Noonans Auctions

10/10/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYfadpDw_kk

Almost 160 lots of Specimen Banknotes of the World will be sold on behalf of British Heart Foundation (BHF) at Noonans on Wednesday, October 14, 2026. The collection, which was donated in albums to the BHF store in Edinburgh is expected to fetch in the region of £55,000 - £75,000.

Allison Swaine-Hughes, Chief Commercial Officer at British Heart Foundation, said: “We’re hugely grateful to the donor for entrusting this extraordinary collection to British Heart Foundation. While donations of this scale and rarity are unusual, many people choose to donate special items to us knowing they can help make a lasting difference. Through our retail operation and eBay site, our teams are able to connect collectable treasures with passionate collectors who will cherish them for years to come. We’re hugely grateful to Noonans for their support with this particularly rare donation and ensuring the proceeds go towards lifesaving research.

“This remarkable collection will help create a legacy that benefits both collectors and the millions of people affected by cardiovascular disease.”

As Andrew Pattison, Head of Banknotes Department at Noonans commented: “Noonans are greatly honoured to be working with the British Heart Foundation to auction this tremendous group of specimen banknotes. Such a collection comes up so infrequently that collectors are certain to respond extremely positively. With rarities on offer from all over the world, we estimate the notes could be making their way to as many as fifty different countries. In addition, we are sure that our bidders will respond well to the fact that the sale proceeds are going to fund vital research and can be relied upon to go that little bit further on the day.”

For more details, see link to the catalogue https://www.noonans.co.uk/auctions/calendar/872/

Noonans is delighted to present this special auction on behalf of the British Heart Foundation. The sale consists of the contents of three specimen and colour trial books donated to the charity earlier this year.Salesmen’s books such as these are extremely rare. They usually turn up singly, maybe ...

08/10/2026

TOMORROW

Grosvenor Arms Hotel, High Street, Shaftesbury SP7 8JA

Friday, October 9, 2026
10 am - 3pm

Our experienced specialists will be
available by appointment to offer confidential valuations, free of charge and without obligation, with a view to possible sale in our Mayfair auction rooms

Please ring for an appointment https://www.noonans.co.uk/news-and-events/event-calendar/

07/10/2026

TOMORROW!

The Lansdown Grove Hotel
Lansdown Road
Bath
BA1 5EL

Thursday, October 8, 2026
11am - 3pm

Our experienced specialists will be
available by appointment to offer confidential
valuations, free of charge and without obligation,
with a view to possible sale in our Mayfair auction rooms

Please ring for an appointment https://www.noonans.co.uk/news-and-events/event-calendar/

07/10/2026

TOMORROW!


Berkhamsted Town Hall, 196 High Street, HP4 3AP

Thursday, October 8, 2026
10 am - 2pm

Our experienced specialists will be
available by appointment to offer confidential
valuations, free of charge and without obligation,
with a view to possible sale in our Mayfair auction rooms

Please ring for an appointment https://www.noonans.co.uk/news-and-events/event-calendar/

06/10/2026

A fine Light Brigade Charger’s group of three awarded to Corporal James Mustard is to be included in an auction of Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria at Noonans Mayfair (16 Bolton Street) on Wednesday, October 7, 2026. The group is estimated to fetch £12,000-16,000 [lot 194].

Christopher Mellor-Hill, Head of Client Liaison at Noonans added: “The Charge of the Light Brigade is considered as one of the most famous and tragic of actions in British military history. We are very pleased to be offering these medals on behalf of a private collector that were awarded to Corporal James Mustard, Mustard, who was the last 17th Lancers survivor, went on to live until 1916 – sixty years after the charge. He was one of five survivors of the charge to appear publicly at George V’s Coronation Procession in June 1911 and also wrote a vivid account, where he described the charge as “hell”.”

For more information, see link https://www.noonans.co.uk/auctions/calendar/862/catalogue/543118/?keywords=mustard&x=0&y=0

05/10/2026

A Remarkable Great War Group Linked to One of South Africa’s Defining Wartime Tragedies will be offered at Noonans on Wednesday, October 7 in a sale of Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria.

The group of five, including the Distinguished Service Cross and the Lloyd’s Medal for Meritorious Service, was awarded to Captain Henry Arthur Yardley, whose remarkable career positioned him at the heart of one of the most significant events in South African military history. It is being sold by a private collector and is estimated to fetch £2,600-£3,400 [lot 70].

Yardley was serving as Master when the S.S. Mendi was struck in dense fog in the English Channel on 21 February 1917. The ship sank quickly and 646 of those on board died, among them 607 members of the South African Native Labour Contingent — men recruited from Black African communities across the Union of South Africa as well as the British High Commission Territories (such as Basutoland, now Lesotho, and the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana).

The disaster was one of the great tragedies of South Africa's experience in the Great War, second only in loss of life to the sacrifice at Delville Wood, with the courage shown on board the Mendi becoming deeply embedded in the nation's memory. Among those lost was the Reverend Isaac Wauchope, whose words to the men as the ship sank — calling them to die as brothers and sons of Africa — became an enduring symbol of their sacrifice.

Remarkably, Yardley survived for over an hour in the cold Channel waters before being rescued. In the subsequent board of enquiry, he was exonerated from any blame and his career in the service went on: in 1918, while in command of the S.S. Burutu, he engaged in a running battle with a German submarine that had been shelling Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. For this incident, he was awarded the Lloyd’s Medal for Meritorious Service as well as the Humane Order of African Redemption by a grateful Liberia.

In 1925 he saved four men when their canoe capsized off Sierra Leone for which he was awarded the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society’s Certificate on Vellum. Yardley retired in 1927 after 35 years’ service with the Elder Dempster Line.

For more details, please see link https://www.noonans.co.uk/auctions/calendar/862/catalogue/542162/?keywords=70&x=0&y=0

05/10/2026

TOMORROW!


Danesfield House Hotel, Marlow-on-Thames

Tuesday, October 6, 2026
10 am - 3pm

Our experienced specialists will be
available by appointment to offer confidential valuations, free of charge and without obligation, with a view to possible sale in our Mayfair auction rooms

See link for details https://www.noonans.co.uk/news-and-events/event-calendar/

02/10/2026

More films are being posted on Noonans’ YouTube Channel every week! So please subscribe to not to miss out on future videos!

Take a look at this one about the forthcoming sale of an exceptional Great War Victoria Cross that was awarded posthumously to a member of the Manchester Regiment who was killed during the last major battle of the Great War and is buried in the same row as celebrated War Poet Wilfred Owen. It is expected to fetch in the region of £160,000 in an auction of Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria at Noonans Mayfair (16 Bolton Street) on Wednesday, October 7, 2026. Awarded to Second Lieutenant James Kirk, of the 10th Battalion, who, while attached 2nd Battalion of the Manchester Regiment, paid the ultimate sacrifice trying to defend men of the Royal Engineers. It is being sold as part of an old collection of British medals.

Click here to see the film and a link to the cataloguing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofyJDFBqYPQ

01/10/2026

Christopher Mellor-Hill, Head of Client Liaison at Noonans will be at the Wakefield Medal Fair at the Outwood Memorial Hall, Leeds Road/Victoria Steet, Outwood, West Yorkshire WF1 2NE on Sunday, October 4, 2026 (8am – 1pm).

He will be on hand to offer expert advice or discuss consigning. For more details, see link https://www.noonans.co.uk/news-and-events/event-calendar/