SIMMONS GALLERY
PO BOX 104, LEYTONSTONE, LONDON E11 1ND, UK
Enquiries to Howard and Frances Simmons click here
Postal auction MailBid 57
Coin Weights and Scales
Featuring the Allen Back collection of English and Irish coin weights
British, French
and Italian,
AUCTION CLOSED Thursday 8 DECEMBER 2011
Consignments welcomed for future auctions
Click here for Illustrated Catalogue online
ABOUT WEIGHT COLLECTING an introductory article
If you're new to this type of sale, remember there's no buyer's commission and we reduce bids to 10% over the next bidder. If you're the only bidder you get the lot at the first price, which is our reserve price. See our terms and conditions for this auction below. You can request images of weights that are not pictured up to the closing date. Please note that we only give out prices realised to those who bid in the auction. Bids must be placed either by mail or email. Telephone bids must be backed with written copy in the post.
Collectioneurs de langue francaise: pour mieux vous aidez - les regles et avis en francais
Introduction
Several treats are in store for collectors in this postal auction catalogue. We’re delighted to be able to offer the late Allen Back’s great collection of English and Irish weights. Many years ago Allen sold a major portion of his collection through our MailBid sale but kept back his favourites, especially the Irish weights. Many of these are the plate weights illustrated in Withers' British Coin Weights and indicated as such in the catalogue here. Furthermore, some weights were bought in our Byrne and Mills sales long ago. We’re also selling some of Allen’s library plus a few other books on metrology which are useful. There are other weights not from the collection in the sale and these follow on from Allen's collection, from no. 296.
As usual we have a good selection on non-British weights and also balances. The Scottish box, lot 438, is of particular significance - the Withers only found 5 weights in the set but all 11 are here. We’ve also listed a second portion of named rocker balances - all different and some very rare. We hope you’ll enjoy reading through and looking online at the illustrations. Please remember to bid high and bid early on account of the Christmas post - emails or phone calls are fine (see terms and conditions at the end) rather than trusting entirely to the post. Good luck and good hunting!
If you’re new to this type of sale, please read our
terms and conditions below. Remember
there’s no buyer’s commission and we reduce bids to 10% over the
next bidder. If you’re the only bidder
you get the lot at the first price, which is our reserve. We
hope you enjoy browsing through the catalogue and find pieces that you must
have for your own collection. Good luck
and send in your bids as early as you can!
General terms: All items are guaranteed genuine as described. Prices realised are only sent to bidders.
Postal auction: Closing date is Thursday 8 December at 12 noon GMT. Written bids must be received no later than this date, either by post or email. All telephone bids must be confirmed in writing. Email bids will be accepted but are only valid once we have sent an acknowledgement. We bear no responsibility for emails not being received, nor for the late arrival of any bids. If bidding by email or phone, please quote the lot number and brief description with your maximum bid. The first price in the catalogue is the reserve; bids will be refused below this. The second price is an estimate but you may need to bid higher to secure a lot. Bidding is in increments of £1. Bids will be reduced to 10% (rounded up to the nearest pound) above the next highest bid:
Example 1. Weight reserved at £30 has 3 bids A.£25, B.£50 C.£35. Bid B is successful at £39 and we ignore bid A which is less than the reserve.
Example 2. Weight reserved at £100, you bid is £200 but you’re the only bidder so you buy it for £100 (the reserve)
Postage is added to orders at cost. Goods sent by registered insured mail where possible. UK Under £30 value £2 recorded over £30 value minimum £6.50 special delivery. Overseas: from £2 your risk or insured £7 depending on weight.
Payment is due on receipt of our invoice, and goods are sent out when we receive payment. Payments from abroad should be in GB pounds sterling drawn on a UK bank. We accept US dollars; please indicate on your bid-sheet if you want to be invoiced in US funds (note: Bids must be in £ sterling) NB: there is a 10 USD bank charge on each cheque. We accept PayPal (4% surcharge), credit cards (2% Amex, Visa, and Mastercard), and UK Visa debit cards (no surcharge) for payment. If you wish to pay by this method please put your card details on the bid-sheet (card number, expiry date, last 3 numbers on signature strip) and name and address as written on your card and statements plus for debit cards only date of commencement and issue number), and sign your bid sheet. Successful bids can then be sent out without delay which speeds up transactions to the advantage of all. Do not send credit card details by email.
Photographs: Look here for illustrations - a printed text only catalogue is available for the price of postage (previous buyers and bidders receive one free). Due to time constrictions we may not illustrate every lot but will provide digital photos upon request of selected items.
Grading & other abbreviations:
EF Extremely Fine
VF Very Fine (normal wear) nVF near or almost Very Fine VF+ Very Fine or better gVF better than Very Fine
F Fine gF better than Fine VG Very Good G Good
ctm. countermark
RRR extremely rare
RR very rare AR silver
AE bronze
WM white metal or pewter Zn Zinc
Pb Lead
CuNi Cupro-Nickel
Br. Brass
Al. Aluminium
References: We use the standard reference works. W numbers = Withers British Coin Weights etc. If in doubt, please ask.
General notes: Sale organised by Simmons Gallery Ltd, Directors H. W. Simmons, M.Sc. F. M. Simmons Registered number 1612141 England Registered office 34-40 High Street, Wanstead, London E11 2R