by Greg Reynolds for Coinlink

On Oct. 23, the late Frederick Mayer’s collection of Costa Rican coins, tokens and paper money was auctioned by the firm of Spink-Smythe in New York City. The day before, Oct. 22, Spink-Shreves sold Mayer’s collection of Costa Rican stamps at the same location. The Shreves stamp auction firm and Smythe are now integrated and owned by Spink. This first part of my review concerns the setting and atmosphere of the auction, the general importance of the material that was sold, the consignor, and the participants. In part 2, I will discuss Costa Rican silver coins.

The highest priced coin in the auction was Mayer’s Costa Rican 1873 Twenty Pesos gold coin. The issue is a Great Rarity. The Mayer 1873 realized $43,225. Curiously, it weighs substantially more than two Costa Rican Ten Pesos coins, and almost as much as a U.S. Double Eagle ($20 gold coin). It will be discussed in Part 3, along with other gold coins from the collection, a few of which are incredible.

Some of the rarer, most famous, and more interesting of Mayer’s coins were minted when Costa Rica was part of the Central American Republic, which was really a loose federation that was founded in 1823 and began to fall apart in 1838. These coins will be discussed in Part 4.

Costa Rica is a stable democracy in Central America. It borders Panama and Nicaragua. El Salvador, the Honduras and Guatemala are also in Central America, which is a landmass that is connected to both North America and South America. World coin collectors in the U.S. and Europe often aim to build type sets of all Central American or of all Latin American societies.

An excellent assortment of other Latin American coins, from a few different consignors, was auctioned the following day, Oct. 24. Matt Orsini, the primary cataloguer, reveals that “all” of the coins of Argentina “came from one consignor.” It was thus an extraordinary collection of coins from this nation. An 1845 Eight Escudos (large gold coin) is an important rarity. This PCGS graded AU-58 Eight Escudos was minted in La Rioja in 1845 and was the last gold coin of the era of General Rosas. It sold for $8625. (more…)

Spink has announced the sale of the famous Number Eight £1,000,000 note. It is believed that only two notes of this high denomination exist in the world today, the other numbered 000007.

The million pound note was issued in connection with the Marshall Aid Plan after World War II and was intended for internal use as ‘records of movement,’ for a period of six weeks only. It is believed that nine examples were produced and only two, Numbers Seven and Eight, survived.

The two notes were given as mementoes to the respective U.S. and U.K. Treasury Secretaries. The Number Seven was first sold in 1977 and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as being the highest denomination note in private hands.

The 8-inch-wide green banknote, numbered 000008, was issued by the Bank of England on Aug. 30, 1948, in connection with the Marshall Aid Plan in the aftermath of World War II. It bears the signature of E. E. Bridges in the lower right hand corner and is cancelled over the signature and stamped 6 October 1948, Bank of England.  Spink’s  said the defunct note, entered for sale by the U.K.-based banknote collector Bill Parkinson, may fetch 35,000 pounds to 40,000 pounds at its Oct. 1 sale of world banknotes.

“This is the highest denomination of banknote we’ve ever sold,” said Barnaby Faull, director of banknotes at Spink. “There are hyperinflation Weimar-period notes for 10 billion marks, but they would only have bought a cup of coffee.” (more…)

A unique discovery note will be auctioned by Spink’s in its Asian Banknote Sale to take place in Singapore on July 5th.

Sale 8014 Lot 0A: The $1000 “Government of the Straits Settlements” of 17 March 1911 has serial number A/1 000001. It is grey & black with crowned arms top centre flanked by a lion and a unicorn. The $1000 value in located in a black tablet at center of the note. The signatures of currency commissioners Brockman, Michell and David are visable and the notes value is also translated into  four languages, English, Chinese, Malay and Arabic around the edges of the note.

The Straits Settlements were a collection of territories of the British East India Company in Southeast Asia, which were given collective administration in 1826 as a crown colony,They were distinct from the native princely states, some of which later formed the Federated Malay States.

Initially, the Straits Settlements consisted of Penang, sometimes officially named Prince of Wales Island, Singapore with about a score of islets of insignificant size lying in its immediate vicinity, the islands and territory of the Dinding, Province Wellesley, the town and territory of Malacca and the islands of Labuan.

The colony was dissolved in 1946, when Singapore became a separate crown colony (ultimately independent), while Penang and Malacca joined the Malayan Union, which eventually became Malaysia.

The note was discovered by the consignor with an envelope titled SPECIMEN/ON HIS MAJESTY’S SERVICE and listing the serial number of the note in ink. (more…)

London, England - Spink, the world’s leading auctioneers of Coins, Stamps, Medals and Banknotes, Bonds and Share Certificates, based in London and established 1666, has acquired R.M. Smythe & Company, specialists in Antique Stocks and Bonds, Banknotes, Coins, and Autographs, based in New York City and established in 1880. Both Spink and Smythe are known around the globe for their illustrious histories, impeccable reputations and unparalleled expertise. The merging of these two companies is the next logical step in line with Spink’s strategy for the future and will create the first truly global, fully integrated, collectables house.

Spink is pleased to announce that John Herzog, owner of R.M. Smythe & Company since 1967, has become a shareholder in Spink. Mr. Herzog will act as Chairman Emeritus of Spink USA and will participate in the development of the combined entity which is valued in excess of $100 million by this deal.

Mr. Herzog stated, “I could not think of a better company to acquire Smythe. My wife, Diana, and I have been at Smythe’s helm for 40 years, and have tremendously enjoyed building the business and working with clients and collectors. I look ahead with great excitement to the opportunities presented by this joining of forces.”

Since their founding in 1880, R.M.. Smythe and Company has developed into one of the world’s premier auction houses, specializing in Antique Stocks and Bonds, Banknotes, Coins, Autographs and Photographs. In 2007 Smythe hosted six major auctions setting record prices for historical autographs, currency, coins, stocks, bonds and antiques. (more…)