Whytes 'The Eclectic Collector' auction June 13, 2015

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Mac
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Whytes 'The Eclectic Collector' auction June 13, 2015

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Whytes 'The Eclectic Collector' auction
June 13, 2015.


1929 Irish Ploughman One Pound Note sells for record price in Whytes' The Eclectic Collector auction on Saturday 13 June, in Dublin.

Lot 318. Northern Bank Knox signature £1 Note, fetched 4,600 plus fees

There was a good vibe in Whytes auction on Saturday afternoon with unlimited quantities of free tea, coffee and biscuits to keep bidders and watchers going until their area of interest was reached. Dealers and collectors from Ireland, Northern Ireland and England were present, with around 20-30 present in the room at any given time. There was also strong competition from phone bidders and internet bidders, as well as absentee bids.

The rarest signature variety, Northern Bank £1, 10.6.29, with Knox signature, Lot 318, sold for record price after being fought over by several room bidders, and a phone bidder, once the internet bids had been left behind. Hammer price was €4,600 Euro (5,631 Euro including fees). The note was Fine+, a nice example of a rare note, estimated at €2000-€3000.

There were several other Anchor Lots in the sale, scarce and rare notes likely to draw attention. The punters definitely did turn out for these, as nearly all of the important items went for good prices.
Another Northern £1 note, 7.1.31, Stewart signature, VF, Lot 317 went to an Absentee bid at €3,800 (4,734) Euro. Estimate on this was also €2000-€3000.

Both of these prices are somewhat above expectations, and demonstrate that notes of the Northern Bank, particularly those with eye appeal in decent grade remain well sought-after.

Lot 301. Munster & Leinster Bank Ten Pounds, 1938
The only Ploughman £10 note in the sale, which was better grade than listed in the catalogue, Lot 301, fetched a decent €2,100 (2,616) Euro, after healthy attention from several room bidders. This was a good price for such a note.

There were 38 Ploughman notes in the sale, with a few nice grade notes. With a few exceptions, prices for the other Ploughman notes in the sale were middling, reflecting the fact that there are a lot of them about in the market currently. There were definitely some bargains to be had amongst these.
Generally prices for common banks in low grade have been sliding since the marked peaked a few years ago. Generally speaking, better grade notes brought stronger prices. The catalogue estimates were broadly accurate for the notes on offer, with most of the Ploughmans going to room bidders after a brief flurry of bids from several parties.

Lot 282. £5 National Bank, 1919
Other banknote highlights were seen for Lot 282, a National Bank £5 note, 1919, which sold for €2,800 (3,488) Euro in a straight shoot-out between a room bidder and an on-line bidder, after a few other bidders dropped out around the €1,200 mark. The small-sized multi-branch National Bank notes are very rare, with only three examples known to date.

Amongst the Lavery notes were two Anchor Lots, a £100, 9.12.37, Lot 322, a pleasing about VF received a lot of attention in the room after the internet bids were fended off. The hammer price was €3,600 Euro (4,485), which is exactly what I expected the note to go for. This is one of the nicest 1937 £100 notes that I have seen in 30 years of note watching, a very tough banknote to find in good grade.

Two other notable lots amongst the Lavery notes, Lot 328, a £50 Pound note dated 16.5.60 in unused gVF grade brought €1,050 (1,308) Euro; and Lot 343, £1 23.6.65 offset transfer error, brought €440 (548)—a very high price for an Irish error note.

The most notable unsold was Lot 275, an early Belfast Bank 25 shilling note, estimated at €300, but in desperately low grade.

Lot 246. A rare United States Quarter dollar, 1872, fetched €4,000 plus fees
Amongst the non-banknote lots, the star anchor was Lot 251, Roman and other coins in 19th century mahogany coin cabinet, which brought €10,500 (13,083) after a lot of active bidding. This was vastly above the estimate of €2000-€3000. One happy vendor there!
Lot 246, USA. Quarter dollar, very rare 1872S. Good very fine. Estimated at €1,500-€1,800, did very well with a final price of €4,000 (4,984), as did Lot 244, USA. Morgan dollar 1892 and Columbian Exposition half dollar 1892. Uncirculated and extremely fine, which brought €1,600 (1,993) against an estimate of just €150-€200.

A list of prices realised is on the Whytes web site.

There were almost no unsold lots amongst the notes, or in the sale in general, making it definitely a healthy event for Irish coins and notes. There was something for everyone in this sale, with scarce and rare material mixed in with common items; and record prices in amongst the bargains.
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