Heritage Auctions, the world’s largest collectibles auctioneer, has reported another record-setting year as its four numismatic departments brought in more than $464 million US (about $621 million Cdn.) in 2022.
That realization jumps to nearly $568 million US (about $760 million Cdn.) with the addition of Russian newspaper editor Dmitry Muratov’s Nobel Peace Prize medal, which sold for $103.5 million US (about $138.5 million Cdn.) last June.
Because Heritage waived its commission on the Nobel lot, it excluded the realization from its 2022 numismatic total and its annual total sales, which topped $1.45 billion US (about $1.94 billion Cdn.). Auctioneers donated the proceeds from the Nobel Peace Prize – the most money ever paid for a numismatic item – to support the United Nations Children’s Fund and its humanitarian response to the war in Ukraine.
“It was a memorable year for the numismatic marketplaces, and Heritage is honoured to once again be the most popular auction platform for the largest and most savvy connoisseurs and dealers,” says Executive Vice-President Todd Imhof, one of eight partners in the firm founded in 1976 in Dallas, Texas.
According to a recent report from CDN Publishing, which publishes the Greysheet family of numismatic price guides, the U.S. rare coin market exceeded a record $6 billion US in 2022.