Noonans

Rare specimen banknotes from around the world donated to a British Heart Foundation (BHF) shop in Edinburgh have raised £85,860 in total at auction to help fund research.

A Victoria Cross that was awarded posthumously to a member of the Manchester Regiment who is buried in the same row as war poet Wilfred Owen is coming to auction in London.

Recent auctions in this market suggest decent demand with plenty of highlights from two periods in particular

Metal detecting finds, and the success of the 1996 Treasure Act that allows finders a share in the market value of ‘treasure’, have become the market’s key source of medieval jewellery. And for Andrew Riley, a semi-retired architect from North Yorkshire, the hobby has been a particular boon.

A Georgian gold coin that was found aboard HMS Victory among Nelson’s personal possessions fetched £30,000 – three times the top estimate – at Noonans (24% buyer’s premium) in Mayfair.

Coinex returns to Grosvenor Square this month with 50 exhibitors and a raft of auctions.

A gold memorial ring will return home to Westminster School.

An Elizabethan or early Stuart diamond cluster gold ring found in Wormington, Gloucestershire, in November 2024 was among 14 metal detected jewels offered at Noonans (24% buyer’s premium) in Mayfair.

“The Russians opened fire on our right, on our left, and then in front...

Latest result for a ‘not in the face of the enemy’ award underlines how such honours have become a popular collecting field

Despite the brief cataloguing of lot 129 in the Ellis Willis & Beckett (21.5% buyer’s premium) sale, the £4200 hammer price on February 17 indicated that bidders had fought it out for something special.

Two collections of banknote designs and specimens from engraving and printing firm Bradbury Wilkinson & Company were offered at either end of 2025.

Established in 1687 by James II (also James VII of Scotland), membership of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is in the personal gift of the sovereign, just as it is with the Order of the Garter and the Order of Merit.

This 1642 silver medal by the German medallist Sebastian Dadler (1586-1657) celebrates the arrival in the Netherlands of Princess Mary (1631-60), eldest daughter of Charles I and sister of the future Charles II.

This pair of late Georgian silver spurs are hallmarked for London 1812 and carry the maker’s mark JA, probably for the specialist buckle maker John Atkins.

One of the eight York Rose brooches given by Prince Albert to the bridesmaids who attended his marriage to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 sold for £15,000.

The Distinguished Conduct Medal awarded to Private Samuel Vickery of the Coldstream Guards who kept Florence Nightingale safe during the Crimean War is to be offered at Noonans on January 14.

One of the eight York Rose brooches given by Prince Albert (later George VI) to the bridesmaids who attended his marriage to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (later Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother) in 1923, will be offered at Noonans in Mayfair on November 25.