Collectables

A remarkable Canadian single-owner collection of coins of the East India Company was offered by Noonans on February 8-9, 2023.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

The organiser of The London Antique Arms Fair had been searching for a new venue in which to hold the event throughout 2023.

Mithradates IV was ruler of the Hellenistic kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 169-150BC. He ushered in a period of relative friendship with the Roman republic that would continue until his grandson Mithradates VI (the Great) became its most formidable and determined opponent. Mithradates IV’s coinage draws attention to his Persian and Greek origins.

Spink posted a house record for a classical coin when it sold this Julius Caesar and Octavian gold aureus on April 3 for £220,000 plus 20% buyer’s premium against an estimate of £60,000-100,000.

A Swiss gold coin that only appears at auction once every few years is the 1740 Basel triple ducat. To one face is a grand winged basilisk and to the other a view of the city from the east above eight coats of arms.

The Distinguished Flying Cross group of five given to Flt Lt Edward ‘Johnnie’ Johnson, who flew during Operation Chastise – the Dambusters – was sold for £105,000 (plus 20% buyer’s premium) at Spink on November 29.

New York auctioneer remembers Ann and Gordon Getty as the latest lots come to market

A new auction record for an English silver coin was set during the New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC).

The Victorian artist’s box, an essential accessory for any 19th century amateur, doesn’t get much better than this example sold for $5000 (£4000) at Briggs Auction Co (28% buyer’s premium) in Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania, on December 8.

Heritage Auctions’ 1170-lot Comics & Comic Art sale held on January 11-14 delivered a white-glove result.

Kent Tschanz of Tschanz Rare Books in Salt Lake City, Utah, is among the exhibitors at the ABAA’s 56th California International Antiquarian Book Fair (February 9-11).

Nation’s Attic (20% buyer’s premium) in Wichita, Kansas, is the leading US auction house for vintage diving equipment, so when an elderly widow approached them about liquidating her late husband’s collection, they knew they had something special.