COLLECTION OF MORE THAN 200 BRITISH GOLD COINS ACHIEVES A HAMMER PRICE OF £259,000 AT NOONANS

A collection of more than 200 British gold coins sold for a hammer price of £259,000 at Noonans Mayfair on Wednesday, September 18, 2024. Amassed by the late John Sabberton – a British collector, the collection which was 100% sold, was being sold by his widow.

The Sabberton sale included numerous rarities that were expected to sell for five figures. The two highest priced coins in the sale were a brilliant Proof Five Pounds from the reign of Queen Victoria and dating to 1887. Presented virtually as struck, this superb specimen sold for a hammer price of £28,000 against an estimate of £20,000-26,000 to a private buyer in Japan [lot 522].

While a very rare pattern Two Pounds from the reign of George III (1760-1820) dating from 1820, by B. Pistrucci, engraved with a laureate bust of the King on one side and St George and dragon on the reverse sold for a hammer price of £17,000 to a private buyer in the UK. Only 60 of these coins were struck and it was estimated at £10,000-£15,000 [lot 503].

Peter Preston-Morely, Special Projects Director (Numismatics) at Noonans explained: “This was a small but advanced collection of British gold coins issued since the reign of George III and included a number of rare specimens from the colonial mints in Australia, Canada, India and South Africa which were authorised to strike gold sovereigns in the 19th and early 20th centuries.”