Stanley Gibbons Baldwin’s Auction Highlights Preview: October 31, 2025
Featuring the Frank Waley Collection Part III – ancient, British, world, and Islamic coins and medals.
Stanley Gibbons Baldwin’s is thrilled to present the Ancient, British, World, and Islamic Coins and Commemorative Medals Auction at 399 Strand, which will take place on Friday, 31 October 2025. Meticulously curated by in-house specialists, some superb items have been consigned for the sale – including highlights from the ancient coin section of the sale, which features several exceptional pieces from across the Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Celtic worlds.
A key highlight from the sale will be Lot 383, the exquisite and extremely rare gold 5 Doppie (Italy, Genoa, Republic). Featuring on the obverse ET REGE EOS and Mary with child Christ seated on the clouds, the reverse states DVX ET GVB REIP GENV, around the centre cross with stars in quarters. The impressive gold multiples of 5 Doppie were struck in Genoa from 1639 to 1697, with some gaps in the series. The heavy gold issues were most likely created due to the large quantities of gold arriving in Genoa, which was the banking and financial centre of Spanish sovereigns, and multiples of up to 25 Doppie are known. These large gold coins are extremely rare and seldom seen on the auction market, and this is the only example of the gold 5 Doppia dated 1649 graded by NGC, with only ten other Quintuple Doppias of different dates recorded in the NGC census. Extremely rare and extremely fine, this item is estimated to sell for between £35,000 and £40,000 when it heads for sale at sgbaldwins.com on 31 October.
Further World Coins highlights include a date run of Brazilian 960 Reis of João VI, early Hong Kong issues, rare Medieval Indian gold Gadyanas, the finest known Saladin commemorative Pound, and a Mint State Paul I Rouble.
Ancient highlights include Lot 7—an exceptional Gold Double decadrachm of Agathokles (Sicily, Syracuse, Agathokles, c. 304-289 BC). The coin features the right-facing head of Athena, wearing a crested Corinthian helmet decorated with a griffin and a necklace. On the reverse, the coin states AΓAΘOKΛEOΣ / BAΣIΛEOΣ / T, around a winged thunderbolt. Good and in extremely fine style, this coin is estimated at £8,000 - £12,000.
Further highlights from the Magna Graecia section include Lot 24 and Lot 25, two extremely fine gold octadrachms from Ptolemaic Egypt. These coins are among the largest and heaviest gold coins minted in the ancient world and will surely garner great interest. Lots 24 (27.69g) and 25 (27.87g) are estimated to fetch £8,000 – 10,000 and £12,000 – 14,000, respectively, when they head to auction at sgbaldwins.com.
Lot 36, an extremely rare Carausius denarius recorded on the PAS, is also not to be missed. Featuring IMP CARA[SIVS P F AVG], laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Carausius right and on reverse VIRTVS [SAECC], radiate lion walking left, holding thunderbolt in its jaws, RSR in exergue, this is an extremely rare item. There is an old scuff to obverse and a minute chip at 7 o’clock on the reverse; however, otherwise it is extremely fine and estimated to sell for £6,000 – 8,000.
The highlight of the Celtic section is Lot 87, the gold stater of Cunobelin. Well struck and of the iconic and popular ‘Classic’ variety, it is one of the finest available to commerce and is estimated to sell for £600 – 800. Also of interest is Lot 77, a rare piece of ancient treasure: a Bronze Age gold ‘hair-ring’ or ‘lock-ring’ in the form of a hollow, penannular, banded disc. Found in Bedfordshire in 1995 and declared Treasure Trove, this high-status piece of jewellery would likely have been worn in the hair. It is estimated to sell for £800 – 1,000.
Within the British coin section, notable pieces include Anglo-Saxon pennies and hammered gold, such as an Edward III Quarter-Noble, Elizabeth I Quarter Angel, and pledge penny, and important hammered silver of Edward I, Henry VII, Henry VIII, and Edward VI. Milled items include a lovely George II Two Guineas and the third tranche from 'The Frank Waley Collection', featuring a 1663 Charles II Shilling NGC MS63 and Victoria Gothic Crowns to PF65. A particular highlight from this section is Lot 303, a Victoria Proof 1847 Gothic Undecimo Crown graded and encapsulated by NGC as PF65, estimated to sell for £30,000 – 40,000.
Finally, in Islamic coins, SGB is pleased to present an extensive selection of Islamic gold, including: Abbasid Dinars, Ayyubid Dinars, Bahri Mamluk Dinars, and Burji Mamluk Dinars. There is also a fantastic selection of rare Artuqid bronze coins. A key highlight from this section is Lot 491, as SGB presents a Double Zeri Mahbub – a plate coin in Krause and one of only two to ever have come to the market. This extremely rare coin is struck with a single Zeri Mahbub die on a double-weight gold flan. Coins of this unusual type were known to have been struck for presentation in Egypt. Only a few of these rare pieces survive. On the market, there was only one other piece aside from this one that was ever offered for sale. This is an incredibly rare item for any advanced collectors of the Ottoman series and is estimated at £6,000 – 8,000.
And for those collectors looking for quirky intrigue, there is Lot 364, the gold Gadyana (India, Gangas of Talakad, temp. Marasimha II Satyavakya, 963-975 AD). The coin presents nine punches sharply struck on a thin and broad flan: five with an elephant standing right, two with Kannada letters ‘Shri’, one with the legend ‘Pathi’, and one with the legend ‘Maara’. Extremely fine and rare, it is a unique addition to any collection and is estimated at £1,500 – 2,000.
For more information, please visit www.sgbaldwins.com.
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