RARE NORTHERN IRISH PENNY SETS WORLDWIDE AUCTION RECORD AT DIX NOONAN WEBB

A very fine and very rare penny struck in Northern Ireland in the 17th Century fetched a worldwide auction record of £6,200 in a sale of Tokens and Historical Medals on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 at International coins, medals, banknotes and jewellery specialists Dix Noonan Webb in a live online auction. The penny from Carrickfergus in Co. Antrim was expected to fetch £240-300 and after selling for more than 20 times its pre-sale top estimate, it achieved a worldwide auction record for a 17th century British trade token and was bought by a collector in the US, with the underbidder being from the UK [lot 157].

The highest price of the sale was for an extremely fine and rare 19th century copper halfcrown, dating from 1812 which had been struck in Sheffield (Yorkshire) depicting a seated female. This was the only specimen known to the cataloguer and sold for £8,680 to a private collector for 17 times its presale estimate of £400-500 [lot 235].

Elsewhere, a very rare 19th Century Davis’ sixpence dating from 1813, from a Workhouse in Birmingham which appeared virtually as struck, sold for £4,464 against an estimate of £600-£800 [lot 223].

The sale also included a collection of 18th and 19th century horseracing tickets and passes. Many of the pieces are engraved with names of nobility and well-known figures in the horseracing fraternity. The highest price was achieved for a very fine and extremely rare copper-gilt pass from Richmond Racecourse (Yorkshire) stamped Lord Dundas which sold for £1,240 against an estimate of £200-£300 [lot 290].

As Peter Preston-Morley, Specialist and Associate Director, Dix Noonan Webb, commented: “The market for quality was very strong in this sale and all the horseracing material was keenly bid on, mostly acquired by private individuals in the UK.”

Dix Noonan Webb are donating 5% of their Buyer’s Premium to NHS Charities Together, and a total of £24,879 is being donated to the charity from the auctions since the lockdown due to COVID-19. The ongoing total can be seen on the homepage of DNW’s website. NHS Charities Together works with over 250 charities across the UK helping the NHS do more to look after people. For more information about NHS Charities Together and the outstanding work they do, click here to visit their website.


***Please note that these prices include Buyers Premium (24%)***