$500,000 in gold coins highlight Australian coin and stamp auction

A valuable collection of gold coins estimated to be worth at least $500,000 is the major component of Melbourne-based Leski Auctions forthcoming Coins & Stamps sale from 10am Tuesday June 17.

The coins belong to a family whose father has passed away and the mother is about to be moved into a nursing home and need to be sold to help pay for her care.

Highlights of the collection include two complete collections of Perth Mint sovereigns struck between 1899 and 1911 (lots 41 and 42) in felt-lined timber cases – each estimated at $40,000-$50,000.

The sets numbered respectively 15 and 43 of only 70 produced represent every sovereign struck and issued under Queen Victoria (1899-1901), King Edward II (1902-10) and King George V (1911-31) and uncirculated.

Lot 41 includes the highly sought-after Perth Mint 1899 Centenary Sovereign Proof.

The Perth Mint 1899-1931 Sovereign Series includes several of Australia’s key sovereign dates.

Of particular note is the rare 1926P, with the scarce 1925P, 1927, and 1929P sovereigns also major highlights. Another notable coin is the 1899P, the third-lowest minted sovereign from 1855-1919, and crucial dates are the World War I era 1916P and 1917P.

Other popular coins in the set include the three dates to carry the modified George V portrait – the low mintage 1928P, the rare 1930P and the last issue 1931P.

Two sets of Perth Mint collections of 12 sovereigns (1900-1911 and 1912-1923) in presentation albums (lots 43 and 49) entitled “Australia’s Prestige Gold Sovereign Collection” – with accompanying certificates from Melbourne coin dealers Downie’s who advertised these as two of only 50 sets they were able to assemble in 1996 – are other strong drawcards.

Lots 194 and 195 feature two 1995-2003 Floral Emblems of Australia complete sets of nine uncirculated 22-carat gold $100 coins in a felt-lined timber presentation case, each accompanied by its own Certificate of Authenticity and Limitation.

Completes sets of nine proof 24-carat gold $100 and $150 coins from the same 1995-2003 Floral Emblems of Australia series comprise lots 196 and 197.

There are many other gold coin proof sets with accompanying certificates of authenticity in the auction along with banknotes and stamps.

The postal history and aerophilately sections feature the first ever airmail carried in Australia, dated June 16, 1914 (lots 634 and 635).

Lot 634 (AAMC1) is a real photo postcard signed and flown by French aviator Maurice Guillaux from Melbourne to Bendigo and Ballarat with lot 635 a letter greeting dated June 9, 1914 from the mayor of first city to that of the second.

The items were originally owned by Nelson Eustis, author of Australian Air Mail Catalogue among other publications, who in 1946 sold them to a London dealer with the rest of his Australian air mail collection.

An American soldier then bought the postcard and accompanying letter and took it home where it resided in his safe, forgotten until 1992.

In those intervening years Leski Auctions director Charles Leski had become a good friend of the ex-soldier, who by 1992 was a valued client and retired professor of tropical medicine.

During a chance visit to America that year, the retired professor showed Leski the collection of flight covers he had purchased in 1946.

For Leski, recognition of Nelson Eustis’s pre-War collection was immediate and he was then able to bring it back to Melbourne for auction in December 1992.