Auctions

A Ferdinand III (1608-57) 100-ducat gold piece briefly became the most expensive ‘modern era’ European gold coin ever sold at auction when it hammered for SFr1.95m (£1.83m) in Geneva.

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.

Two lots of antique English silver trounced their estimates on the same day at New York state auction houses located less than 30 miles apart.

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.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish books and works on paper sales

Along with August, January is traditionally the quietest month in terms of regional auctions.

Group lot shows how a shared interest in communication linked Louis Mountbatten and a telegraphist

‘Coal’ is a dirty word in today’s world of increasingly clean energy but in terms of a model offered at auction it can still generate a strong price.

The citation for a Distinguished Flying Medal awarded to Act F/Sgt BG Tucker RAF stated he had “completed many outstanding sorties against such heavily defended localities as Berlin, Essen and Hanover.

Visitors to London at the end of the 17th century needed to take care: banditts, adamtilers and fencing-cullies were out looking to prey on unwitting buzzards, fat culls and fuddlecaps.

In this the 250th anniversary year of American Independence being declared, a rare printed silk map of British North America emerged for sale in Dorset.

Sèvres had high hopes of royal approval and purchase but the Service des Départements was rejected

Delphin Massier, the creator of a large cachepot on stand sold by Dannenberg (28% buyer’s premium) in Berlin, was a member of the dynasty of ceramic artists who worked in Vallauris from the 18th century onwards.

In many parts of the German-speaking world, it was once customary for a newly married couple to drink together from a silver or parcel gilt bridal beaker.