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From Japan to Scotland..

Scotland and Japan: one is renowned for its rich and varied culture, its stunning countryside, its friendly and welcoming people, its industriousness, and a history of fierce warriors who keep its borders free of marauding neighbours. The other is …oh wait, hang on…

All joking aside, direct links between the two nations may not seem immediately apparent, but they are there – in the case of Mr Albert Richard Brown prominently so. A R Brown was the founding partner of A R Brown MacFarlane, now a major player in the world’s steel industry, and was also widely regarded as the father of the Japanese Shipping Industry.

Born in 1839 in Ringwood, Hampshire, the young AR Brown dreamed of far off lands and voyages of discovery (obviously not an indictment of Ringwood in the modern day, which is a delightful place). In 1853, at just 14 years of age he defied the wishes of his parents and secured a role on a merchant ship heading for the West Indies.

The life of a Mariner in the mid 1800’s was undoubtedly a wee bit harsher than the modern day comfy-seat-laden heated ferries and table-service-included cruise liners, but Brown thrived, rising through the Officer ranks to be eventually offered a position in the Imperial Japanese Service, where he became one of their most trusted advisors.

Japan at the time was going through some significant changes. The establishment of the Meiji Government in 1869 ended 250 years of Tokugawa feudal regime, and placed a strong emphasis on introducing and absorbing Western Culture. The dream was to turn the (relatively) small collection of islands in the South China Sea into the ‘Britain of the East’.

On the other side of the globe, changes were also happening. In the UK, the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution had produced numerous pockets of intense manufacturing all over Great Britain, not least in the heavily industrialised region surrounding Glasgow, Scotland.

Scottish merchants were among the first to take advantage of Japan’s new technology and business focus, as Glasgow was such a significant source of both industrial goods and skilled workers. The connection was mutually beneficial.

And of course, A R Brown was ideally placed to take full advantage. After receiving the Order of the Rising Sun 3rd Class by H.I.M. Emperor, Brown returned to the UK and settled in Clydeside, where he took over the commissioning and building of ships for the Meiji Government.

The early 1900’s saw a brisk spurt of industrialisation in Japan as they sought to raise their international profile.

Now, over 100 years later, it’s safe to say that it worked.

The role Albert Richard Brown played in this resurgence onto the world’s stage cannot be done proper justice on these pages alone, but it was he who forged those links – links as strong as the steel he purveyed – between two major economies, that have a lasting effect to this day (although the problem of the noisy neighbours arguably remains).

As well as bringing back to the UK over fifty years of experience in the Japanese Maritime Industry, A R Brown also returned with the five Oval Gold Koban’s you can see here – coins that have remained in the family ever since, now offered for sale in our Hong Kong Auction.

  • Lot 828: Pre-Meiji:
    Oval Gold Koban, “in the year of Yen-Kio” (1744), 58.5mm x 41mm, 18.82g.
    Extremely fine.
    Estimate: US$6,000-8,000

  • Lot 829: Provincial or Private Issue:
    Lozenge or Diamond-shaped Koban, 46mm x 40mm, 12.75g.
    Very fine.
    Estimate: US$5,000-7,000

  • Lot 831: Tempo Era: Oval Gold Koban Kin (1837-58), 10.89g.
    Good very fine.
    Estimate: US$1,000-1,500

  • Lot 832: Manen Era (c. 1860-62):
    Oval Gold Oban Kin (10-Ryo), Kyoto Mint, ND, 112.96g.
    Extremely fine and very rare.
    Estimate: US$35,000-40,000

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Indian Ocean Island Nation

The fantasy of moving to a tropical paradise away from the madding crowd is one harboured by many, especially when lottery jackpots swell to sums large enough to purchase a small island.

Scottish sea captain John Clunies-Ross and his descendants lived on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, claiming the land for more than 15 decades before yielding possession to Australia in 1978. During its century and a half of ownership, the family issued a small number of coins (also variably called tokens or token coins), a set of which is offered for sale by A H Baldwin & Sons in Hong Kong on April 7.

 

Keeling, Cocos Islands, John Clunies Ross – Complete set of Ivorine Tokens, issued in 1913. For sale in our Hong Kong Auction on April 7 – Estimate: US$2,000-2,500

 

To read Jeff Starck’s full article for Coin World, click here.

 

To view the full catalogue for Hong Kong Auction 60, click here.

 

 

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Hong Kong 60 Press Release

A H Baldwin & Sons Ltd is delighted to announce our upcoming Spring Hong Kong Coin Auction, featuring a wide and varied high quality selection of Far eastern, Chinese and World Coins and Banknotes.

This auction marks the 30th anniversary of the Far East Auction Brand, and is the 36th time that we have made the long trek to Hong Kong, but it’s always worth it: the Far East enjoys a keen enthusiasm for numismatics, an energy and passion that springs from a culture as deep and rich as anywhere on earth.

Baldwin’s long-standing partnership with Ma Tak Wo Numismatic Co Ltd has produced some amazing highlights over the years, including the World Record Price for a Hong Kong Trade Dollar at our last sojourn to the region in August last year.

The Hong Kong Coin Auction is an integral part of Baldwin’s international calendar, as it provides us with a strong presence in an important numismatic market. As Director and Chief Auctioneer Seth Freeman states, “in recent years we have seen a distinct shift in numismatic auctions away from the traditional methods of bidding to a far more digitally based process. Thanks to this ‘magical’ internet we are able to communicate directly with keen nuimismatists across the world, and, through the Hong Kong Coin Auction, more specifically those in mainland China: a passionate market that we can now interact with more confidently.”

The Hong Kong Auction 60 takes place on the 7 April 2016, at the Holiday Inn Golden Mile, 50 Nathan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

As always, Baldwin’s will set the standard for auction coverage, with a live audio and visual stream on our website: click here to access.

We will also carry live up-to-the-minute updates across our social media streams – Facebook and Twitter. Sign up today if you haven’t already!

You can view lots from this auction by clicking on the logo below.

 

 

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Can an Englishman Read Music…?

London has long been known for its music venues – the Albert Hall, the Barbican, and, of course, 76 Harley Street.

In the early 19th Century, the leading personality in musical circles was a chap by the name of Thomas Alsagar – a man of many talents (he was also co-owner of The Times and edited their muisical pages), he championed musical talent across the capital from his home at Queen’s Square where he established the ‘Queen’s Square Select Society’ in 1830.

This exclusive group led to the formation fo the Beethoven Quartett Society – and in the music room at 76 Harley Street they preformed the world’s first ever performance of a complete cycle of Beethoven’s quartets.

The first occurence of this rather mammoth undertaking took place between 21st April and 16th June 1845 (performed in batches of 3 quartets per day), and garnered some considerable success. The event became an annual occasion for the next six years.

The Ivory Beethoven Ticket, 1845

Great Britain, London, Harley Street, The Quartett Society – Ticket or Pass made of Ivory, dated 1845.

Audiences were limited to just 250, who got to see an orchestra filled with some of the finest musicians of the day – Camillo Sivori, Prosper Sainton, Henry Hill and Scipion Rousselot to name just a few.

Such a performance would have taken considerable effort and was no doubt a challenge for the performers – but it seems it was quite a challenge for the audience as well. In 1847 Hector Berlioz attended a cycle and noted in his ‘Letter from London’ sent to a French friend:

‘Here you see Englishmen following the composer’s flights of imagination with their eyes in miniature scores printed for the occasion which means that quite a few of them are able to read a score (more or less). But I would be wary of these fans’ knowledge because glancing over one listener’s shoulder I saw his eyes fixed on page 4 while the performers were on page 6…’

The token, pictured above, is a great chance to own a part of musical history – you might even try to say you were there, although it might be a good idea to brush up on your musical reading first….

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Masterpiece

As one of the leading numismatic dealers and auction houses in the world, we frequently receive requests from media agencies and production companies around the world who would like to feature our exclusive items or images.

Over the last few years we have received such requests as wide and varied as The Museum of Alexandria to Harvard University, as well as countless publications ranging from Canada to New Zealand.

Recently, we were approached by a television production company, Spun Gold TV, regarding featuring a number of items on their new show, Masterpiece with Alan Titchmarsh.

This new series sees teams comprised of antique and history fans going head to head in a number of challenges – from valuing to deciphering the age of a collectable item. Once they enter the ‘Masterpiece Gallery’, they must decide which of the three objects on display is the true ‘Masterpiece’.

The show can be seen on weekdays on ITV (UK) from 3pm-4pm, and you can watch the entire series so far by clicking here or by clicking on the logo above.

Just some of the items from Baldwin’s that are featured on the show are listed below – all of which are available to own directly through this website – your chance to own not just a confirmed ‘Masterpiece’, but a highlight to your collection that comes with its own unique ‘talking-point’!

For those that have not yet seen the show, in the interests of spoilers we have omitted the prices from below. Clicking on any item will take you to the page where the price is displayed.

Charles I (1625-49), Unite of Twenty Shillings, 1644, Oxford Mint.

Very fine, reverse bolder and very rare.

Claudius (AD 41-54), AE 24mm, minted at Antioch, Syria.

Dark brown-green patina, well-struck, about extremely fine.

Thessaly, Larissa (c. 356-342 BC), Silver Drachm, nearly extremely fine, attractive.

So what do you think? Masterpiece or not? Tell us below….

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Heads or Tails?

It doesn’t even take a numismatist to know the distinction between the obverse and the reverse side of the coin. Generally speaking, of course, the larger of the two images is attributed to the obverse.

But to what extent do the size, magnitude and overall character of the image hold value to the collector?

Take the Larrissa Drachm below, as an example. Could one reason that there is more value placed on the portrait than the grazing horse? Why?

Ancient Greek States allotted their coinage to be synonymous with an emblem of the Gods and other mythical creatures – Athens, for example, issued their coins with a depiction of the Goddess Athena (guess why?). Keeping up the theme of imaginative associations, the city of Larissa depicted the water nymph, Larissa – the daughter of Pegasus, Larissa was a water nymph said to inhabit a water spring in the city.

The nearly extremely fine Larissa Drachm, (c. 356-342 BC), featured on ITV’s Masterpiece show (Ep. 4). £850

According to legend, she was in love with Poseidon and bore him three sons. Her depiction, as seen on the coin, was invariably with flowing, unruly hair similar in style to the Goddess Medusa. Nymphs were considered divine creatures, possessing evergreen beauty and immortality – a little, perhaps, like the coin that still bears her likeness today.

The traits of the nymph were, naturally, highly desirable – so is it these traits that make the value of the image, and hence the value of the obverse.

Reversely (sic), the image of the horse also holds significance in Greek mythology – a highly regarded animal and a symbol of the city of Larissa. Yet here is more anecdote attributed to the image of the nymph than of the horse.
So which is it? Which holds the most value? Which side holds more importance to the collector?

Is it heads or tails?

This actual coin was featured on the Alan Titichmarsh show ‘Masterpiece’, Episode 4. 

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ATG’s London Market Review 2015

ATG have this week published their review of numismatic auction houses in London as a great comparison guide for coin and medal auctions that took place in the capital over the course of 2015.

So, how’d we do?

As always, Baldwin’s London auctions (five in total in 2015, as well as 3 Argentum auctions) proved significant events in the numismatic calendar, realising a very healthy total of £3.7 million.

The health of the company overall continues to be encouraging, with a very comparible results total when placed alongside other numismatic houses operating in the same market.

The article, written by Richard Falknier, gives a fascinating insight into the London numismatic markets, highlighting just how they’ve risen in popularity over the years of the ATG collating data (a fact we can definitely attest to given the ‘standing-room-only’ attendances in our salesroom recently) the market has grown to a total of £38 million from a standing start of £9.3 million twenty years ago.

This significant growth has been reflected across numerous numismatic markets, with Orders and Medals now making up almost £8 million of the total.

 

The Victoria Proof Set (sold for £504,000) and the Gold British Trade Dollar (sold for £221,000) – the 2 World Record prices realised by Baldwin’s in 2015.

 

The state of the London market, then, looks to be in a pretty healthy shape overall – as Falknier states, ‘London is simply a nice place to do business, and retains an important role as an entrepot between Europe, the US and The Far East’.

It’s early days, of course, but here at Baldwin’s we reckon that 2016 is shaping up to be even stronger. We’ve already had a great start to the year, with The New York Sale in January highlighting the fact that numismatics on a worldwide scale is definitely as strong a market as its ever been.

And London in 2016? We believe its going to be a good one! We already have a number of very high-profile items lined up for our May auctions at 399 Strand (make sure you’ve signed up to our mailing list to be the first to view auction items), and last-minute consignments are still coming in.

Then, of course, we have Coinex in September, which is always a massive event in the numismatic calendar. We hope to see you there, at what promises to be a proper celebration of just how important London has become in the numismatic world.

To subscribe to the ATG and read Richard Falknier’s full article, click here.

 

What do you think? Do you reckon the London market is stronger than ever or have you perhaps experienced a decline in quality or value?

Let us know below, and we’ll feature the best comments in our next newsletter.

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Fixed Price List FAQ

Twice a year, Baldwin’s produces a Fixed Price List (FPL) – a catalogue containing some of the finest numismatic material available anywhere in the world. The release is always a highly anticipated event, and so far the digital version has been browsed almost 10,000 times.

We always get asked a great deal of questions about our FPL, so we felt that the time was right to now ‘lift the lid’ and answer as many of those queries as we can.

If you have a question that we haven’t yet addressed, feel free to ask it below and we’l feature the best in our next newsletter.

 

 

So where does all this material come from?

Our team of world-class experts begin collecting items for the FPL months (and often more) well in advance of publication. We quite literally scour the globe in pursuit of top-quality items to feature. We attend all the major fairs and conventions, from Berlin to Tokyo to New York to Hong Kong.

We also monitor and attend coin auctions all over the world, and if we do manage to grab a bargain it enables us to offer items at very attractive prices.

 

Do you own all the items on the Fixed Price List?

We certainly do. Whilst we do sometimes sell on behalf of clients, every item featured on our FPL is owned by A H Baldwin & Sons Ltd.

Items that are consigned to us are generally sold at our numerous auctions around the world. For those looking to consign, click the ‘auctions’ tab above to see why our auction processes consistently get the best results for our consignors.

 

How are the items selected?

When it comes to our FPL, we take great pains to ensure that there is truly something for everyone.

We understand that the numismatic world is a richly varied and often eclectic one. For every high-level collector willing to spend six or seven figures each year on their collection, we know that there are a dozen equally committed collectors who perhaps operate on a more modest budget.

Our goal is to make this bi-annual catalogue as inclusive as possible – that’s not to say that there are not some highly exclusive items on the list.

In every category we feature a number of these exclusive items, but we also include a number of others that can add significant value to a collection without having to sell the car or re-mortgage the house.

 

I’ve seen that coin cheaper on another website…

If you happen to find a bargain, then after your own due diligence, by all means go for it!

As we all know, numismatics is not a precise science, and the bars and restuarants surrounding every fair and convention anywhere in the world are always awash with stories of burned fingers and bargains that turned out not-to-be.

Much of the stock that we feature on our FPL is high quality and highly specialised, and the prices we set are what our specialists feel are both realistic and reasonable for that ‘specific’ item rather than any other items in that series.

 

So just how are the prices calculated?

A large number of factors are taken into consideration when setting the prices, including (but not limited to) current market trends, popularity, provenance and rarity, combined with our specialists’ unrivalled knowledge of the numismatic world.

A very considerable amount of research is also conducted for each and every item to make sure we get it 100% right.

The prices that we set are commensurate with market value – we monitor Prices Realised and trends from all over the world on a constant basis.

Over the past 142 years plus, we have built a significant reputation of being one of the most respected numismatic dealing houses in the world – its a reputation that we want to keep. And the best way to do that? To offer you the best possible prices that we can.

 

These prices – are they really ‘fixed’?

This one we get asked a lot – and the short answer is: Yes, they are.

That being said, once the FPL has been current for a month, we are often willing to entertain sensible offers, and we will always reply.

 

Why do you only produce Fixed Price Lists twice a year?

The compilation of these catalogues takes a huge amount of time and some considerable effort – work often begins as much as six to eight months ahead of publication. By limiting the number of releases to only two a year, it enables us to present only the very best that the numismatic world can offer and retains that level of exclusivity that so many of you have come to expect from Baldwin’s.

 

My area of interest isn’t featured this time. Why not?

There are a number of reasons why this could be the case. It could be that we were unable to source items of sufficient quality to include, or that space limitations meant that we had to omit certain sections this time around.

Its worth noting that any items that don’t quite make it onto our FPL (for whatever reason) are always available through the website. Simply click on the ‘buy’ tab above to start browsing.

 

Got a question that isn’t featured here? Let us know below and we’ll get back to you!
The best questions will be featured on our next newsletter.

 

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Edward VI – the Boy King’s 30-Shillings

This Friday (19 February) sees the 469th anniversary of the Crowning of Edward VI at Westminster Abbey – with the young King coming to the throne at the rather tender age of just 9 years.

Despite his obvious immaturity, Edward was oft regarded as something of an intellectual, and he took a personal interest in the affairs of the Mint, a fact revealed by his own diaries.

In 1551, Edward was just 13 years old, and his involvement with the Mint produced one of the rarest and finest Gold Sovereigns produced at any time within the British Isles. Indeed, in his Tudor Coinage (pub. 1978), Christopher Challis suggests that this coin was perhaps for the use of the King himself.

 

Edward VI (1547-53), Fine Gold Sovereign of Thirty Shillings, Southwark Mint. Bold very fine and very rare.

 

This particular coin once adorned the cabinets of the British Museum in London, but was sold at private Treaty at some unrecorded time in the past.

Its rarity is beyond question – this is what is believed to be one of just eight examples currently in private hands. It was issued at a 30-Shiling face value, 23carat and 3 ½ grains fineness (0.995 fine gold), and weighs in at 240 grains (15.552g). These exquisite coins were issued for a mere six months, and feature the Mintmark of an ostrich head attributed to the then Treasurer Edward Peckham – a reference both to his surname and a nod to his family arms which featured the same symbol.

Edward VI passed away at the (still very young) age of 16 from tuberculosis, and left behind a particularly contentious (even by the standards of the time and his parents Henry VIII and Jane Seymour) succession. And of course, one of the finest and rarest Gold Sovereigns that you can own.

The Edward VI Fine Gold Sovereign of Thirty Shillings is available from our Fixed Price List for £250,000.

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Coins Weekly NY Review

The iconic Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan was the venue for the annual New York Sale, held over the course of three evenings on 5-6-7 January 2016.
The New York Sale is an integral part of the NYINC (New York International Numismatic Convention), which attracts collectors and dealers from all over the world who flock to New York City to view, buy and admire the range of fabulous coins from all quarters of the globe and all periods of history.
The three New York Sale auction evenings began at 7pm, with enthusiastic bidders staying long into the night to bid on lots that included the magnificent Sunrise Collection of Parthian Coins; the Alexander White III Collection of Byzantine and Medieval Coins; a fabulous selection of ancient and world coins, as well as a hugely popular Russian coins, medals and orders auction.
In total, the three auctions realised just over $4M, and the large variation of available lots made for some truly exceptional realisations.

The auctions were also remarkable for the happenstance of a truly unique event when a stunned auction room bore witness to a New York Sale first (and probably the entire auction world) when the auctioneer gave away a lot for free, prompting the first ever Prices Realised released that contains the word ‘gratis’!

 

As always, Baldwin’s also set the standard for live auction interaction, with the live broadcast through their website as well as a fully interactive Twitter feed, that was viewed by over 20,000 people and saw dozens get directly involved with the action.

 

To view the coinsweekly.com website, click on the logo below: