NOONANS TO SELL THE COOK COLLECTION OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN BANKNOTES

A single-owner collection of more than 250 Central and Eastern European banknotes ranging from 23 countries including Albania, Bulgaria, the three Baltic States, Czechoslovakia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania and Slovenia are expected to fetch more than £150,000 when they are offered at Noonans Mayfair on Thursday, November 28, 2024, at 1pm.

The notes, which date from 1794 to 2003, were collected by Joe Cook in 1998-2004, while working as a financial journalist in Central and Eastern Europe. He began collecting when he spotted an album of banknotes in a second-hand bookshop in Bucharest in 1998.

As he explained: “What fascinated me about the notes is that they are, ultimately, a potted history of the political economy of the Europe between Germany and Russia, between the Baltic Sea and the Balkan peninsula.”

Among the highlights of the collection and Joe’s particular favourites are the series of printers proofs from Albania which include colour trials, specimens and overprints of the 1926 100 Franka Ari. “They introduced me to the banknote design and printing process, and the brilliantly named King Zog, who was quite a character, to say the least, and who proudly dominates all but the over-stamped version!” Several examples of this note are included in the sale, and each is estimated at £3,000-4,000 [lots 1020-22].

Elsewhere a 1925 5,000 leva from Bulgaria is estimated at £800-1,200 [lot 1068]. “This is a high domination general issue note that has clearly been in and out of many a wallet, which I quite like in a note,” said Joe. “On the reverse is Sofia’s magnificent orthodox cathedral, St Alexander Nevsky, my favourite building in the region, while a resplendent and bemedaled King Boris is on the front. I also love the Cyrillic typeface.”

A 1943 1,000 leva note with St Alexander Nevsky on the reverse has on the obverse a young King Simeon, Boris’ son and the only head of state from World War Two who is still alive today, estimated at £150-200 [lot 1090].

Other favourites of Joe’s are those bearing portraits of kings. Romania's King Ferdinand is featured on several notes in the collection including an extremely rare specimen 2000 lei note from 1920 that carries an estimate of £3,000-4,000 [lot 1175]; King Carol of Romania on a 1,000 lei note from 1934 is expected to fetch £1,200-1,600 [lot 1184]; and the magnificent 1936 10,000 dinara note that depicts King Peter of Yugoslavia is estimated at £1,200-1,600 [lot 1242]. A 1943 Yugoslavia series was produced while King Peter was in exile in London and includes a printers archival specimen of the 500 dinara note, estimated at £500-700 [lot 1245], and the original approved engraving of King Peter signed by the King himself, estimated at £300-400 [lot 1244].

He finishes: “The very rare set of Czechoslovakia proofs for the 1919 to 1934 runs of ABNC notes are favourites, especially the 1929 500 crown note with the missing diacritical from the word Maja (Slovak for May) which is estimated at £2,000-2,600 [lot 1101]. The misprint is such a rarity, it having got through all the various stages of proofing and checking without anyone noticing — I suspect because there were no Slovaks involved in the process! These notes are particularly poignant as they bear the Czech, German, Hungarian, Slovak and Ukrainian languages, reflecting the multi-national make-up of inter-war Czechoslovakia. I acquired these, as with a few others in the collection, via private sale, so they have never come on to the open market.”

As Barnaby Faull, Senior Banknote Specialist, Noonans commented: “My particular favourites in the collection are the spectacular Albanian and Bulgarian colour trials printed by Bradbury Wilkinson but the beautiful American Banknote Company specimens and proofs for Czechoslovakia and Romania are also very striking. I still find it incredible that so much of the contemporaneous material that was readily available for face value 20 years ago is now in such high demand. I don’t think I have ever held an auction with 20 lots of Slovenia before but am delighted that this is a personal first after more than 50 years in the business.”