Belinda Downie has just sealed the numismatic deal of the decade with the announcement that her company, Coinworks, has secured exclusive rights to sell The Madrid Collection of Australian Rare Coins.
Valued in excess of $12 million, the collection reads like a who’s who of Australia’s top, top rarities.
The collection is named after the owner’s favourite coin, the Madrid Holey Dollar. A highlight of the famous Bicentennial Auction held by Spink Auctions in March 1988, it was offered as the finest and most desirable example of Australia’s first coin, the Holey Dollar.
Unique in private hands it is the only example available to private buyers of a Holey Dollar converted from an eight reales struck at a Spanish Continental Mint (Seville or Madrid).
Philip Spalding in his book on Holey Dollars gave special mention to the Spanish Continental Holey Dollars. Silver in Europe at the time was a status symbol of Royalty, the High Church, and Landed Gentry and pieces from the Peninsula Mints of Seville or Madrid were either hoarded or sparingly spent in the mother country. A Colonial Holey Dollar struck from an eight reales minted in Spain is as a consequence an extreme rarity. (Five only are known, four in institutions, this being the only privately owned specimen.)
Furthermore the Madrid Holey Dollar is regarded as one of the finest for quality with a provenance that dates back to the famous Schulman Auction of March 1930.
The Madrid Holey Dollar is complemented by one of the finest Colonial Dumps. Colonial gold is also well represented with the finest known type 1b Adelaide Pound cracked die, choice Adelaide Pound Type II and gold Taylor Patterns.
Also featured are unique examples of Australia’s proof gold sovereign and half sovereign series, finest known copper proofs ex Ray Jewell, the likes of which we will never see again. And this is just for starters!
1920 Pattern Star Florin and its partner the 1920 Shilling, 1918 Pattern Shilling, complete 1937 Pattern Set, Sterling Silver 1919 Square Penny, complete 1924 Proof Set (four silver and two copper) and 1928 Proof Set (again four silver and two copper). It is simply eye boggling stuff!
For this client – and for Coinworks - it’s been a twenty year journey. And while several pieces have been earmarked for sale in 2010, the journey will continue.
The client is still a buyer, acquiring pieces that fit firmly into the framework of the collection. (We hear the Proof 1921 Star Shilling may be next on his buying agenda!) So for those that believe that this Coinworks client is opting out of the industry … think again. The focus is still steadfastly on the future – and what the industry can offer.
The story began in 1991 with the purchase of a complete series of Melbourne Proof Sets struck between 1955 and 1963.
It was the appreciation of their quality and the appreciation of their rarity, and the investment potential that these elements presented, that saw our client embrace a serious numismatic investment agenda.
The strategy was clear. Only the finest quality examples were to be included as part of the collection - and the most important. The word unique was tantalising; so too were the words ‘finest known’. And Belinda Downie became the procurement conduit.
The collection as its stands today reflects his ultimate belief in the product and the Australian rare coin industry. Its current value is $12 million … and climbing.
To receive personal notification of the sale of coins from The Madrid Collection of Australian Rare Coins please register at www.coinworks.com.au or call 03 9642 3133 and ask for Belinda Downie or Paul Ratcliffe.