William Mackay, specialist at Spink, had this to say about the sale:

“This sale demonstrates the strong market for top quality, rare historical gold coins. It definitely showcases the extent to which the value of these sorts of coins have appreciated in the last few years. We are extremely pleased with the results of this sale which demonstrates continued confidence in the marketplace.”

Top lots included the following:

Lot 895
Henry VII (1485-1509), Sovereign, type IV
Sold for £180,000

Lot 949
Charles I, Civil War issues, Oxford,
small module type Triple Unite
Sold for £161,000

Lot 5
Mughal Empire, Jalal ud-Din Muhammad Akbar,
AV 5-Mohurs
Sold for £150,000

Lot 948
Charles I, Civil War issues, Oxford, Triple Unite
Sold for £120,000

Lot 975
James VI (1567-1625), second coinage,
Twenty-Pound piece
Sold for £102,000

About Spink

Spink is the world’s leading auctioneer of coins, stamps, medals, banknotes, bonds, share certificates and autographs, with offices in London, Singapore, New York and Dallas. Since its foundation in 1666, the Spink name has become synonymous with tradition, experience and integrity. Holders of three royal warrants and numerous records for prices achieved at auction, Spink offer an unparalleled range of services to collectors worldwide.

For more information, pictures or to request an interview with the specialist please contact Emily Johnston, ejohnston@spink.com , 020 7563 4009.

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Numismatists won’t want to miss out on Spink Smythe’s November Collectors’ Series Sale, which is taking place tomorrow (November 20) in New York.

A colossal rarity and an ultimate collector item, as the present coin stands as the largest and highest denominated Italian gold coin of the era. The type, produced during 1903 and 1905, saw limited production, with 1903 yielding a mere 966 coins and 1905 slightly besting that amount with a production of 1,012 coins – today, relatively few of either date exist.

The surfaces of the present example, unlike its few surviving brethren, have been lovingly preserved through the years and maintain full prooflike mirrors on both sides.

Few marks are visible anywhere, and none are worthy of singular notation. Inspection of the grading services population reports confirm this example as exemplary – being the single finest graded and the only one to merit MS63 status. In fact, it is only the fourth specimen to have been graded in the 25 plus years of PCGS and NGC grading.

To further illustrate the rarity of the present example, when the Eliasberg Collection of over 3500 world gold coins was sold in 2005, neither the 1903 or 1905 date of this type was offered as a part of this collection.

For the Italian specialist, one can only stretch to imagine a more important opportunity to acquire a true collection linchpin. An opportunity that should not be missed.
Estimate $ 10,000-12,000

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This type was long known to be amongst the earliest of Anglo-Saxon gold coins with a single example present in the important Crondall hoard found in Hampshire in 1828 and dating from c.670. The conclusive attribution of these coins to king Eadbald of Kent, reigned 616-640, though was only made in 1998. This followed the emergence of new finds which enabled the obverse inscription to be confirmed as avdvarld reges, and translated as ‘of King Audvarld’.

The name ‘auduarldus’ appears in Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica completed in 731 in which he wrote about king Eadbald of Kent. Given this and the presence of one of these coins in the Crondall hoard, the attribution to Eadbald is now accepted

While the Kentish Shilling or Thrymsa seems to have sought to match the Merovingian Tremissis, the design of this coin is peculiarly Anglo-Saxon using neither motifs found on Merovingian coins nor seeking to copy Roman types. In common with some other coins (e.g. the so called ‘Witmen’ and ‘Londiniv/Londeniv’ types), this coin has an inscription on the reverse. This can be clearly read on a example in the Ashmolean Museum as containing the word londenv indicating London as the mint or die source for these coins all of which share the same obverse die.

The real significance of these coins though is in the obverse inscription naming the historical figure of king Eadbald. This is exceptional for a coin of this period and is only certainly found again at the end of the seventh century with the Sceattas of Aldfrith of Northumbria (685-705). As such the Eadbald Thrymsa is the earliest coin issued in the name of an English king.

Eadbald succeded Aethelberht as king of Kent in 616. Aethelberht is principally remembered for having accepted St. Augustine into his kingdom and his subsequent conversion to Roman Christianity. It seems, according to Bede, that after his accession Eadbald fell foul of the young Church, rejecting Christianity, ejecting its Bishops and incurring the wrath of the Church committing ’such fornication as the Apostle Paul mentioned as being unheard of even among the heathen, in that he took his father’s (second) wife as his own.’

Whatever Eadbald did, this situation did not last for he repented and was duly baptized, rejecting his wife and thereafter favouring the Church within his kingdom.

These events reflect the conflict and confusion amongst the Anglo-Saxon elite at this time as Christianity sought to assert itself over the Pagan religion. This struggle is best known from the mix of Pagan and Christian artefacts in the Sutton Hoo ship burial, which is contemporaneous to Eadbald and this coin.

As to the date of these named Thrymsas or Shillings of Eadbald, the presence of Christain iconography dates them to after his conversion and a date to between 620 and 635 is thought appropriate.

Six coins other than this example are recorded with five of the six in insitutional collections. Only one example other than this specimen is therefore in private hands.

1. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1.26g, AV 69%, Crondall Hoard, 1828. Dies A/a

2. American Numismatic Society, New York, 1.29g, AV 64%, formerly Norweb, SCBI 16/42, ex Lockett I lot 206, Grantley 595a, Ponton D’Amecourt 658, Robert = Belfort 6527. Found Pas de Calais. Dies A/b

3. Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 1.27g, AV 72%, BNJ Coin Register 1998, 37. Found Tangmere, West Sussex, 1997. Dies A/c

4. The British Museum, London, 1.28g, AV 74%, BNJ Coin Register 1998, 38. Found Shorne, Kent, 1998. Dies A/d

5. Stewartby, 1.28g, AV 67%, Bonhams 1610, 2007 lot 3255. Dies A/d

6. Hunterian Museum, Glasgow, 1.30g. See Bateson and Campbell, 1998, p171, and plates 28-29, no. 1. Ex. Hunter, possibly an eighteenth century find. Dies A/e

A further similar Thrymsa in the name of Eadbald, 1.29g, found at Goodnestone, Kent, from a different obverse die and with a reverse mint signature thought to be for Canterbury rather than London, is now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

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This note was the first one yuan note available for public purchase and it caused quite the bidding frenzy on the day of the sale. A Taiwanese Collector was the lucky buyer in the end.

The highly valuable note features 2 black dragons signifying the prowess of the Emperor and Monarch and accordingly named as the “Ooi-Long note”, in the middle “Xuan Tong Yuan Bao”.

The Kwangsi bank existed for a brief stint of less than 2 years before being reorganised in 1911 and the notes were subsequently recalled.

To date, only 3 examples of this note have been discovered, and it is noteworthy that all 3 are believed to be in the hands of collectors outside Kwangsi.

Barnaby Faull, Director of Banknotes at Spink, commented, “This was an absolutely fantastic auction. We offered a fresh collection of Chinese notes from an English collector and the new material resulted in great interest from collectors around the world. The Chinese market is very buoyant and potentially unlimited and this was without doubt the finest sale to be held in Hong Kong for banknotes. The sale also featured a wonderful collection of coins and bonds. In the end, nearly HK$11 million was sold at auction on the day.”

Additional notes on the 1 yuan note:

In c.1909 the Qing dynasty restructured both the Imperial banks and the issuing authorities to establish the Kwangsi Bank. In the modern history of Chinese banknotes Kwangxi became the earliest province to have a bank.

At that time, Xuan Tong Year 2 (1909), Kwangsi Bank issued their banknotes known to the Nan-Ning people as the “Ooi-Long note”. This literally means black dragon note, and is highly sought after by collectors.

The “Ooi-Long Note” was printed in Japan, with a print run of two hundred thousand for the 1 yuan denomination and two hundred thousand pieces for the 5 yuan denomination.

According to a press release in Nan-Ning dated 9 June 2006, a collector chanced upon one of these rare examples of a $5 note in a Nan-Ning market place in April 1994, purchasing it at a very high price. The note was subsequently repurchased by Chinese officials.

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The notes were found in a chest of drawers in the North Yorkshire home of an elderly man when his home was being cleard out for an estate sale. He had been unaware of their existence until he was told by the auctioneer who was clearing his house, that a windfall might be coming his way.

Recognising that these notes were a rare find indeed, an astute Rodney Tennant of Tennants of Leyburn asked London coins and banknote specialists Spink to sell the six notes – all with early serial numbers and all marked Cancelled.

Spink offered them (in the separate catalogue) as lot number one of their banknotes sale of September 28. They did not quite make their £400,000-450,000 estimate, but the vendor’s family was delighted to learn that they had sold to an Australian private collector at £350,000.

Background from the Catalog:

From May 1913, the first distinctive Commonwealth of Australia banknotes were issued. They were controversial in that no portrait of the reigning monarch, King George V, was included in the design. It was also feared that the release of a ten-shilling denomination (reportedly the first by any government within the British Empire) would spread diseases from the lower to middle and upper classes. Specimen notes were prepared from regular note stocks by perforating them horizontally with the word ‘CANCELLED’. Such notes were taken at random from the print runs as required, so many bear relatively high serial numbers. It wasn’t until the issuance of the 1923 series bearing George V’s effigy that low numbers were reserved for specimen notes.

Distribution of the early specimens was strictly limited, generally to reciprocating government banks, law enforcement agencies including Scotland Yard, and major museums within Australia. In 1922, a set was even laid under the foundation stone of the new Commonwealth Bank in Collins Street, Melbourne. However, the allocation of such specimens to private individuals was almost non-existent.

10 shillings, ND (1913), red serial number M 010056, blue, value in orange, lilac & green central panel, crown and serial number above, value at right, arms at left, signature of James Richard Collins the Assistant Secretary low left, and of George Thomas Allen the Secretary to the Treasury low right, low centre margin is the imprint of the printer T.S HARRISON AUSTRALIAN NOTE PRINTER, reverse blue, Goulburn Weir, Victoria at centre, value at left and right, (Vort-Ronald type V.1, McDonald 3, Renniks 1c).

Vort-Ronald states approximately 502,667 printed. Early serials of this note were hand-numbered in a special ceremony at the King’s Warehouse, Melbourne on 1 May 1913. Judith Denman, daughter of Governor-General Lord Denman, was presented with note number ‘M 000001’. Lord Denman received number ‘2’, and son Thomas number ‘3’. Prime Minister Andrew Fisher purchased ‘4’ and ‘5’. Notes from ‘6’ through to ‘500’ were allocated by ballot to Members of Parliament, although not all were taken up. Approximately 25 of these early numbers are known to collectors. Notes from serial ‘M 000501’ onwards are known to have been released for circulation. In 1915 the design was modified to include an elaborate underprint on the back of the note so as to deter forgers. This example is very rare as a cancelled specimen.

£1, ND (1913), red serial number P 008055, blue, value in orange, green & lilac central panel, arms at centre, crown above, value at left and right, Collins signature low left, Allen signature low right. T.S. Harrison imprint low centre, reverse blue, central vignette is a mining scene taken from a photograph produced in 1908 (Victoria Quartz mine, Bendigo, the deepest gold mine in the world at the time) (Vort-Ronald V.17a, McDonald 26, Renniks 18a). 1,000,000 printed.

Due to the uncertainty of supply and wartime conditions, five different serial number combinations exist on the Collins/Allen one pound. The red serial number variety is the first and scarcest. Extremely rare as a cancelled specimen.

£5, ND (1913), black serial number U 067927, blue & pale green, value in pink, orange & green at centre, crown above, arms left centre, value at each corner, Collins signature low left, Allen signature low right, T.S. Harrison imprint low centre, reverse blue, at centre oval vignette depicting the Hawkesbury River at Peat’s Ferry near Brooklyn, New South Wales, value above and below and at left and right (Vort-Ronald V.31, McDonald 53, Renniks 35).

Vort-Ronald states approximatley 693,442 printed. Like the 1913 ten-shilling note, the first issue of the five pounds was short-lived due to extensive forging. In 1914 an elaborate underprint, or ‘mosaic’, was added to the back of the note. This example is the ‘non-mosaic’ variety and is very rare as a cancelled specimen.

£20, ND (1914), black serial number X 000018, blue, green & pale orange-pink, value in blue and orange low centre, crown above, arms left centre, value at left and right, Collins signature low left, Allen signature low right, T.S. Harrison imprint low centre, reverse blue, a circular vignette at centre depicting timber cutting in Tasmania, value in eight pointed star top left and right, (Vort-Ronald V.55, McDonald 87, Renniks 64). Vort-Ronald states approximately 40,743 printed.

The high-value twenty, fifty and hundred pound notes were withdrawn during World War II to deter black-marketeering. Issued examples are all very scarce to rare, and specimens even more so. This example is one of two known in private hands, the other bearing consecutive serial numbers ‘X 000017’.

£50, ND (1914), black serial number Y 005495, blue, green, pale orange & pink, value in blue at centre, arms top centre, crown left centre, value at left and right, Collins signature low left, Allen signature low right, T.S. Harrison imprint low centre, reverse blue, a central vignette depicting a flock of sheep at Bungaree, South Australia, value at left and right and low centre. (Vort-Ronald V.57, McDonald 90, Renniks 66). Vort-Ronald states 83,845 printed.

No issued Collins/Allen fifty pound notes are known in collectors’ hands, and only three cancelled specimens – this example, a consecutive note number ‘Y 005494’, and a third number ‘Y 146511’, are recorded. The latter is additionally cross-cancelled in black to prevent fraudulent use.

£100, ND (1914), dark blue serial number Z 006944, blue & green, value in pale orange low centre, crown at right centre, arms at left centre, value low centre and at left and right, Collins signature low left, Allen signature low right, T.S. Harrison imprint low centre, reverse blue, two oval vignettes at centre, left centre is the upper Yarra River, Victoria, right centre is the Leura Falls, New South Wales, value top and low centre and at left and right. (Vort-Ronald V.59b, McDonald 94, Renniks 68b).

Vort-Ronald states approximately 24,000 printed. No issued Collins/Allen hundred pounds of this variety (small blue serials) are known in collectors’ hands, and only two cancelled specimens – this example, and another with consecutive serial number ‘Z 006943’, are recorded.

The general grade is excellent, there are signs of light handling, all are perforated CANCELLED and pinholed, but the notes are fresh and original, a truly exceptional group.

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