Museum-Grade Historic Rarities to Headline Stanley Gibbons Baldwin’s Major July Coin Auction
170-year-old London auction house to offer 1813 ‘Military Guinea’ used to fund Wellington’s army, alongside an emergency 1902 Boer War ‘Veld Pond’ gold pendant with unbroken family provenance.
LONDON, 21st July 2026: Stanley Gibbons Baldwin’s will host its 131st Ancient, British, and World Coin Auction on Wednesday, 22 July 2026 at 10:30 BST, featuring a curated selection of rare coins that double as extraordinary time capsules of global conflict, romance, and human survival. Leading the sale are exceptional pieces whose histories read like cinematic historical dramas.
The 1813 George III Gold 'Military Guinea' (Est. £6,000–£7,000): The final guinea ever struck in Britain, this legendary piece was minted using melted-down Indian gold explicitly to pay the Duke of Wellington’s advancing troops in Spain during the final months of the Peninsular War. Offered in exceptional condition with proof-like brilliance, it represents a crucial moment in British military and financial history.
The 1902 Emergency Gold Veld Pond: One of only 986 emergency gold coins hand-struck in the field by a schoolmaster using a makeshift mobile mint (Staatsmunt te Velde) after British forces seized the Boer capital. This ultra-rare piece is mounted as a pendant and uniquely engraved for "Cori Jubert" to mark her birth in August 1902. Offered directly by her granddaughter, its flawless, unbroken provenance traces back to a French Huguenot family that fled to South Africa in 1688.
Additional high-profile lots featured in Auction 131 include one of the finest-graded 1911 King George V Coronation Proof 'long' sets in existence (one of just 2,812 produced) and a remarkably rare 1735 George II Two Guinea piece.
The full auction catalog is now live and open for bidding online at sgbaldwins.com.
