Sale cancelled. No-one wanted anything.

The first bids are rolling in for the November auctions and so we have again avoided the fate of the auction of the Jesse Ellington collection of Rocket Mail produced by Harmer Rooke in October 1969.

Now long forgotten, I once came upon a copy of the catalogue for this sale in a reference collection and was intrigued by a handwritten note on the cover "Sale cancelled. No-one wanted anything". Enquiring further I was told that not only had no bids been received before the auction but that nobody had shown up on the day !

This was in spite of the auction house's blatant attempt to link the collection to the public's enthusiasm for Space material, the first Moon landing having taken place only three months before.

* * * 

There is nothing wrong with a bit of friendly rivalry and the bond that ties coin and stamp collecting is longstanding and honourable, even if it can sometimes divide families. My own brother suffered from numismatics in his younger days.

Coin collecting is perhaps no worse than other minor forms of deviant behaviour – like staring too hard at women on the Underground or supporting Arsenal football club.

So, what exactly is wrong with coin collecting ? Well, having garnered a few opinions from collector friends, unbiased of course, it would seem to boil down to the following.

1. An obsession with coins might stem from either hidden avarice or a subconscious fascination with shiny objects.

2. Handling coins makes your fingers smell.

3. Coins are too heavy and it takes too many hinges to keep them in an album.

As for those philatelists that feel the urge to stray to the dark side may we suggest the following - a thematic collection of Coins on Stamps.

A good start would be lot 2274 in our November World auction, a study of the 5s. "Coin" stamp from 1861 to 1897, part of the Leslie Digby Nelson collection of New South Wales, this being the first stamp to directly portray a coin - William Wyon's 1847 crown. 

One might think that this would be a limited, basically cheap theme to follow. The £2,700 paid for this imperf between pair back in 2008 would suggest that this is not necessarily the case.

JG