Sale 138 Preface

Welcome to Sale 138, our first for 2025. A wide range of material including Asian ceramics and bronzes from the late Ken O'Brien Collection, as well as a range of early Chinese cash type coins and charms bringing an end to Ken's Collection. The estate of another collection of the 1970's, the late Frank Wheener, who worked for Keep Brothers and attended some of our sales, including 2B the Chinese Collection (November 1978). We are proud and grateful to his nephew to offer this interesting collection. Further selections come from Stephen Turner's Collection, always beautifully housed in supreme albums.

The sale commences on Tuesday 18th March at 9.30am and is devoted to Australasia.
The third session features the highlight of the sale, with the Czar Nicholas I Jewel presented to Dr David Williams in 1847 (illustrated on our front cover, lot 326: est. $75,000).
The fourth session at 4.30pm includes three examples of the popular and rare 1930 penny.
The fifth session at 7.30pm includes a high grade NSW five shillings or Holey Dollar 1813, featured on the front cover of sale 76 (lot 617; est. $150,000), three NSW fifteen pence dumps 1813 (lots 619, 620, 621), two Adelaide pounds 1852 (lots 622, 623; est. $16,000 and $14,000), some outstanding Sydney Mint sovereigns, and an 1855 half sovereign, three from the famous Quartermaster Collection (lots 657, 693, 694).
The sixth session of the second day is devoted to miscellaneous items, including Asian ceramics and artefacts and Australian art.
Among the highlights in the seventh session, Orders, Decorations & Medals, are Military Crosses awarded to two British Officers (lots 914 & 915; est. $1,800 & $2,500), and an OBE, MC, and MID group of eight to a British Army officer later posted to the RFC and also served in the RAF in WWII and had a distinguished career (lot 921; est. $7,000).
Another highlight is the DSO, DFC group of eight to a British air gunner and later a pathfinder pilot (lot 931; est. $17,500). There is a Volunteer Force Long Service Medal (VIR) to an officer who was Secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club and twice represented Victoria at cricket. Later he was Secretary of the Melbourne Baseball Club and was a member of the Australian Shooting Team that toured America (lot 936; est. $800).
Other significant lots include a WWII DFC group to an Australian pilot who was a top athlete at Brisbane Grammar School (lot 946; est. $7,000), and a Boer War pair to an Australian serving in Steinaecker’s Horse (lot 940; est. $2,400).
The eighth, ninth, and tenth sessions complete the second day’s sale with world silver and bronze, gold, and British coins in gold, silver, and bronze, including historical medals. The Charles II two guineas with elephant below 1664 is an attractive historical coin illustrated on our back cover (lot 1600; est. $15,000).
We are honoured to offer the The Jack Grace Collection on the third day of our sale, privately published as The Grace-Cocks Collection of Australian Fobs and Medals, Sydney 2020 (Sessions 11, 12, 13, and 14, lots 1835 – 2623). We are grateful to Jack’s daughter, Deidre, for this historic consignment and congratulate John O’Connor, of our team, for his devotion to cataloguing this collection in such detail. The collection was formed over many years by the late Jack Grace, and includes fobs and medals issued as prizes, awards, memberships, and soldiers, including returned fobs, appreciation fobs, memorial fobs, and others, and various other types.
There are many historic items included in the collection. Prize medals include some issued for the Sheffield Shield in cricket in 1897, 1903-04, and 1904-5, and awarded to M.A. Noble (lot 1994; est. $2,200). Montague Alfred Noble played for NSW and Australia, and is considered one of the great Australian all-rounders. He represented Australia in 42 tests, 39 against England and South Africa, and captained the team on 15 occasions. In 2006 he was inducted into the Cricket Hall of Fame by Cricket Australia, and in 2021 he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame as one of the special inductees. The M.A. Noble Stand at the Sydney Cricket Ground is named in his honour.
The fifteenth session at 7.30pm is entirely devoted to world and Australian banknotes.
The final day opens with ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine coins at 9.30am on Friday. The 11.30am and 2.30pm sessions 17 and 18 conclude the sale with part three of the Mark E. Freehill collection of British Commonwealth and World Banknotes, mainly concentrated on Africa and the West Indies.
On behalf of the company, we wish you every success with your bidding, and invite you to the viewing and live auction in the Dixson Room of the State Library of NSW.