What auction houses and reputable shops should I be keeping my eye on?

[Master Jmd]

I've been collecting Pokémon cards for a long time now and know of all of the big name auction houses for those, but for coins I'm mostly in the dark at the moment. I'd love to find out what places I should be keeping my eye on - even if it's just to drool at listings which are way beyond my budget.

I'm hoping a list already exists (I couldn't find one when searching), but if not for the sake of this post I may as well list what I'm already aware of.

For auction houses, I'm aware of:

• Spink (https://www.spink.com)
• London Coins (https://www.londoncoins.co.uk)
• Heritage Auctions (https://coins.ha.com)
• Noble Numismatics (https://www.noble.com.au)
• Baldwin's Auctions (https://auctions.baldwin.co.uk)

For reputable shops, I'm aware of:

• Predecimal (https://www.predecimal.com)
• Colin Cooke Coins (https://www.colincooke.com)
• R. Ingram Coins (https://www.ringramcoins.com)

I'm sure there are a lot more I'm missing, and would love to find out about them!

Edited October 11, 2022 by Master Jmd

[Bruce]

St James n Noonans (formerly DNW) for auctions in UK as well.

 

 

[Peckris 2]

for auctions - DNW also (recent name change to Noonans); I found Warwick&Warwick good but that was up to 20 years ago. I think they may have declined?

as for dealers, I know some people have had issues with the 3rd on your list. You can definitely add Dave Craddock, and our own @Rob (Rob Pearce) to your list.

[1949threepence]

1 hour ago, Peckris 2 said:

for auctions - DNW also (recent name change to Noonans); I found Warwick&Warwick good but that was up to 20 years ago. I think they may have declined?

as for dealers, I know some people have had issues with the 3rd on your list. You can definitely add Dave Craddock, and our own @Rob (Rob Pearce) to your list.

Me included - BUT, I got my superb 1849 penny from them, as well as some other nice coins. They always seem a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde outfit to me, brilliant at times, careless and incompetent at others. Their stock is enormous though.

As far as Dave Craddock, is he still dealing? I know he had his stock robbed from him in a very nasty incident outside the Midland Coin Fair back in January. Not sure if he's built it back up again. Certainly not seen any e mails, which he used to send out roughly every 3 or 4 months.   

[Rob]

16 minutes ago, 1949threepence said:

As far as Dave Craddock, is he still dealing? I know he had his stock robbed from him in a very nasty incident outside the Midland Coin Fair back in January. Not sure if he's built it back up again. Certainly not seen any e mails, which he used to send out roughly every 3 or 4 months.   

He was at Birmingham at the weekend and Huddersfield a fortnight earlier, so yes he is.

[1949threepence]

9 minutes ago, Rob said:

He was at Birmingham at the weekend and Huddersfield a fortnight earlier, so yes he is.

Thanks. Might call him to see what he's got. 

[Martinminerva]

43 minutes ago, 1949threepence said:

They always seem a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde outfit to me, brilliant at times, careless and incompetent at others. Their stock is enormous though.

... and frequently overgraded and overpriced. And as for customer service...

[1949threepence]

53 minutes ago, Martinminerva said:

... and frequently overgraded and overpriced. And as for customer service...

Indeed, you have to be a discerning collector to successfully deal with them.

[TomGoodheart]

Yes, definitely add Noonans. Davissons in the US do a regular list and auctions. There are different specialisms amongst auctioneers, some you may find better for what you want to collect than others. A quick search of coinarchives.com, numisbids.com and mcsearch.com (acsearch for ancients/mediaeval) might help there. 

Dealers similarly. Mike Vosper for ancients, Lloyd Bennet has a good selection including more modern pieces, AMR coins for good higher end. If you look at their sold archive you'll see if what you want features regularly enough. Many dealers will accept a 'wants' list, which might be worth considering?

[1949threepence]

I'd also give a shout out for KB Coins. He's a bit pricey, but has an excellent high quality stock. 

[Master Jmd]

Thanks for all the responses so far. I've not had much of a chance to look through all of them yet but I must say the back catalogue on Noonans is spectacular.

I was hoping I'd be able to update the list in my first post but it seems I'm unable to do that.

[Peckris 2]

3 hours ago, Master Jmd said:

Thanks for all the responses so far. I've not had much of a chance to look through all of them yet but I must say the back catalogue on Noonans is spectacular.

I was hoping I'd be able to update the list in my first post but it seems I'm unable to do that.

you get a short window to edit, but then it closes

[1949threepence]

23 minutes ago, Peckris 2 said:

you get a short window to edit, but then it closes

Is it a couple of hours, Chris? 

As you say it is a short window, but actually much longer than some forums. 

[Peckris 2]

22 hours ago, 1949threepence said:

Is it a couple of hours, Chris? 

As you say it is a short window, but actually much longer than some forums. 

I'm not sure? I believe it was once as short as 20 minutes but longer now.

[Zo Arms]

1 minute ago, Peckris 2 said:

I'm not sure? I believe it was once as short as 20 minutes but longer now.

Purely out of interest, I've just timed my edit button. I was allowed 30 mins.

[1949threepence]

2 hours ago, Zo Arms said:

Purely out of interest, I've just timed my edit button. I was allowed 30 mins.

I will try mine - the time being precisely 22:09

First edit: 22:53 - after 44 mins

Second edit: 23:14 after 65 mins 

Third edit: 23:42 after 1 hour and 33 mins.

Eyes shutting now so need some kip. Not going to be able to reach 2 hours, 

 

Edited October 13, 2022 by 1949threepence

[Sword]

From memory, I think the time allowed for editing depends on your "rank" which is in turn dependent on the number of posts you have made. 

[VickySilver]

In the US, occasionally, as many times they have nought & a bit like #3 on the list with vastly less stock though:

stacksbowers.com

goldbergcoins.com

 

[1949threepence]

11 hours ago, Sword said:

From memory, I think the time allowed for editing depends on your "rank" which is in turn dependent on the number of posts you have made. 

Yes, you're right. Found the post. Edit time is 2 hours on attaining 200 and more posts - link 

[myt]

In terms of hammered coins, I think Timothy Cook has put together one of the best lists I have seen, many of which are BTNA members - not to mention that he has hyperlinked them all such that you can just go down the list at your leisure and click to each shop/auction house. As you can imagine, there are also many other pre-decimal coins and even decimal coins at many of the websites. Most of the links are for fixed-price shops, but there are also the major auction houses sprinkled in throughout the list. Specifically, (like @TomGoodheart mentioned) he has called out helpful websites like NumisBids that act as platforms for viewing lots from multiple auction houses at once (not to mention you can also sometimes submit bids through NumisBids). 

https://www.englishhammered.com/links.html

 

[Master Jmd]

@myt that list is fantastic. I've just finished looking through everything. There are a lot of really great websites here that I've never seen before and I'll definitely be checking back frequently.

Some on the other hand are very difficult to use - either they've not been updated in 20+ years; they list sold coins alongside available ones without any distinction until you click into them; or they make it as hard as they possibly can to search their inventory. 😅

 

[SilverAge3]

On 10/11/2022 at 1:03 PM, 1949threepence said:

Indeed, you have to be a discerning collector to successfully deal with them.

I'd not heard of them prior to this, but i'm in the states. If course because i'm in the states, i often try to find sources on that side of the Atlantic whom i can purchase from (sadly, some dealers, like Michael Gouby won't ship here -- i can't even purchase his penny books, which aggravates me to no end, i wish he'd at least offer pdf versions, even though i'd clearly prefer hardcopies; other dealers make payment impossible for me, only taking checks in £, or international wires, and i don't have access to these services).

So I looked through this dealer's offerings, and the catalog is immense, offering pieces i'd be more than interested in, but most have no pictures. I'm not plunking hundreds of £ sight unseen. Pictures can deceive, as it is, but to not offer this bare minimum is a no-go for anything over say £20-50, and especially pieces multitudes of that threshold.  It's mind-boggling, and this added with commentary above makes me even more apprehensive.  I could just focus on the few pieces with pics, but that eliminates many of my current main focuses to obtain.

[SilverAge3]

On 10/11/2022 at 11:42 AM, Rob said:

He was at Birmingham at the weekend and Huddersfield a fortnight earlier, so yes he is.

I saw Dave Craddock mentioned in here numerous times. I looked him up, and read about him being robbed with a machete after a show. All the same, i emailed him, inquiring if he were still selling coins, but alas never heard back.

[Rob]

4 hours ago, SilverAge3 said:

I saw Dave Craddock mentioned in here numerous times. I looked him up, and read about him being robbed with a machete after a show. All the same, i emailed him, inquiring if he were still selling coins, but alas never heard back.

Yes he is. He has the table across from me in the small room or 2 down in the big one.

[SilverAge3]

On 1/12/2024 at 2:18 PM, Rob said:

Yes he is. He has the table across from me in the small room or 2 down in the big one.

After a period he did send me a current list, although he didn't answer my queries regarding payment options, or to be sure he posts to the states.

Now I have a question regarding abbreviations in his price list, I would appreciate if anyone could kindly sort me out. I'm feeling dense for not getting it.  What is the 'MT', as seen in some of these penny listings? My brain wants to read it as 'Matte,' but I don't think these are proofs, and 1937 proof, for example is thusly labelled.

Quote

1934 AEF MT 25.00

1934 VF MT 4.00

...

1937 PROOF F218 UNC 50% L 15.00

1937 BU 90% L 4.00

....

1944 UNC MT 10.00

1944 EF MT 6.00   

1945 UNC MT 10.00         

1945 A UNC MT 8.00

....

1946 UNC MT 6.00