Una's Lion roars to lead Dix Noonan Webb to a £1.7 million coins sale total

A magnificent example of what is arguably one of the world’s most beautiful coins left its estimate far behind when it fetched £204,000 with buyers’ commission (£170,000 hammer price) at Dix Noonan Webb in London on 15–16 March 2017. Bidding for the gold British ‘Una and the Lion’ Proof Five Pounds dating from 1839 began at £95,000, towards the top end of its £80,000 to £100,000 estimate, and it sold to a private collector bidding in the room against strong competition.

Una and the Lion are characters in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene and the reverse of the coin designed by William Wyon depicts Queen Victoria as Una guiding the British lion. Its rarity and condition – apart from some minor surface marks, it is otherwise virtually as struck – meant that it commanded the top price in the sale, which totalled £1,720,974 including buyer's premium (total hammer price £1,434,145). “This was an outstanding result with saleroom battles for great rarities,” said Christopher Webb, head of the coins department at DNW. Bidding came from all over the world, including Australia, Japan and the United States.

A William III 1701 Five Guineas second bust with the DECIMO TERTIO edge also outstripped its £20,000 to £30,000 estimate to sell to a bidder in the room for £114,000 with commission (£95,000 hammer price). The coin was slabbed in a PCGS holder and graded MS63. A George V Proof Crown in gold dating from 1935 fetched £84,000 with commission (£70,000 hammer price) from an internet bidder against strong competition in the room. Only 30 of these are known to have been struck, five being consigned to museums and the remaining 25 balloted for in accordance with the practice of the time. This example, estimated at £30,000-40,000, has minimal surface marks and is otherwise virtually as struck.

An extremely rare gold Angel dating from the tragically brief reign of Edward V – one of the two Princes believed to have been murdered in the Tower of London in 1483 – attracted much publicity before the auction and lively bidding at the sale. Found by Bournemouth metal detectorist Brian Biddle in a field in Tolpuddle, Dorset last August, the Angel was estimated at £12,000 to £15,000. Bidding began at £16,000 and the hammer eventually fell at £42,000. Another find by a metal detectorist – a rare Viking Penny minted in the reign of Sihtric Caoch around 921-927 – sold for a low estimate £10,000 to a room bidder. It was found by Richard Scothern in a Nottinghamshire field on Boxing Day last year.

British coins from the collection of Major William Tapp (1884-1959), who won the Military Cross for gallantry during the First World War, also proved popular. All 62 lots sold, many for far more than their estimates. A rare Charles II 1663 Guinea estimated at £20,000-26,000 was hammered down to a room bidder at £46,000, while a Queen Anne 1703 Half Guinea went to another room bidder for £40,000. It had been estimated at £24,000-30,000. Overall the coins from the Tapp Collection sold for £399,786 with commission (£333,155 total hammer price). Another collection, a comprehensive run of Maundy Sets from Charles II to Elizabeth II, totalled £62,988 with commission (£52,490 total hammer price).