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Spink smashes world record In auction of 'lost' collection:
The Slaney Collection of English Coins 15 May 2003

Spink once again blazed a trail for other houses to follow when it auctioned the Slaney collection of English coins, setting a new world record for English silver coins at auction.

A Charles II Pattern Crown from 1663, the ‘Petition Crown’, fetched £138,000 against a pre-sale estimate of £40,000 -50,000. This is a World record for an English silver coin at auction, more than double the previous record of £57,500, also held by Spink.

The anticipation among collectors ever since Spink announced that this collection was to be offered at auction was immense. This was reflected in the crowd present in the room, where every seat was taken, and in the furious floor bidding which took place throughout the sale.

Richard Bishop, Associate Director of Numismatic Auctions at Spink commented, “This magnificent result is indicative of the strength of the market for English coins at present and of collectors’ voracious appetite for fine material such as this. Of the bidders who took part in this sale, a very high proportion were collectors, rather than trade.”

The sale as a whole realised over £1 million.

Other record prices achieved in this auction include the following:

.Lot 20: Auction Record for an Edward VI Crown - £41,000

Lot 60: Auction Record for a Charles II Halfcrown - £40,250

Lot 70: Auction Record for a James II Five Guineas - £35,650

Lot 235: Auction Record for a Victoria Silver Crown - £27,600

Lot 16: Auction Record for a Triple Unite - £25,300

Lot 32: Auction Record for Elizabethan Copper - £9,430

Lot 21: Auction Record for an Edward VI Halfcrown - £7,800

English coins from the Slaney Collection, possibly the last of the truly great coin collections formed in the first half of the 20th century still in private hands, achieved record auction prices at Spink in London today. The 285 lots sold for a total of £1,067,608, a remarkable total for a collection of English coins, being the highest total ever achieved at auction for a single session sale of English coins in the UK. The highest price in the sale set a new auction record for a English silver coin, the famous 'Petition' Crown of 1663 selling for £138,000. Numerous other records were set, most notably £40,250 for the Exeter Halfcrown of 1642, a record for any English Halfcrown, and over five times the previous price paid for a similar coin. In the gold coin section a record £35,650 was paid for a stunning and lustrous 5-Guineas of James II dated 1687, and a no less remarkable £14,950 was paid for the smaller, but very rare, pattern Guinea of George I dated 1727. The sale room was packed at the start of the auction, and, unusually for a coin auction, collectors out-numbered dealers. Numerous bid sheets were received, but for the first fifty lots these commission bids hardly got a look in as eager bidding from the floor took prices well over the catalogue estimates. From the start prices were high, with lot 5, an attractive large gold Sovereign of Elizabeth I, selling at double estimate for a record £19,550, giving a clear indication to all present of what was to follow. Eleven lots later a gold Triple-Unite struck in Oxford in 1643 also established its own record, reaching double the estimate at £25,300.

The room was literally buzzing after each record price was achieved, and an expectant hush descended as the first of the 'best examples known' in the silver coins was offered. This was lot 20, a Crown of Edward VI dated 1551, a coin which in 'average' condition usually sells for much less than £10,000. This example was described in the catalogue as 'believed to be the finest known' and the auctioneer tentatively suggested that the bidding should start at £10,000. Within seconds the bidding had jumped in £1,000 increments to £30,000, and although from then on there were only two contestants, the battle was far from over. The final price of £41,400 left many in the audience stunned. A small gem of a coin, a copper Penny of Elizabeth I, with a delicate portrait and a deep rich chocolate colour slipped through almost unnoticed, but the price, £9,430, is another record. Nothing was being missed in this sale. By the time lot 40, a beautiful Tower Mint Crown of Charles I with mint-mark bell, sold for £14,950, another record, many had resigned themselves to playing the role of mere spectators at what had clearly become a numismatic Battle of the Titans.

Thus the scene was set for lot 60, the Exeter Halfcrown dated 1642, a superb coin, and without question the highlight of the hammered section. The coin had remained off the auction block for exactly a century, its last appearance being in the J G Murdoch sale in 1903. Bidders were not slow to express their interest and the auctioneer had to choose where to take the bids as numerous hands waved at him. The final price of just over £40,000 took many by surprise, even in the context of a sale such as this. No doubt the price will soon become accepted as collectors adjust to the fact that exceptional English coins will now command a much higher premium than they have ever done before.

The milled gold section of the sale was full of quality coins, but contained no great rarities. The beautiful 5-Guineas of James II, with its elephant and castle mint mark prominent below the king's bust, is not normally a rare coin, but in perfect condition it certainly is, and it was this that attracted bids from Europe, America and the Far East. The price of over £35,000 is yet another record, and again in many collector's eyes, deservedly so, as this was the best example of the coin seen for fifty years.

The Petition Crown by Thomas Simon was clearly the star of the show. The coins before it, record breakers though they were, had been merely a warm-up act for this, the main event. There were many takers at £40,000, which is where the bidding began, and it was good to observe there were still a few hopeful bidders at £80,000. This is not a 'thin' market. The last telephone dropped out at £90,000, and from then on it was two bidders in the room, one at the table at the very front, the other in a seat by the window at the very back of the room. The bids bounced from one end of the room to the other like a hard fought rally in a Wimbledon singles final. The final price, a world record price for any English silver coin, doubling the previous record, drew a spontaneous burst of applause from the room. They may have been applauding the price, or the coin, or the buyer, but from the rostrum it seemed that many were simply expressing their delight that they were present at a sale that was, without doubt, a significant milestone in the history of English numismatics