Shrewsbury couple’s shock as antique sword sells for £5,000
A Shrewsbury couple had a pleasant surprise when they successfully sold a sword found in a storage container in 1972 at auction.
The silver gilt presentation Marmeluke sword went for £5,200 at the recent Trevanion and Dean auction in Whitchurch.
Dating back to 1818, it was retailed by Mackay and Cunningham in Edinburgh and bears a Royal cipher.
Auctioneer Aaron Dean said: "The couple, from Shrewsbury, brought the sword in to me during one of our weekly valuation sessions. I recognised it immediately as being an item of some importance having handled a very similar piece in the past.
"They explained that they had purchased a storage facility in 1972 and had found the sword lying on one of the shelves. They placed it in their loft for safe keeping and had forgotten about it until they were having a loft clear out."
Despite its poor condition, Aaron knew he was handling an exceptionally rare piece and took the sword to be assessed by one of the leading weapons experts in the UK.
He said: "With such niche markets as this, acquiring the expert opinion of someone in this field is vital, and gives potential purchasers confidence to bid.
It was estimated at between £2,000 and £4,000, and was sold to a UK-based private collector.
Niche markets achieved the most buoyant prices on the day with a Bank of England Abraham Newland one pound note dated April 15, 1799 sold for £2,600.
Auctioneer Christina Trevanion discovered the note hanging on the wall of a Whitchurch property during a routine house clearance.
"It was quite incredible," she said. "It is such a fragile piece. "We received a phenomenal amount of pre-sale interest despite it having a tear and being in quite poor order.
"Normal notes from this period do not usually garner such phenomenal results, but this note was signed by Abraham Newland, chief cashier at the Bank of England from 1782-1807>"
The expression ‘an Abraham Newland’ came to mean a bank note, because without his signature, no Bank of England note was genuine
Christina added: "I think Abraham would be quite amused to know now that his signature generates quite so much interest. The vendors of the piece were delighted, and they are currently holidaying in the Caribbean and so were able to watch our auction via our online bidding platform whilst sipping cocktails in the sun."
Trevanion and Dean’s next auction will be held on May 19 and closing date for entries is May 4.
