The first sale from the Traveller Collection – a huge, significant coin collection hidden from the Nazi rampage across Europe – has achieved £5.7 million at auction, more than doubling pre-sale predictions.
Two-hundred-and-twenty coins went across the block in a Zurich sale handled by Numismatica Ars Classica with a £2.7 million total estimate.
Auction fees put the sale total at around £7 million.
“This Traveller Collection is without doubt the most important collection of world coins ever to be offered at public auction in the entire history of numismatics,” Numismatica Ars Classica directors, Arturo and Giuliano Russo, said in a statement.
The Wall Street Crash had huge ramifications around the world and for many personal fortunes. It made one man turn to coin collecting.
The collection was assembled as a response to the Wall Street Crash. The buyer, looking for alternative investments as stock markets fell, researched their subject well and travelled widely to buy a truly stellar collection of numismatically significant coins. The purchases were carefully documented and give a wonderful account of informed buying.
As the Nazis brought war to Europe, the collection was buried. It stayed hidden, its location known only to the buyer’s wife, until the 1990s.
With over 15,000 coins, some of which have never been auctioned before, the collection is predicted to sell for over £100 million to become the most valuable single-owner coin collection ever sold.
If the first sale, which focused on British coins, is any indicator, it will easily surpass that prediction.
An example of the Una and the Lion coin. Showing Victoria as a fictional figure (from Spencer’s The Faerie Queen) was a bold decision. This is now regarded as one of the most beautiful images on a British coin.
The Traveller Collection auction saw a Una and the Lion Queen Victoria £5 coin realise £884,000 or $1.2 million to become just the eighth British coin to surpass a $1-million auction price.
The original collector purchased the coin for £14 in the 1930s, equivalent to £800 today.
A George V pattern crown realised £265,165. A medal to celebrate a naval victory against Spain in 1702 made £121,519.
The Battle of Vigo Bay in 1702 was a big success for the Anglo-Dutch fleet in the War of Spanish Succession, and saw ships returning to Britain laden with Spanish booty.
David Guest of David Guest Numismatics consulted on the collection. He said: “This thrilling sale attracted several significant new buyers, who had never participated in a coin auction before, to enter the market.
“Among them were sophisticated collectors of fine art and antiques captivated by the romance of the Traveller story and the historical importance, rarity and quality of the British coins and medals offered.”
The series of sales is expected to last for three years. The next sale focuses on central European coins. A 1629, 100-ducat coin from Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia with a £1-million-plus estimate that reflects its size and rarity could be the star of that sale, set for October 2025.
