Two major numismatic auctions featuring nearly 1,200 lots of Canadian coins, banknotes, medals and tokens will help launch this weekend’s Toronto Coin Expo, with Alliance Coin & Banknote holding its 500-lot sale tonight (Oct. 22), followed by Geoffrey Bell Auctions’ 690-lot sale on Friday (Oct. 23).
The auctions are being held in conjunction with the Toronto Coin Expo, which opens Friday and continues through Saturday at the Toronto Reference Library. Both sales begin at 5:30 p.m. EDT, giving collectors opportunities to bid on material ranging from early Canadian chartered banknotes and historic medals to gold coins, Royal Canadian Mint test pieces and unusual international numismatic items.
Auctioneer Sean Isaacs will open the weekend’s activities tonight with Alliance Coin & Banknote’s live floor and iCollector sale. Among the highlights is an 1838 gold coronation medal commemorating Queen Victoria, graded NGC UNC Details, along with a 1924 Canadian $5 banknote bearing the low serial number A000098 and graded BCS AU-58. Isaacs also points to a remarkable set of English silver gaming counters dating to about 1620, originally produced as markers for games rather than circulating money.
Canadian decimal coins feature prominently in the Alliance offering, including an 1880 Newfoundland $2 gold coin graded PCGS AU-55, a 1948 silver dollar graded ICCS MS-62, a 1961 silver dollar graded ICCS MS-66 and a 1973 Large Bust quarter graded ICCS MS-64. Paper-money collectors will also find a 1954 $2 “GR” test note graded BCS VF-25, three consecutively numbered 1937 Osborne-Towers $10 notes graded BCS AU-50 and an 1850s Zimmerman Bank $10 graded BCS VF-20.
Other Alliance highlights include an 1821 George IV gold sovereign graded ICCS MS-63, a 1750-S gold gulden of George II, a father-and-son military medal group featuring an Order of Military Merit and a Canadian Forces distinguished service medallion awarded to the founder of Wreaths Across Canada. An unusual pattern set of 1976 Olympic gold stamp replicas struck in .999 silver and a Lachine Ferry token round out the diverse offering.
On Friday evening, Geoffrey Bell Auctions takes centre stage with its 690-lot Toronto Coin Expo Fall Sale, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Bram & Bluma Appel Salon at the Toronto Reference Library. The auction opens with 179 lots from the Geoffrey Bell Canadian Medal Collection, the second offering from Bell’s collection, and includes extensive Canadian paper money from the Bob Graham Collection, select pieces from the Peterborough Collection and consignments from more than 50 additional sellers.
Commemorating the British conquest of Montreal during the Seven Years’ War, this 1760 silver Montreal Taken medal is Lot 157 in Geoffrey Bell Auctions’ Toronto Coin Expo Fall Sale on Friday (Oct. 23). From the Geoffrey Bell Canadian Medal Collection, it is estimated at $15,000-$20,000.
Among the medal highlights is Lot 157, a silver Montreal Taken medal commemorating the British conquest of Montreal in 1760, estimated at $15,000-$20,000. Another important offering, Lot 59, is a 1916 Saint John, N.B., Public Grammar School City Corporation Prize medal struck in 22-karat gold and engraved to Mary Margaret Chaisson, estimated at $6,000-$7,000. The sale also features a silver Gzowski Medal awarded in 1907 for engineering papers concerning hydroelectric development on the Kootenay River.
Canadian paper money provides several of Friday’s most significant offerings, including two Bank of Hamilton $10 notes from the Bob Graham Collection, each estimated at $20,000-$30,000. Lot 633, dated 1904 and graded Legacy Very Fine 20, is described by the auction house as the finest of only four examples recorded in private hands. Lot 634, a 1922 Bank of Hamilton 50th-anniversary $10 graded Legacy About Uncirculated 53, is one of only five examples reportedly held privately. Both are Charlton plate notes.
Other Bell highlights include a 1912 Dominion of Canada $5 note graded PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 PPQ and estimated at $7,000-$8,500, along with a 1971 Bank of Canada $10 “Good Over” variety graded BCS Extra Fine 40 and estimated at $10,000-$12,500. Royal Canadian Mint collectors will also find three experimental “Colour Technology” test tokens featuring Canadian flag, poppy and fish designs, produced for the 2015 Currency Conference in Vancouver and estimated at $2,500-$3,500.
Collectors can explore the Alliance catalogue and participate in tonight’s sale through alliancecoin.com, while details of Friday’s auction, including its catalogue and bidding information, are available at gbellauctions.com. The two auctions complement the Toronto Coin Expo’s Friday and Saturday bourse, bringing together collectors and dealers for a weekend of buying, selling and numismatic discovery.
For full details on Toronto Coin Expo, check out this CCN story.