NOONANS TO SELL THE TANKERSLEY COLLECTION OF WEST INDIAN COINS AND TOKENS

A large collection of almost 360 West Indian coins and tokens that was amassed by Bill Tankersley (1948-2021) who was born in Columbia, Tennessee, USA will be offered at Noonans Mayfair on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, at 1pm.

After Bill was married in 1976, he realised his wife did not share his love of antiques and began his collection of coins which were small and easy to store. The couple began working with a church in South London, England in 1977, and Bill’s focus became West Indian Countermarks as a reflection of his appreciation of that culture represented in so many of his church members. The coins and token that are beng offered by Noonans were collected from 1998 onwards are expected to fetch in the region of £50,000-70,000.

A very early Jamaican Dollar dating from the Authority of November 1758 is a Ferdinand VI 8 Reales, that was produced in Lima, and then both sides centrally countermarked with a floriate GR is estimated at £1,000-1,200 [lot 1119].

As Tim Wilkes, Head of Coin Department at Noonans explained: “The Act of 18 November 1758 placed an enhanced fixed value on a specific number of Spanish-Colonial ‘milled’ coins and these would be identified by the application of the floriate GR countermark. This is the earliest documented instance of local action to countermark coins in the British West Indies.”

A rare ‘double-island’ quarter-dollar coin, that was issued on one island (Martinique) and then countermarked later on another (Tortola) is estimated at £400-500. It was cut from a Charles IV Spanish-Colonial 8 Reales [lot 1191].

The most important coin in the sale isn’t West Indian. From the Ionian Islands, is an extremely rare Fifty Para Charles II Tari that has been countermarked with a crude bust of George III that is estimated at £3,000-£4,000 [lot 1336].