“The raft not only represents a suppressed culture and a forgotten ceremony, it also marks the beginning of a story rivalling the legend of Atlantis: El Dorado, the fabled lost city of gold.” The reverse of the Colombian 2 Pesos Oro banknote proudly depicts the Balsa Muisca, a votive artefact sometimes referred to as the […]
THE MUISCA RAFT AND THE LEGEND OF EL DORADO Read Article »
“THE UNTOLD STORY OF A REAL LIFE NUMISMATIC “GOLDEN TICKET” “Few however could have predicted the rapidity by which general currency usage would decline domestically, and with it the once-dependable staple of their entire business.” The second decade of the 21st Century is a chapter that few in Britain will forget. From the “Pasty Tax”
THE COINS THAT NEVER WERE: SURVIVORS OF THE 2019 BREXIT “MELTDOWN” Read Article »
“The Number One” For much of the 19th and early 20th centuries, New Zealand’s monetary system was shaped by the now-unfamiliar practice of private trading banks issuing banknotes for public circulation. The Union Bank of Australia, established in 1840 in Petone (then known as Britannia), was the first trading bank in New Zealand. Over a
THE FIRST RESERVE BANK OF NEW ZEALAND BANKNOTE ISSUED Read Article »
THE UNAPPROPRIATED DIE ERA: 1884-1885 Figure 1 -Unappropriated Dies – Die Proofs, 1872While proofs of 19 duties were prepared for use for varying Great Britain revenues, the eight duties shown above were those appropriated for the Military Telegraphs issue in 1884 “In essence De La Rue prepared a set of dies for each value desired
MILITARY TELEGRAPHS IN BRITISH BECHUANALAND Read Article »
‘IN THE SPRING-TIME, THE ONLY PRETTY RING-TIME’ (AS YOU LIKE IT, ACT V, SCENE III) HISTORIC FINGER RINGS AT SPINK, LONDON – APRIL 2025 There’s something a little bit different amongst the lots of the latest Spink Coin sale, in the form of two historic finger-rings. Both are astonishing, recent metal detecting finds which, after
IN THE SPRING-TIME, THE ONLY PRETTY RING-TIME Read Article »
PART 3 FROM JAMES I TO JAMES V “He also issued gold coins which he named the demy and the half-demy, based on the English half- and quarter-noble and approximately equal in size, though of slightly reduced fineness” Introduction This article continues the story of Scottish money with a survey of the intriguing coin is-
THE HISTORY OF SCOTTISH MONEY Read Article »
WORLD BANKNOTES – E-AUCTION London, 27th March – 10th April 2025 Following a thrilling start to the year with our January online auction, The Robin Benke Collection of English Banknotes and an incredibly successful live sale at NYINC, the excitement of remarkable banknotes continues! Our current online auction presents a notable collection of Bank Polski
FORTHCOMING SALES Read Article »
THE SIMPSON COLLECTION OF HIBERNO-NORSE AND IRISH COINAGE Spink London, 2nd April 2025 The Spink London Coin Department was delighted to return to the rostrum on 2nd April to present The John Noel Simpson Collection of Hiberno-Norse and Irish Coinage. Following the success of the collection’s banknotes in our NYINC programme in January, similar interest
SPINK NEWS – PART 4 Read Article »
SPINK NUMISMATIC CIRCULAR 39: ANCIENT COINS, FEATURING THE LITTLE BUSBY HOARD OF ROMAN DENARII AND THE “VEITCHII” COLLECTION Spink London, 26th March 2025 Spink’s first Ancient Coin sale of 2025 started things off with a bang, building on several years of great results in the category. Comprising 453 lots from across the ancient world, the
SPINK NEWS – PART 5 Read Article »
the alfred leonard fuller of bath collection of english silver coins and tokens 17th December 2025 Cold though it may have been in London, Spink London’s Coin Department is far from hunkering down in hibernation. In the week leading up to Christmas, we held The Alfred Leonard Fuller of Bath Collection of English Silver Coins
SPINK NEWS – PART 3 Read Article »
