Current Lots and Archive

Lots per page:

Search results

  1. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    Northumberland Shilling
    E32, Lot 84:

    George III. 1760-1820. AR shilling. 26 mm. "Northumberland." 1763. His laureate bust right / Shields in cruciform. S. 3742. ESC 2124 (1214). NGC AU 58; attractive coin with light gray tone over fresh surfaces.

     

    The “Northumberland” shilling is more a story of the energetic and influential Hugh Percy, an important figure in the court of George II, than it is of a lone silver coin issued in limited numbers—3000 or fewer—in the midst of a period of nearly a half century without any silver currency coming from the mint.
     
    Percy’s influence carried over into the reign of George III, the 22 year old grandson of George II whose reign began in 1760. In 1763, early in this reign, Percy now the Earl of Northumberland, was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Soon after he arrived in Dublin he had a silver shilling with a portrait of the young George III struck, a reflection it seems of his remarkable influence when one considers the absence of silver minting during this period.
     
    This is the only silver coin showing the young head of George III issued during an era where gold coinage was the only thing that kept mint workers occupied. The total mintage is estimated to be fewer than 3000, and all of these were shipped to Ireland where Percy handed them out. They were not distributed to the population generally, but were handed out piecemeal to friends, colleagues, and new acquaintances over a period of time.
     
    The design of the coin was also special. The last shilling of George II in 1748 and the 1787 shilling of George III were both typical low relief examples of coins designed to be produced in quantity. This 1763 issue has a fuller face portrait of the young king that shows up with an appealing higher relief and definition reflecting the gold issues of the time. The same portrait was used for the gold issues early in George III’s reign.
     
    Most of the coins that show up now show signs of limited use. “Choice mint state” is a description that applies to very few examples. “Good Very Fine” to “nearly Uncirculated” seems to encompass most of what is available to modern day collectors. Some time spent in pockets or being passed around as a curiosity or casually placed in a drawer as a memento is probably the best explanation for why we see the coins as we do now.
     
    This lot is a very pleasing example of the issue. The “AU58” grade indicates a coin with all the design present and just the loss of some original luster, reflecting just a bit of handling.
    Minimum Time Remaining:
    (?)
    Lot closed.
    Estimate:
    $1,500
    Hammer Price:
    $2,100
    Next Increment:
    -
    Watch this lot 
    Bid Now
    USD
  8. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    A41, Lot 300:

    Pattern strikes for a series of early 19th Century Newcastle farthings

    A group of 15 struck patterns struck in white metal, a uniface die trial, and an incuse image of one of the main design elements, 17 pieces total, all “as made.”

     

    Reference: W. J. Davis. The 19th Century Token Coinage of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. (1904 publication that became the standard reference for the 19th century token issues, copper and silver).

     

    The tokens (D, Davis number; B, Batty number) Most are rated Rr. D. 31 (As 19 rev/ 29 obv) is listed as Unknown with a line underneath indicating “In the British Museum.”

    •D. 18. (613). O: Arms of Newcastle-on-Tyne. JOHN BELL BOOKSELLER. R: A double-fronted shop, BELL over the door, 1815 under. 8.02 gm. 24 mm.

    •D. 19. (B. 619). O: As 18. R: NEWCASTLE TOKEN. 1815. 8.74 gm. 24 mm.

    •D. 20. (B. 620). O: As 18. R: A barge sailing. 9.31 gm. 25 mm.

    •D. 21. (618). O: As 18. R: ROBERT OLIVER NEWCASTLE around; 1815 in center; DRAPER QUAY around inner circle. 9.20 gm. 23 mm.

    •D. 21bis. (Cokayne’s designation). “Trial proof in vulcanite.” Uniface. O: As D 21. .79 gm. Octagonal. 18 mm. “Unique” as noted on Cokayne’s tag. (Note: Davis does not list the “bis” varieties.)

    •D. 22. (B. 616). O: As reverse of 18 (shop). R: FARTHING YOUNGEST SON OF FORTUNE. 9.35 gm. 23 mm.

    •D. 23. (B. 617). O: As reverse of 18. R: As obverse of 21. 8.98 gm. 23 mm.

    •D. 24. (B. 615). O: As reverse of 18. R: A PRODDY in a circle of pellets. 7.47 gm. 22.5 mm.

    •D. 25. (B. —. Note in Davis: “In the British Museum.”) O: As reverse of 21 (R OLIVER). R: As reverse of 19. 7.87 gm. 23 mm. (Note on Cokayne tag: “Ex Rare, only one other known in BM.”)

    •D. 26. (B. —). O: As obverse of 21. R: As reverse of 24 (PRODDY). 7.16 gm. 24 mm. (With later tag, probably Baldwin, with notation “Ex Newcastle Roll.”)

    •D. 27. (B. —. “In the British Museum”). O: A Turk’s head. R: As reverse pf 24. 7.12 gm. 24 mm.

    •D. 28. (B. 622). O: As 27. R: COALY TYNE in large letters around. 7.55 gm. 24 mm.

    •D. 29. (B. —. Davis note: “In Mr Norman’s Cabinet”) O: A barge sailing. R: As reverse of 28. 8.97 gm. 23 mm.

    •D. 29bis. (Cokayne’s designation). O: As reverse of 28. R: As reverse of 22. 9.46 gm. 24 mm.

    •D. 30. (B. 621) O: As reverse of 19. R: As reverse of 22 (“FORTUNE”). 8.98 gm. 23 mm.

    •D. 32. (B. —). O: A rose spray. R: TOKEN 1812. 6.17 gm. 22 mm.

    •Unnumbered. Turk’s head, as D. 27, D. 28,) engraved on a copper flan; accompanying tag, apparently Baldwins, notes “Turks Head, Copy of Newcastle Bell’s Private Token.” The reverse indicates the exchange in 1984. This piece accompanied the group but was added later.) 7.71 gm. 29 mm.

     

    Provenance:

    John Bell (1783-1864). A Newcastle-on-Tyne resident, bookseller and founder of a numismatic society.

    D. T. Batty (circa 1825-1896), author of an extensive series of publications on British trade tokens that became Batty’s Copper Coinage, a four volume collection of separate individual booklets that began appearing in 1868. (Cited by Davis as his source for the catalog listing.)

    F. E. Macfadyen of Newcastle, a stock broker and an original member of the British Numismatic Society. Sotheby’s sold his substantial collection in July 1907. Apparently F. W. Bowman acquired the group.

    Francis Cokayne (1871-1945) bought them from F. W. Bowman in 1926 for £45, (a substantial sum at the time). Each piece is accompanied by a tag in Cokayne’s hand showing the Davis number on the front and describing the purchase from Bowman on the back. He added to the group, as noted below. (The tags also have either “88” or “89” on them, perhaps a private inventory number?.
    Minimum Time Remaining:
    (?)
    Lot closed.
    Estimate:
    $10,000
    Hammer Price:
    -
    Next Increment:
    -
    Watch this lot 
    Bid Now
    USD
  23. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    A32, Lot 236:

    IRELAND. George III. 1760-1820. Pattern farthing, gilt. 21 mm. 1806. Bust of George III right / Harp. S P6622. FDC; slight mishandling in fields.
    Minimum Time Remaining:
    (?)
    Lot closed.
    Estimate:
    $500
    Hammer Price:
    $350
    Next Increment:
    -
    Watch this lot 
    Bid Now
    USD

 

How Bidding Works

 

Davissons Ltd uses a soft close for its auctions, which means no lot closes until everyone is done bidding. Every time a bid is placed within the final 40 seconds of a lot closing, the timer is reset to 40 seconds. This continues until no bids are placed for 40 seconds, at which point the lot closes. There will never be more than one lot closing at once, as the next lot is not allowed to begin closing until the current lot closes.

To bid: enter your maximum bid into the text box, and click submit. Only round dollar amounts are accepted. You are then required to confirm your bid. Once confirmed, all bids are final. If you have placed a bid in error you must call during office hours and speak to one of us. If you are the current high bidder then it will display “Current High Bidder: YOU” If you are not the high bidder, or if you are not logged in, then the current high bidder will be identified by their 5 digit client ID. You may find your client ID under the Account tab.

Bids are reduced automatically, so feel free to bid your maximum and it will be reduced to one increment over the current high bid. If a user places a bid that is higher than necessary to be the current high bidder on the lot, the displayed bid will reflect one advance over the next lower bid. For example, if a user "A" places a bid of $120 on a lot which opens at $100, "A" will be winning that lot at $100. If another user "B" bids $110, the winning bidder will be "A" at $120, one advance over the supporting bid of $110. If user "B" in this example instead placed a bid at $120, then user "A" will still be winning at $120 because they placed that maximum bid value first.

Increments can be viewed here. The next bid will always be on the next increment, so if a user is winning a lot at $100, or $105, or $109, the next bid will still always be $110.

Close
Connected Disconnected