Silver decadrachm of Syracuse struck c.405BC and signed by the celebrated artist Kimon, £320,000 at Morton & Eden.
The Mayfair collectables specialist posted a hammer total of £19.5m, some 39% up on £14m in 2022 and the highest aggregate in the firm’s history.
Total sales across London coin and medals auctions were £61.6m in 2023, just a fraction down on 2022’s record aggregate.
Spink (£13.1m with a 21% share of the market in 2023) and Roma Numismatics (£12.5m with a 20% share) were second and third in the table.
Another significant mover was Morton & Eden which achieved £8.7m – £7m coming from a single consignment of a collection of ancient Greek coins.
Lots of lots
Noonans made its most significant gains in coins and banknotes. By offering close to twice the number of lots as Spink overall (25,037 compared to 12,592), it made sales of £13m, up by more than three-quarters.
Pierce Noonan says digital technology is helping to “demystify the complexities of collecting”.
