Noonans to sell Cook Collection of Central and East European banknotes
A single-owner collection of more than 250 Central and Eastern European banknotes from 23 countries including Albania, Bulgaria, the Baltic States, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia and its successors are expected to fetch more than £150 000 when they are offered at Noonans Mayfair on November 28 2024, at 1pm.
The notes, which date from 1899 to 2003, were collected by Joe Cook in 1998-2004 while working as a financial journalist in Central and Eastern Europe. He began collecting when he spotted an album of banknotes in a second-hand bookshop in Bucharest in 1998.
As he explained: “What fascinated me about the notes is that they are, ultimately, a potted history of the political economy of the Europe between Germany and Russia, between the Baltic Sea and the Balkan peninsula.”
Among Cook’s particular favourites are several Bulgarian notes.
A 1925 5000 leva from Bulgaria is estimated at £800-1200 [lot 1068].
“This is a high domination general issue note that has clearly been in and out of many a wallet, which I quite like in a note,” he said. “On the reverse is Sofia’s magnificent Orthodox cathedral, St Alexander Nevsky, my favourite building in the region, while a resplendent and bemedalled King Boris is on the front. I also love the Cyrillic typeface.”
A 1943 1000 leva note with St Alexander Nevsky on the reverse has on the obverse a young King Simeon, Boris’s son and the only head of state from the Second World War who is still alive today, estimated at £150-200 [lot 1090].
Other standout Bulgarian lots include a very rare 1899 printers archival specimen of the 10 Leva Srebarni [lot 1045], estimated at £6000-8000, and rare specimens of the 1938 1000 leva and 5000 Leva [lots 1085, 1086], each estimated at £2000-3000.
Other highlights of the collection include the series of printers proofs, colour trials, specimens and overprints of the Albania 1926 100 Franka Ari.
“They introduced me to the banknote design and printing process, and the brilliantly named King Zog, who was quite a character, to say the least, and who proudly dominates all but the over-stamped version!” Several examples of this note are included in the sale, and each is estimated at £3000-4000 [lots 1020-22].
Banknotes bearing portraits of the inter-war Balkan kings are a theme of the collection. Romania’s King Ferdinand is featured on several notes in the collection including an extremely rare specimen 2000 lei note from 1920 that carries an estimate of £3000-4000 [lot 1175]; King Carol of Romania on a 1000 lei note from 1934 is expected to fetch £1200-1600 [lot 1184]; and the magnificent 1936 10000 dinara note that depicts King Peter of Yugoslavia is estimated at £1200-1600 [lot 1242].
A 1943 Yugoslavia series was produced while King Peter was in exile in London and includes a printers archival specimen of the 500 dinara note, estimated at £500-700 [lot 1245], and the original approved engraving of King Peter signed by the King himself, estimated at £300-400 [lot 1244].
“The very rare set of Czechoslovakia proofs for the 1919 to 1934 runs of ABNC notes are favourites,” said Cook, “especially the 1929 500 korun note with the missing diacritical from the word Mája (Slovak for May) which is estimated at £2000-2600 [lot 1101].
“The misprint is such a rarity, it having got through all the various stages of proofing and checking without anyone noticing — I suspect because there were no Slovaks involved in the process! These notes are particularly poignant as they bear the Czech, German, Hungarian, Slovak and Ukrainian languages, reflecting the multi-national make-up of inter-war Czechoslovakia. I acquired these, as with a few others in the collection, via private sale, so they have never come on to the open market.”
Andrew Pattison, head of the Banknote Department at Noonans, told The Sofia Globe: “Bulgaria and Romania are two of the strongest markets in the world for numismatic collectable material, in this case banknotes, at the present time.
“There are a couple of reasons for this. There is a great deal new wealth in both countries,” Pattison said.
“There is also seemingly a renewed interest in the history, particular pre-communist history. These two factors have seen prices have rise dramatically”
Pattison said that many of the notes in the Cook collection are exceptionally rare, and several are actually unique.
“Mr Cook managed to acquire notes directly from the archives of the UK banknote printers at a time when interest in such things were at a low ebb.
“These items are now impossible to acquire from the source and interest is likely to be intense.
“It is also worth mentioning that several of Mr Cook’s Romania items are the finest known examples of otherwise relatively available notes. This exceptional condition makes them greatly sought after.”
Barnaby Faull, Senior Banknote Specialist, Noonans said: “My particular favourites in the collection are the spectacular Albanian and Bulgarian colour trials printed by Bradbury Wilkinson but the beautiful American Banknote Company specimens and proofs for Czechoslovakia and Romania are also very striking.
“I still find it incredible that so much of the contemporaneous material that was readily available for face value 20 years ago is now in such high demand. I don’t think I have ever held an auction with 20 lots of Slovenia before but am delighted that this is a personal first after more than 50 years in the business.”
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