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…)

OSNABRÜCK, Germany, March 17 – In the week from March 9-14, 2009, the German auction house Künker sold more than 7,400 historic coins and medals, totaling more than EUR 7.5 million, in Osnabrück (Northern Germany). The hammer prices of the sold items were on average 40 per cent above the estimate. Top-quality rare coins from the Russian tsardom experienced particularly strong demand from traders and collectors. More than once, their sales prices climbed several times higher than their estimated prices, a trend also seen in spectacular pieces from other collection categories.

With a sales price of about EUR 184,500, the copper trial piece of a very rare 2 kopeck coin – minted in Saint Petersburg in 1810 under Tsar Alexander I – fetched the top price of the auction week. A remarkable price for a single copper coin, measuring about 37 millimeter in diameter and weighing 19.88 grams (estimated price: EUR 80,000).

A 37 1/2 ruble coin of Tsar Nicholas II, minted in Saint Petersburg in 1902 (lot no. 3435), was sold at EUR 123,000 Euro – more than twice its estimated price of EUR 50.000. A 10 kopeck coin (lot no. 2264) of Ivan III, minted in Moscow in 1741, with an estimated price of EUR 3,000, climbed to a sales price of about EUR 11,000.

The sale of the Russian coins alone totaled almost EUR 3.2 million, exceeding the estimate (EUR 1.86 million) by 73 percent!
The Künker Auction House is one of the leading European auctioneers of historic coins and medals and conducts four annual sales, three in Osnabrück (Northern Germany) and one in Berlin. http://www.kuenker.de. (more…)

Following six very successful auctions last season, Champion’s first sale for 2009 will be held April 1st at the Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers 3F Tang I , 20 Nathan Road, one block from the April Hong Kong Coin Show, being held at the Holiday Inn Golden Mile.

The lots in this sale can be viewed in the printed catalog and at Champion’s website: www.cghka.com.Both the catalog and the website listing appear in English and Chinese. Champion is the only auction house in the world to publish a fully bilingual catalog. Bidders may bid by phone or email or through a live auction website. http://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/18453

Although paper money highlights this Champion sale, there are many rare and interesting coins in the sale. One of the most important coins is the 1884 Kirin Half Tael silver coin (Kann 917; Lin 505), with 1987 ANACS Certificate, in choice uncirculated condition, estimated at $10,000. This coin is from a set of experimental coins which were soon discontinued and melted.

A newly discovered variety of the 1901 Kiangnan Dragon Dollar, which has a dragon with 6 claws instead of 5, appears in the sale, estimated at $8,000. Another recently discovered coin in this sale is a Kwangtung pattern 1 cash, without center hole, probably made in 1890, NGC SP62, estimated at $1,000.

Another key coin in this auction is the 1867 Hong Kong-Shanghai Tael with rays (Kann 912), rated Proof 65 by NGC, expected to bring $70,000 to $100,000. Most of the important coins in this sale have been certified by NGC , including a 1904 Hupeh Tael (Kann 933) NGC MS63, estimate $6,000, and a 1907 Tientsin Mint silver dollar with wave design border (Kann 212), MS63, estimated at $4,000. A seldom seen 1936 silver pattern dollar, with Sun Yat Sen and ancient spade coin design (Kann 635), NGC MS62 is also offered here, NGC MS62, estimated at $6,000. (more…)

The latest Treasure Auction (#5) by Daniel Frank Sedwick, LLC will take place on April 9, 2009. Lots are now available for viewing on their website at www.sedwickcoins.com. Sedwick’s newest sale is his biggest ever.

“When we began our Treasure Auctions two years ago, we had no idea how quickly the concept would grow. Just compare our first sale of around 400 lots to almost 1800 lots now, more than a fourfold increase!” Says Sedwick:

This is also Sedwick’s first auction to offer live Internet bidding via iCollector.com.

“While we hope to offer fully live auctions in person some day, we feel we offer the next best thing with live bidding on the Internet combined with full descriptions and photos, both in this catalog and on our website, and our long-standing reputation for accuracy and fairness” .

This latest auction features extreme-size coins, from immense Swedish copper “plate money” to tiny silver cuartillos (¼ reales) from Spanish colonial mints, literally hundreds of which appear in this sale from a collection of “mini-coins” assembled over the course of 40 years. Also featured is what the catalogers believe to be the largest Potosí cob 8 reales (“Great Module”) ever made. Even the shipwreck bullion section offers the extremes of huge silver and copper ingots and to tiny flakes of gold dust and nuggets.

Sedwick’s primary area of concentration, Spanish colonial cobs, is well represented this time by a collection of mostly 8 reales. (more…)