Decapitation, Pirates and Post Haste
May 18 2015

SPINK LONDON | Spink is excited to announce that within The Philatelic Collector's Series Sale in London on the 20th - 22nd May, a letter to the Right Honourable John Bradshaw from 1652 is to be offered. Not just a letter, an entire 'Haste Post Haste' letter. Writing 'Haste Post Haste' on a letter in the 17th century would get the letter to its intended destination as quickly as it is possible to do by horse. One can imagine that compared to the speed of an email today, this must have taken an...

Bonds And Shares, Coming On In Leaps And Bounds!
May 14 2015

SPINK LONDON | The world of bonds and shares is about to be redefined! Our 29th May 2015 auction of Bonds and Shares of the World contains some 800 lots. China usually accounts for at least 10% of the sale but in this auction it accounts for roughly 100 lots including many rare pieces and many quantity lots suitable for dealers and investors. One of the best pieces is lot 191, a City Government of Greater Shanghai loan of 1934, bond for $5000 Chinese silver dollars, which is being offered at au...

Post, Pox and Murder, The Exciting Swaziland Collection Formed By Peter van der Molen
May 13 2015

Spink London is excited to be selling one of the most thorough and complete collection of the stamps and postal history of Swaziland, formed by Peter van der Molen, FRPSL, RDPSA, on the 20th May 2015. Few in the world of philately have the opportunity of not only forming a significant collection but also of being the driving force behind the standard book of the subject. Peter van der Molen is such a person. The sale commences with a copy of the superb 2013 handbook written and signed by Peter...

Dragons, Horses and Tigers, An Impressive Arsenal For The Spink China Sale: “CHINESE IMPERIAL POST IN TAIWAN”
May 12 2015

Spink's Hong Kong office is proud to be presenting the Gems of Chinese Imperial Post in Taiwan sale on 16th May 2015. The sale is comprised of a wide variety of philatelic items and postal history, with some very beautiful designs and extremely rare issues. And amidst the impressiveness of the collection, is a subtle story of loyalty and Chinese cultural resistance on the island of Taiwan. Taiwan was officially adopted into the territory of the Chinese Imperial Ching Dynasty as a Prefecture un...

Spink Takes The Reins Of Legendary Philatelic Catalogues
May 07 2015

Spink & Son Ltd., the London based collectables dealer and auctioneer, is pleased to announce that it has acquired the Arthur Maury Philatelic Catalogues. Included in the sale are the rights to and control of the current stock and future editions of these books. The list includes the annual Timbres de France Catalogue, the first catalogue of postage stamps in the World, now in its 118th edition, together with the specialised editions covering Timbres de l'ex-empire francais d'Afrique; Timbr...

The Much Awaited Second Half Of The Slaney Collection of English Coins Is Finally Coming to Auction
Apr 28 2015

The Slaney Collection | 14 May 2015 | London Spink sold the first half of the Slaney collection in May 2003. The sale was a great success, many records were broken, and the numismatic world was agog to know when the second half of the collection would be offered. After a wait of twelve years the remaining coins are coming, at last, to the auction block. The collection was formed with great care, and at considerable expense between 1940 - 1960. Several famous collections were dispersed during...

Number one for Bank of England notes - Spink offers unique first serial numbers
Apr 20 2015

There is a superb selection of British notes in our May 6th auction.  It features a great selection of black and white notes and other Bank of England prefixes and low numbers.  Of great interest is a group of Scottish notes from the Clydesdale Bank. These are all low or interesting numbers from the new £5 Polymer issue, including the numbers 000001-000010! Bank of England, a trio of remarkable number 1 serial numbered notes With any country, banknotes with low serial numbers a...

Spink to Offer Remarkable New Discoveries in World Banknotes
Apr 20 2015

The World Banknotes auction this April showcases a wide range of notes from countries across the globe.  We are offering many great rarities, and as usual, some completely unique items.  Below is a selection of some of the most spectacular or otherwise interesting items.  Central Bank - United Arab Republic A group of specimens showing a series of UAR banknotes that were never issued.  The United Arab Republic was a union between Egypt and Syria. It lasted only three year...

Waterloo Hero's Medal For Auction In Time For The Bicentenary Anniversary Of The Battle Of Waterloo
Apr 17 2015

On 23rd April 2015, Spink London will hold its first auction of Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria in 2015. At the forefront of a diverse 666 lots of British and Foreign Orders, Decorations and Medals, is the Superb Waterloo Medal to Major Arthur Rowley Heyland, 40th Foot, who was wounded several times during the Peninsular War, including at Talavera and Badajoz. At the Battle of Waterloo, on the 18th June 1815, he had his sword shattered and his horse wounded, before being s...

Disclaimed ‘Eboracum (Ryedale) Hoard’ of Viking and Saxon Coins to be Dispersed by Spink
Mar 12 2015

This remarkable hoard of 65 coins and 4 ingots is a fascinating insight into the power struggles of the northern Danelaw and King Aethelstan's subsequent recapturing of York from the Vikings in a.d. 927. We see on the coins a fascinating mix of the different cultures and religions prevalent in 10th century England. The catalogue cover coin, lot 479, is a particularly good example to illustrate this point.   Lot 479, Estimated: £7,000 - 9,000   This Viking piece s...

The 'Famous Running Horse' Note at Spink
Feb 13 2015

2nd April Spink China sale features the rarest type of the note from the first series renminbi. The first series renminbi was issued from 1st December 1948 by the newly established People's Bank of China.  It consisted of 12 denominations and 62 different types of note. As the communists continued to liberate much of China, by the late 1940's the Nationalist Government's war effort became more and more laboured.  The Gold Yuan certificates already in circulation underwent severe inf...

56 Prisoners Released From Tibet
Feb 04 2015

Spink London are pleased to be offering a rare MAHARAJA SURENDRA VIKRAM SHAH silver medal in the 25-26 March 2015 auction.   It was issued by the Maharaja Surendra Vikram Shah (1847-81) to soldiers who fought in a campaign between Nepal and Tibet in 1841.  Campaign medals are not difficult to find, but one only has to look at this particular medal to see that it is unusual with its magnificent, if naïve, depiction of the Hindu prince dressed in full regalia. The story behind it...

Rare Silver Dollar Kept as a Talisman from D-Day to Berlin Makes $437,100
Jan 30 2015

Only one pair of dies was used in the production of the 1794 issue. The young nation's first mint had just been established in Philadelphia two years earlier, and its premises spread over two lots on 7th Street between Market and Arch, with the renowned scientist and inventor David Rittenhouse as its director.   Thomas Jefferson's repeated efforts to secure the services of Swiss inventor Jean-Pierre Droz had never born fruit. (Droz had created a new coining process that notably str...

Remote Outpost Sets a World Record
Jan 19 2015

SPINK CHINA, HONG KONG - On 16 January 2015 Spink China kicked off the marathon of fifteen sales held in January only across all Spink offices. The star lot out of the many hundreds of lots in five auction catalogues was the label used in 1917 from the Russian Post Office in Ulankon (Lot 2879). Sent by registered post to St. Petersburg, it is believed that this post office was only opened in 1917 and would have closed shortly after the October Revolution in Russia. This is the only recorded it...

Kings, Empresses, Noblemen . . .
Jan 12 2015

Our 30th January 2015 auction of "Bonds and Share Certificates of the World", to be held in Lugano by SPINK SWITZERLAND, contains a diverse selection of 348 rare and historically important items mainly from Europe and the United States. Amongst the early pieces you will find one of the earliest bonds available to collectors, issued in 1549 in Antwerp (Lot 105) under the Habsburg / Spanish rule of Charles V (1500-1558). During the first Golden Age of Antwerp, the city was the richest town...

Flying Into the Sun . . . From Early Flight to Solar Power
Jan 12 2015

For our 30th January 2015 auction of "Bonds and Share Certificates of the World", to be held in Lugano by SPINK SWITZERLAND, it was worth creating a special section for aviation. We are proud to offer the share of the first airplane company, the 1908 share of the Compagnie Générale de Navigation (Lot 95). This French company was the first to use the new invention from the famous American Wright brothers, the world's first successful fixed-wing aircraft. In 1906 Orville and Wilbur Wright s...