Coins

Since ancient times, rulers and governments have produced coins to establish a standardised form of exchange for their citizens. With these items often embodying the history of their age, antique coins remains a highly collectable field.

Coins often appear in mixed auctions but there are also specialist auction houses operating in this field.


Silver denarius

Brutus Eid Mar denarius sets record for any coin sold in Scandinavia

26 June 2023

A Brutus Eid Mar-type silver denarius, struck shortly after the murder of Julius Caesar, has become the most expensive numismatic object ever sold at auction in Scandinavia.

Panticapaeum gold stater

Miniature masterpiece gold stater retakes title of the most expensive classical coin

29 May 2023

A Panticapaeum gold stater, struck in present day Crimea c.350-300BC, has regained the rank of the world’s most expensive classical coin.

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Heads you win a final proof coin set bearing Queen Victoria’s portrait

01 May 2023

The final proof coin set bearing Queen Victoria’s portrait was issued by the Royal Mint in two sets in 1893.

Anglo Saxon coins

Men found guilty of selling Anglo Saxon coins from Herefordshire Hoard

28 April 2023

In the latest of a series of court cases, two men have been found guilty of trying to sell rare Anglo-Saxon coins.

Coins

Roma owner arrested in coin false provenance probe

20 March 2023

Richard Beale, the owner and managing director of London coin auction house Roma Numismatics, has been arrested in New York in connection with the sale of a record-breaking classical coin.

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Second-heaviest coin in classical numismatics sells at Berlin auction

20 March 2023

One would hardly call a 13in x 2ft 1in (34 x 63cm) copper block, weighing more than 32 pounds (14.6kg), a convenient method of payment, but in the mid-17th century such plates were indeed issued in Sweden under King Charles X Gustav.

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Spink tops coins and medals table

13 February 2023

The record business enjoyed by London’s coin auction houses during Covid lockdowns largely continued last year.

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The Gothic Crown of 1853

13 February 2023

Produced six years after the much more common 1847 dated Gothic Crown of which 8000 were made, the 1853 Gothic Crown was struck only in a very limited number.

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Coin synonymous with the Age of Discovery

13 February 2023

Struck c.1500 in Lisbon from Guinean gold provided by the explorations of Vasco da Gama, the 10 cruzados piece or Portugués do ouro of Manuel I (1495-1521) is a coin synonymous with the Age of Discovery.

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Wife of megalomaniac emperor

13 February 2023

To one side of this gold aureus struck in Rome in 180-83 is a sensually draped portrait of the goddess Venus.

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Coins and medals: Upwards and onwards as market rises with inflation

13 February 2023

The unexpected but very welcome increase in demand that the market experienced amid Covid lockdowns continued in 2022 as restrictions eased – and auction houses are optimistic about another strong performance this year

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Henry III penny produced for just a year

13 February 2023

Henry III (1216-72) issued his ‘gold penny’ for probably less than a year from August 16, 1357.

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Eadberht rarity sold at Timeline Auctions

13 February 2023

The corpus of Anglo-Saxon coins lists only 20 coins for the Kentish king Eadberht.

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Design of the Zodiac

13 February 2023

Harmers’ (20% buyer’s premium) third numismatic auction held on September 26 was topped by this Indian rarity, a Gold Mohur issued under the Mughal emperor Nur al-Din Muhammad Jahangir (1605-27).

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Eagle flies in to London saleroom

13 February 2023

An unusual visitor to UK shores last year was this gold ‘Liberty head’ quarter eagle (two and a half dollars) from 1830.

Diocletian gold 10 aurei coin

Roman medallion masterpiece claims imperial coin record

23 January 2023

A spectacular Roman gold medallion took a record price at the latest New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC).

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Final view of Victoria in the coins realm

05 December 2022

The final proof coin set bearing Queen Victoria’s portrait was issued by the Royal Mint in 1893.

Ellerby Hoard

Coins discovered under kitchen floor in Yorkshire home sell for over £600,000 at auction

15 October 2022

A group of coins found under the floor of an 18th century house in Yorkshire have sold at Spink.

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Coins: BNTA's London showpiece event Coinex returns

12 September 2022

Coinex, the most important event on the British calender for many serious coin collectors, opens at the Biltmore Hotel in Mayfair on September 23-24.

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Alexander’s distater – the spoils of conquest

12 September 2022

Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Persian Achaemenid empire delivered into his hands a vast wealth.

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