Rare Australian Specimen Banknotes & Other Collectables

November 20, 2022 12:00 PM AEDT
Timed Auction

200 Lots

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Smalls Auctions

Location: Sydney, Australia

Phone: +61 (0)2 9357 5492

Payment

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Accepted Forms of Payment: American Express, MasterCard, Money Order / Cashiers Check, Other, Paypal, Visa, Wire Transfer

Shipping

AUSTRALIA :

Purchases within Australia will be charged a MINIMUM SHIPPING FEE of $10.00 and will be sent by Registered Post.

Additional insurance is optional at the buyer's expense.

Larger lots may incur an additional charge.

OVERSEAS :

Overseas purchases will be charged a MINIMUM SHIPPING FEE of $35.00 and will be sent by standard International Post.

Additional insurance is optional at the buyer's expense

Larger lots may incur an additional charge.

If we are unsure of the bona fides of a successful bidder we may request identification such as a Passport Photo or Drivers's Licence that matches the Credit Card details registered with Invaluable before we despatch an item.

Both Australian and International packages are traceable in transit and may require a signature on delivery.

Welcome to Smalls Auctions Sale 195. Its not often that I am likely to mention a ‘Ponzi Scheme’ while recommending a set of Australian Specimen Banknotes for investment. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, it is named after Carlo (Charles) Ponzi who in the early to mid - 1900s sold discounted postal reply coupons to Americans paying illusory dividends to early investors from the investments of new clients. The tell-tale sign of a Ponzi Scheme is the totally unrealistic short-term returns promised by the operator that ‘outperform’ traditional investments multi-fold. But greed is a powerful aphrodisiac it appears, and these schemes continue to flourish. American readers will certainly relate to the ‘Bernie Madoff’ fiasco while in Australia the ‘Melissa Caddick’ story came to a gruesome finale. This brings us to the ‘Rare Coin Company‘ which from the early 2000’s operated out of the sleepy rural town of Albany Western Australia. The ‘mastermind’ of the scheme had the clever ploy of positioning himself at Investment Expos between the booths of mainstream financial institutions such as the large banks. Those venturing by assumed he had been vetted by the organisers but in reality, he had simply stumped up the booth fee. And whereas they were offering sedentary returns of 3-4 % per annum he was ‘guaranteeing’ 15% compounding returns on investments in rare coins and banknotes. Sound too good to be true? Well to be fair it not only sucked in unsophisticated mum and dad investors but was also given significant air by some media ‘financial gurus’ who must now be acutely embarrassed by their YouTube interviews. Those who have been in the industry for many decades knew that at some point the Rare Coin Company was going to come a cropper, but its end was hastened by the Cooper Review into self-managed superannuation funds which determined that investments in collectables were too illiquid and had no place in the mix of retirement assets. Those who had invested in coins & banknotes, art, vintage cars, and rare wine to name a few collectables were given five years to divest their holdings leading to the eventual avalanche of collectables coming on to the market. In our Sale 195 we have one such asset in the form of a rare set of a 10/-, £1, £5 & £10 ‘Cerutty-Collins’ Specimen notes. These were last marketed at the eye-watering price of AUD $375,000 each or AUD $1,500,000 in total having already been sold a few times and undoubtedly providing handsome returns to early investors. The current owner has set a very realistic reserve of AUD $300,000 for the four notes i.e., less than the price paid for one note which is perhaps a truer indication of their worth. There are only two of each note known to be in private hands and this is likely the only complete set adding to their appeal - and comparatively it is noted that a single ‘unsigned’ 10/- Banknote Trial c.1913 is currently up for auction this month with an estimate of AUD $90,000 having been sold previously in 2002 for AUD $95,000. Do the ducks line up? I will leave it to the reader to judge but I certainly won’t be ‘guaranteeing’ you a 15% annual return. Of course, besides this undoubted highlight there are many other desirable collectables in our sale, so don’t think you need to spend AUD $300,000 to participate. Smalls Auctions
Buyer's Premium
$0-99: 20.0%
$100-499: 20.0%
$500-999: 20.0%
$1,000-4,999: 20.0%
$5,000+: 20.0%
Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
A$0 A$249 A$5
A$250 A$999 A$10
A$1,000 A$4,999 A$25
A$5,000 A$9,999 A$50
A$10,000 + A$100

Conditions of Sale

VAT and taxes: The Buyer's Premium is inclusive of the Australian G(oods) & S(ervices T(ax) incurred by our service.

Shipping Terms: AUSTRALIA :

Purchases within Australia will be charged a MINIMUM SHIPPING FEE of $10.00 and will be sent by Registered Post.

Additional insurance is optional at the buyer's expense.

Larger lots may incur an additional charge.

OVERSEAS :

Overseas purchases will be charged a MINIMUM SHIPPING FEE of $35.00 and will be sent by standard International Post.

Additional insurance is optional at the buyer's expense

Larger lots may incur an additional charge.

If we are unsure of the bona fides of a successful bidder we may request identification such as a Passport Photo or Drivers's Licence that matches the Credit Card details registered with Invaluable before we despatch an item.

Both Australian and International packages are traceable in transit and may require a signature on delivery.

Buyers Premium: All purchases are subject to an all inclusive 20.0 % Buyer's Premium on the hammer price.

Tax Details: Taxes, Duties and Customs Charges that apply in the country of delivery are the express responsibility of the buyer.

Please notify us if you require a specific description on the outside of the package for customs purposes.