Man’s rare coin stash sells for £2m after collecting over 1,200 in 45 years
Collecting rare coins could become a huge investment down the line.
Now one man nearly made an eye-watering £2million by selling his rare old coin collection.
Robert Puddester made the decision to sell his stash with London-based auctioneers Noonans Mayfair which totalled £1.57million.
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In the end, his complete group of coins relating to the East Indian Company and British India gained him £1.95m with fees.
Peter Preston-Morley, who is a special projects manager and associate director at Noonans, helped Robert amass his collection.
Robert’s stash grew over the course of five decades but really “struck the gold mine” when he was sent to work in India in 1983.
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(Image: Noonans/BNPS)
His work in the country helped him meet the right contacts and dealers which boosted the growth of his coin collection.
Robert’s wife Norma Puddester also lent a hand and focused on Sikh coinage.
The East India Company coins were sold in 905 lots and covered coins from the inception of the East India Company in London in 1600, from the Madras, Bombay and Bengal presidencies and the regal coinages issued by British India down to independence from Britain in 1947.
Robert’s top selling lots were a Bombay half-mohur from 1765 which sold for £117,800 and a 1765 Bombay gold mohur which sold for £99,200.
A rare 1770 Bombay gold 15 rupees also sold for just under £100,000 and was one of only four known examples.
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(Image: Noonans/BNPS)
The East India Company was a British trade company which became one of the largest and most powerful monopolies in the world for nearly 200 years.
Peter noted the auction of Robert’s collection was itself a historical event due to the contents which were sold and the nature of the sale.
He claimed: “This is the first of a historic series of auctions that will be referenced in their own right for decades to come. This is the most spectacular sale of its kind that has ever been held.
“Those who acquire Puddester coins will own pieces to be rightly proud of, in the knowledge that they rank among the finest, if not the best known.
“Many pieces in this collection only appear in the marketplace once in a generation, if that.”
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