Auctions

The prototype B1 Vulcan first flew in 1952 and it is a sign of the design’s longevity and durability that the last of these bombers was taken out of service only in 1984.

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

A cache of material from descendants of the Starbuck family, a Quaker whaling family influential in both the abolitionist movement and the founding of Nantucket as a whaling centre, was the highlight of Catherine Southon’s sale on February 8.

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.

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.

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

Lawrences of Crewkerne kicks off 2023 with an extensive £1m (premium-inclusive) series of sales over several days

The sale at Hansons (25% buyer’s premium) in Teddington on January 28 included what was marketed as ‘Queen Victoria’s post box’.

Many of the best-sellers at Roseberys’ (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) auction of Modern British and 20th century art in south London came from the collection of former Wall Street banker Geoffrey Elliott (1939-2021) and his wife Fay.

The sale at Clark’s Auction Company in California on February 19 includes this Moser enamelled glass fish vase.

This single-page letter offered on January 19 by Mellors & Kirk (24% buyer’s premium) tells the remarkable story of Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori (1762-1829).

The Asian art sale at John McInnis in Massachusetts on February 25 includes this pair of Qing ‘official’s hat’ type huanghuali armchairs.

Two Chinese blue and white dishes, recognised by bidders as examples of the bleu de Huế porcelain, flew to £20,500 at a sale in Dorset on January 26.

Hindman is conducting a series of auctions featuring property from the collection of the late Fred A Krehbiel and his wife Kay Krehbiel.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.

Sotheby’s New York holds an online auction titled Design that runs from March 7-14.

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

Instituted by Maria Dickin, the founder of the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA), in 1943, the Dickin Medal has been awarded on 71 occasions – 32 of them going to pigeons, 34 to dogs, four to horses and one to a cat.