Yesterday morning November 28th at Spink in London, a crowded auction room saw Russian lots sell for enormous prices. Amongst the highlights were the honours and awards bestowed upon General Thiébault Charles Maurice Janin (1862-1946), Commanding Officer of the Czech Legion, and one of the three most senior Allied Officers during the Allied Intervention in Russia, 1918-20.

A Parisian by birth, he was a controversial figure prominent in the Russian Imperial Court of Tsar Nicholas II during a period of high intrigue. After the infamous murder of the Russian Imperial Family it is reported by several contemporary sources, including Pierre Gilliard, the French tutor of the Tsar’s children (1905-18), that Janin carried out of Russia the human remains and effects of the Imperial Family on a high speed train from under the clutches of the Bolshevik agents charged with retrieving the damning evidence.

The collection was made up of 18 lots that sold for a total of £293,418. The top selling lot was the extremely rare Order of the White Eagle with swords, which sold for £161,100 to an anonymous phone bidder- a new world record price for this order at auction. There were ten phone bidders competing for the medals and awards of General Janin, making the sale a truly global event. (more…)

Last night Spink hosted a charity auction on behalf of the Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh. The auction took place the same day as the new “Bridges” banknotes went into circulation around Scotland. This is the 47th design in the 312 year history of the bank. The most desirable notes of the series, including special numbers like AA01 000001 and sheets, were held and auctioned off to the highest bidder, all in the name of charity. Governor of the Bank of Scotland, Dennis Stevenson, sold the first lot to a packed room for an astounding £12,000, three times the estimate. The second lot was sold by Treasurer of the Bank of Scotland, Colin Matthew, for £2,500, doubling the estimate. The sale totaled just over £80,000 with all proceeds going to the British Heart Foundation.

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