Welcome to the first Baldwin’s newsletter of 2020, we hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas and would like to you wish you all the best for the forthcoming year.
After the Christmas break, the numismatic world kicks back into a very period busy period, with New York International coin show, a series of top-quality auctions and of course the York coin fair here in the UK. At Baldwin’s, we attended both shows and held our own auction in New York too.
The New York coin show was extremely busy over all four days it was open and there seemed to be a real confidence in buying, especially in regards to British coins. This was most likely fuelled by the high prices coins were fetching in the five auctions held at the venue during the week.
Three particular highlights from the auctions:
– A new world record was achieved for an 1839 Una and the Lion five-pound piece, selling for a staggering $575,000 (£440,220) plus premium
– A highly sought after 1937 Edward VIII proof crown hammered for $300,000 (£230,580) plus premium
– In our own auction, the extremely rare Ex Slaney 1820 Proof five pounds achieved $440,000 (£336,732) plus premium.
These prices are a firm indicator that the coin market is strong and again reaffirms that condition and rarity are key when collecting coins. The York stamp and coin show held here in the UK was as always well attended and there seemed to be a real buzz in the room.
We are currently working on our latest Fixed Price List which we hope to release at the end of February or early March and keeping to tradition there will be a fine selection of top quality rare ancient, British and world coins.
One particular coin from our Winter Price List I would like to highlight is the excessively rare 1822 proof half-crown.
Collectors are always advised to acquire coins of as high a quality as possible and generally speaking, the rarer the coin, the more desirable it is. Historically it is these coins that seem to hold their value and indeed in many cases increase in value over the years.
The 1822 proof half-crown encompasses both features. It is the only example available to commerce (the only other known example is located in the National Museum of Scotland) and is a visually stunning coin in superb condition, encapsulated by NGC as Proof 64. Listed in English Silver Coinage and the updated version by Bull it is rated as R7 (only one or two examples known). Interestingly, no currency example was ever struck in this year and therefore a date collector of half-crowns must acquire this proof example to complete the run.
In comparison to similar coin rarities of this type I believe the 1822 proof half-crown to be very undervalued and as such, excellent value for money. If we take the official 1933 Penny, for example, a mere seven were ever struck and it is believed that only two or three are available to buy on the open market (the rest being in institutions and one disappearing from under the foundations of a cathedral).
Only one example has come up for auction in recent times fetching in excess of £150,000 including premium. The slightly less sought after unofficial pattern by Lavrillier achieved in excess of £70,000 in 2016 and there are four examples known of this type.
Also in the field of milled English silver coins, the 1937 Edward VIII Proof Crown is similarly rare; one example is currently part of a proof set in a collection and the other recently having sold for £270,000+.
At only £45,000 for this great rarity one would imagine that there is significant potential on the future value with other coins of similar rarity regularly fetching well in excess of £100,000.
