Roman coin collection fetches £17,500

The 500-coin collection went under the hammer in 19 lots at Halls Fine Art’s books, coins and stamp auction in Shrewsbury. Surpassing the pre-sale estimate of up to £10,000, the collection included silver and bronze coins spanning from Emperors Vespasian (AD 69–79) to Maximinus II (AD 305–13).

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Top price in the sale was £1,550, which was paid for a collection of 20 silver denarii from the reigns of Emperors Vespasian (AD 69–79), Domitian (AD 81–96), Trajan (AD 98–117) and Hadrian (AD 117–38). Meanwhile, a collection of 32 Roman silver denarii from the reigns of Emperors Maximinus (AD 235–38), Severus Alexander (AD 222–35) and Julia Domna (wife of Septimus Alexander) sold for £1,500.

Halls Fine Art’s coins and medals specialist Derek Ainsworth described the condition of most of the coins as being ‘extremely fine’ and was delighted with the auction result:

‘To see a collection like this in such good condition was very rare, bearing in mind that some of the coins are nearly 2,000 years old. It was certainly one of the best private collections that I have seen. The collection belonged to a late London collector who bought the best of the coins from auction houses and dealers over a period of around 20 years. Sadly, he has died and now his family, who live in Shropshire, decided to sell the collection.’

Maryanne Lineker-Mobberley, Halls Fine Art’s associate director, added:

‘We are delighted that the collection of Roman coins sold so well and that there were great results across all sections of the auction. It’s the first specialist books, coins and stamps auction that we have held in our calendar. The results show that the format works well and suits collectors and people interested in these specialist lots.’