingdoms. Amongst the many highlights include Lot 92, a Hong Kong 1941 Proof 1-Cent (pictured above), the rarest type coin of the Hong Kong series (estimate £15,000 – 20,000), and lot 332 a 1791 Proof Dollar from Sierra Leone (estimate £12,000 – 16,000). (more…)