As part of its international expansion in collectibles auctions, Spink Smythe of Dallas, Texas, New York City and London, England has hired Jim Fitzgerald as Senior Vice President of Auctions.

“We are delighted to add such a knowledgeable and well-respected numismatist to lead the Spink Smythe team. We are extremely proud of our past and look forward to continued success in the future with our new, truly global presence,” said Tracy L. Shreve, Chief Operating Officer of Spink USA.

The former Director of Currency Auctions at Heritage Auction Galleries, Fitzgerald also has extensive management experience in the travel and hotel industry. He started collecting coins as a child when his grandfather helped him fill Whitman folders with Lincoln cents found in circulation. In addition to coins, he collects small-size U.S. notes, Texas obsoletes, Confederate and National Bank Notes.

He has presented educational seminars for the Texas Numismatic Association (TNA) and the Tarrant County Historical Society, and recently served as Chairman of the TNA Convention in his hometown of Fort Worth. He and his wife, Sheli, have a son born this past December.

“I’m very excited about this opportunity with Spink Smythe, and look forward to blending two distinguished names both firmly established in their fields into the marketplace,” said Fitzgerald.

“Emphasizing a boutique, more personalized service to our clients is the main goal here at Spink Smythe. In these uncertain economic times people want to know their collection is important and that it will be sold with the same care and dedication that they have given it over the years,” he said.

In January, Spink Smythe launched its Collector’s Series Sales that will feature coins, banknotes, antique stocks and bonds, autographs, ephemera, photographs and tokens and medals.

“Under the Spink banner, Spink Smythe now offers a truly global experience for both buyers and sellers. Additionally, Spink Smythe is pleased to offer the world’s leading online bidding platform, SpinkLive.com. This innovative and easy to use system offers real time bidding featuring audio and streaming video so that bidders may participate as though they were on the auction floor,” explained Shreve. (more…)

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 parts 2 and 3, I will discuss Costa Rican silver coins. This series of articles is designed to be clear to those who know nothing about Costa Rican coins. There will be a good deal of explanation. Hopefully, collectors of U.S. or world coins will find my discussions to be interesting and will be amazed by Mayer’s collection.

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 4, 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 5.

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. (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…)