USA COINS AND MEDALS DOMINATE NOONANS SALE

An extremely fine Congressional Gold Medal presented to Lieutenant Robert Henley, as instructed by the President of the United States, James Madison, following the Battle of Lake Champlain sold for a hammer price of £180,000 – against an estimate of £40,000-50,000 at Noonans Mayfair on Thursday, September 19, 2024 in a sale of British, World Coins and Historical Medals [lot 481].

As Nimrod Dix, Deputy Chairman of Noonans said: “This medal is a unique and splendid testament to one of the defining moments in Anglo-American history. There are very few Congressional gold and silver naval medals known to exist – possibly only four of each.”

A silver example from the same collection was also in the sale, which had been awarded to Captain Isaac Hull while in the Naval Engagement of U.S.S. Constitution and H.M.S. Guerriere on 19 August 1812. Estimated at £12,000-15,000, it fetched a hammer price of £46,000 [lot 478].  

Elsewhere in the sale, one of the earliest coins, an oak tree shilling, from Boston Massachusetts, dating from 1652 – the year that round coinage was implemented - fetched a hammer price of £44,000 and was bought by a private collector. It had been in the possession of the same British family for the last 300 years [lot 477].