The South Sea Company (SSC) was a British joint-stock company founded in 1711. It was created to reduce the cost of the national debt. The company stock rose greatly in value as it expanded its operations dealing in government debt, and peaked in 1720 before suddenly collapsing, it ruined thousands of investors, and became known as the South Sea Bubble. Coinage of the South Sea Company was minted in Britain in 1723, after they discovered silver in Indonesia in 1722. Just over 300 years later, we’re delighted to offer you this beautiful “SSC”shillings in very high grade, limited numbers only.

John Tanner designed this rather fabulous Hanoverian depiction of King George II. We have a small group of these impressive shillings in Extremely Fine grade, they’re dated 1758. The obverse features Tanner’s portrait of the King, the reverse features crowned cruciform shields with the central Garter star, with the date 1758 divided above. These fabulous shillings are 265 years old and getting rare in this grade, stocks are limited.

The Bank of Scotland has now gone fully polymer with its banknote issues. The last £20 note printed on paper was dated 2009 (P126b) It is this variety which we are able to offer today. They are all in Crisp Uncirculated. The front has the portrait of author Sir Walter Scott and thistles on the front. The back shows the span of the Forth Railway Bridge alongside vignettes of workers and a cantilever tower. The last Paper £20 notes in Crisp Unc condition.

The Belgian Victory Medal was established by royal decree on 15 July 1919 and awarded to all members of the Belgian Armed Forces who served during the World War I. The basic obverse design, by the Scottish sculptor William McMillan, is a winged Victory standing on a globe and was adopted by many of the allied countries.

The Royal Canadian Mint launched the iconic Silver Maple Leaf series as the official silver bullion coin of Canada in 1988 but this is the very last to carry the portrait of Elizabeth II. These coins were minted between 1991 and 2023 the special one-off ‘transitional’ type with the dates of the late Queen’s reign 1952-2022 to the left of her portrait.

Postumus was the governor of Germany in A.D. 260 when the emperor Valerian was captured in the East. With the Roman world in crisis the rebel Postumus was left in control of Britain, Gaul, Spain and parts of Germany, forming what was called the ‘Gallic Empire’. Like many emperors at the time Postumus was murdered by his own troops in A.D. 269. At the start of his reign Postumus minted coins that were about 20% silver, at least twice as much silver than the coins being made by Gallienus’ central government in Rome. Later in his reign as he ran out of resources he lowered the silver content to about 5%, the same as the rest of the empire. This is the 20% grade Very Fine meaning an ancient person has used it.

On 6 January 1198, the Armenian Kingdom was formed when the then Prince Levon (The Lion) II was crowned as King Levon I, King of Cilician Armenia. He became known as ‘Levon the Magnificent’ due to his numerous contributions to political, military, and economic influence. His growing power made him a particularly important ally for the neighbouring crusader state of Antioch. The coinage of King Levon I set the standard for that of following Cilician rulers, comprising coins struck in silver, copper, and bronze and the odd, very rare, gold issue. On these silver Trams, he is shown seated facing on an ornamented throne, holding a cross and fl eur-de-lis with the legend ‘Levon King of the Armenians’ around. The reverse depicts a pair of lions standing back to back flanking a tall cross with the legend ‘By the Will of God’ in Armenian around it. It is in Very Fine condition and is now over 800 years old from a once influential but now long-forgotten kingdom.

Our bundle comprises 20 different cheques from all around the British Isles dating from the late 19th century through to the 1980s. Bought individually they would set you back £97.00 but we are offering the group for HALF that!-just £48.50!!! To make it even better we are throwing in a FREE copy of the Collectors Guide to Cheques by Shaw – a £5.75 value. Cheques are a tangible reflection of our nation’s financial history. There were hundreds and hundreds of banks before we ended up where we are today with just a handful. Some banks went bust while others merged and the cheque, a medium that is fast being phased out in favour of a digital record of our financial transactions, can trace all this. Kickstart your collection today- you will not regret it!