Royalty
The day a Hawker Hurricane SAVED Buckingham Palace
On 15th September 1940 (later known as Battle of Britain Day), the Luftwaffe launched its largest and most concentrated attack against London in the hope of drawing the RAF to annihilation.
One German Dornier lagged behind and then started heading straight for Buckingham Palace. Sergeant Pilot Ray Holmes attempted to shoot it down before running out of ammunition. Without hesitation, he knew what he had to do; he had to hit it. At speeds in excess of 400mph, they collided.
The Dornier crashed to earth, prevented from destroying the Palace. The Hurricane TM-B was also critically damaged and entered a vertical dive. Seeing there was no way to save the aircraft, an injured Holmes ejected to safety while the Hurricane plummeted to the ground, crashing where Buckingham Palace Road meets Pimlico Road and Ebury Bridge. Amazingly, these were the only two aircraft to crash on the City of London throughout the entire war.
The recovery of the remains…
Chris Bennett, a veteran of several aircraft excavations, decided to take on the project of excavating this famous aircraft; which was no easy task considering the Hurricane was buried underneath one of London’s busiest roads. After 13 years of planning and setbacks, he finally got the go-ahead to begin excavation, as well as TV production company Mentorn securing a spot on Channel 5 for a live broadcast!
The recovered Merlin engine, along with other parts, were exhibited at the ‘Westminster at War’ exhibition in Leicester Square and then at the Imperial War Museum. The aluminium engine casing however, was melted down and cast into sculptures, the first two of which were presented to Ray Holme’s family and Her Majesty the Queen.
The BRAND NEW Hawker Hurricane Provenance Medal
And now, a small number of collectors have the chance to own a BRAND NEW Commemorative featuring an ACTUAL piece of the plane that Ray Holmes was flying on the 15th September 1940 when he saved Buckingham Palace!
This incredible commemorative features an original piece of Hawker Hurricane, meticulously hand-sculpted into the shape of the iconic plane and precision set into the deluxe SUPERSIZE 70mm Medal.
Even without the genuine piece of Hawker Hurricane, this medal is a work of engineering art in its own right. Combined with the original piece of the Hawker Hurricane, you’d have to look for many years to find something better.
Just 250 lucky collectors have the chance to own this special new commemorative. Last year’s Provenance medal featuring a piece of Spitfire SOLD OUT in a matter of days. Click here to secure your Hurricane Commemorative while you still can!
The British banknote set to sell for up to £12,000!
Tomorrow on 28th October a Victorian £5 Banknote is set to sell at auction catalogued at up to £12,000! Now you might be wondering how an old piece of paper could be worth such an extortionate price. Well, even though it is over 150 years old, the banknote is in pristine condition – almost as if it has come straight from the Victorian Cashier who issued it himself!
The £5 Banknote, dated for the 28th December 1863 is a representation of the height of the industrial period and the advances made in Victorian Britain. In fact the design and printing technology was so advanced that the exact design was used up until 1956! You see, British Banknotes have an incredible history that is often overlooked in the collecting world…
The First UK Banknote
In 1694 King William III was at war with France, and as is often the case with warfare, the financial state of the nation was put under pressure. And so the Bank of England was established. One of its main jobs was to issue banknotes in return for deposits of gold or silver. It’s thought that the first banknote ever issued was one for £1000! But seeing as most people’s wages were less than £20 a year in those days, most people never saw a banknote.
Each banknote was handwritten on bank paper addressed to the payee, and signed by a cashier to authenticate it –sort of like a modern day cheque. This is a tradition that continues today as each banknote is issued with the Chief Cashier’s signature.
“I promise to pay the barer on demand the sum of five pounds”
Before 1853 banknotes were completely handwritten, but the innovation of the Victorian period meant that templates for banknotes could be printed. Therefore cashiers no longer had to sign each note individually. The words “I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of Five pounds” were introduced to link the notes to a physical gold value. In theory, anyone could go to the bank and ask them to give them £5 worth of gold in exchange for a £5 banknote, although the meaning has changed today, the tradition remains on the banknotes.
Emergency Wartime issues
During the First World War, gold was preserved by the government and gold coins in circulation had to be withdrawn. To replace these coins, the Bank of England needed to make a large supply of £1 and 10/- notes available, but the haste at which these were produced meant that there were huge security problems. The notes were too small for cashiers to handle and they had very few anti-counterfeiting measures, but the notes themselves played a vital role in keeping the economy going.
The Second World War Nazi threat
During World War Two, the British government found out about a Nazi plot to introduced thousands of fake banknotes to destabilise British currency. However the Bank of England took emergency action and changed the colour of some of the notes for the duration of the war. The Nazi’s could not match the high levels of security features on the British banknotes and their plans failed.
Polymer banknotes
Today historic banknotes are harder and harder to get hold of, especially the ones in good condition, and those that are will often sell for thousands of pounds. Few have seen the earlier banknotes, and a small number of us remember using pre-decimal or war time banknotes in our childhoods. This is largely because the paper design which made them more susceptible to damage, so many have been lost over time. The new polymer banknotes first issued in 2016 marked a monumental change in numismatic history, bringing new technology and innovation to our pockets.
If you’re interested
Today you have the chance to own a limited edition pair of Emergency Wartime Banknote reproductions, each struck from 5g of FINE SILVER.
The Emergency Banknotes each carry a fascinating story, and your Silver versions come complete in a presentation folder telling the full story of how these banknotes helped Britain win the war.
JUST 100 of these special FINE SILVER banknotes pairs are available, so click here to order yours now, before it’s too late >>
The most collectable Sovereign yet – Australia’s FIRST ever Piedfort Sovereign
The Gold Sovereign is undoubtedly one of the most famous gold coins in the world. It’s a classic piece of coinage that is coveted the world over and is highly sought after every year by thousands of collectors.
But have you heard of a Piedfort Sovereign? They’re incredibly rare and are some of the most highly sought-after issues I’ve ever seen – demand for the first UK Piedfort Sovereign was so high that it sold out within 24 hours!
Now, in its 165th year, the Perth Mint has created numismatic history by releasing the first ever Australian Piedfort Sovereign.
Crucially, there are three key reasons why this limited edition coin is set to be the most collectable and sought-after Sovereign ever issued…
1. It’s a piece of numismatic history
The Australian Sovereign is as close to a well-kept coin secret as you’re going to find. It’s been struck every year since 1855 to the same exact specification as the UK Sovereign.
Importantly, this is the very first time the Australian Sovereign has been struck to a Piedfort specification. This makes it a significant piece of numismatic history, as it is the first-of-its-kind to ever be struck.
But it’s not only the Piedfort specification that makes this coin historically significant. The classic Australian Sovereign design features a special one-year-only “165” privy mark, to mark the 165th anniversary of the first Australian Sovereign. The Sovereign is the ‘King of Coins’ so this superior issue couldn’t be a more fitting tribute.
These two facts alone make this issue incredibly desirable and will make it a priority for collectors in the future.
2. Superior, highly collectable specification
In the 12th century Piedforts were considered prestige pieces and ownership was often used to signify a person’s wealth and power. Today, Piedforts continue to be limited issues and striking of such pieces is reserved strictly for the most important events.
Struck on double thickness blanks, Piedforts are twice the weight and contain twice the amount of precious metal as their standard coin counterparts. They’re some of the finest examples of coin craftsmanship you’ll ever see.
What’s more, they have tiny edition limits and consequently fast sell-out rates. This makes them some of the most collectable coins around.
3. Sell-out all but guaranteed
I saved the most significant point for last. You see, when the very first UK Piedfort Sovereign was released in 2017, with an edition limit of 3,500, it completely sold out within 24 hours at the Mint.
Compare this to the very first Australian Piedfort Sovereign, with a worldwide edition limit of 350 coins. Yes, you read that correctly, JUST 350 single Australian Piedfort Sovereigns have been issued – that’s a mere TENTH of the number of UK Piedfort Sovereigns that sold out in 24 hours.
The high demand of Piedfort Sovereigns suggests that we are looking at a record-breaking sell-out.
If you’re interested…
As official Perth Mint distributors we have been fortunate to secure a limited number of these limited edition Sovereigns for UK collectors. Just 350 have been issued worldwide, making it ten times rarer than the first ever UK Piedfort Sovereign that sold out within 24 hours of release.
Considering that this coin is a numismatic ‘first’ very few will make their way out of Australia, meaning your chances of owning one are very limited. Don’t hesitate, click here for more information >>
