Fascinating selection of lots lined up at Suffolk sale room

Lot 546 (Image: Archant)

Our forthcoming auction of specialist collectables will take place on Saturday-Sunday, May 19-20. This contains more than 3,200 lots, and here I cover some of the highlights, many of local interest:

Lot 1066 (Image: Archant)

Lot 307: Second World War RAF Distinguised Flying Medal group to Sgt. R.F. Jessop, and later medal for acting as Squadron Leader for cadet forces. A pre-war 9ct gold medallion for the Essex County Swimming & Water Polo Association indicates a local link. His Distinguished Flying Medal was awarded for gallantry during flying operations against the enemy on September 23 1941. The lot includes a superb photograph of himself standing with his parents outside the gates of Buckingham Palace, having received his medal for gallantry. Estimate £2000-£2500

Lot 1213 (Image: Archant)

Lot 546: George VI Indian Police Meritorious Service Medal to E Miles, Inspector of Police, Bombay. His later UK address was Runwell Roadd, Runwell, in Essex. Est £400-£450

Lot 1300 (Image: Archant)

Lot 1066: Ipswich Town v Cardiff City, Third Division South match programme September 10 1938. This was the first professional league season for Ipswich, and only their fifth league game (and their third at home). Est £100-£110

Lot 1345 (Image: Archant)

Lot 1213: A Bank of England One Pound note from October 13 1808. The condition is not great and it has been repaired with backing paper, but Bank of England notes of this age are very rare indeed. The estimate thus £1400-£1600

Lot 2531 (Image: Archant)

Lot 1300: Silver penny of King Cnut (Canute), leader of the Danish Vikings and conqueror of England in 1017. The coin reads CNVT REX ANGLO (Cnut King of England) / AELFPII ON GRANT (Aelfwig moneyer of Cambridge). The first recorded name of Cambridgeshire was Grantabrycgscir, with Grantebridge meaning bridge over the River Granta, which later became known as the Cam. £300-£350

Lot 3015 (Image: Archant)

Lot 1481: On the same theme, this is a Viking axe head, part of a collection of ancient and medieval artefacts we are selling in this auction. Known as a 'bearded axe', made of iron, expertly cleaned and conserved. Dating to circa AD700-900. Estimate £450-£600

Lot 1345: Hammered gold half-noble of Henry V, the English King who defeated the French at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Reputed to have been a great victory due to the English and Welsh longbow archers who were deployed in a defensive position. The French knights charged for personal honour, while the British forces held their ground and formation. It is believed the best longbowmen could pierce a knight's armour with their arrows. This coin had a face value of three shillings and four pence. Est £4000-£4250.

Lot 2129: 17th-century copper farthing token of Joseph Cooper, merchant of Great Yarmouth, dated 1656. Estimate £50-£60

Lot 2133 : This, we believe, is what is known as a 'Convict Token'. They were engraved in holding cells by those condemned to transportation in the 18th and 19th centuries. Convicted criminals were often sentenced to be transported to penal colonies in Australia and elsewhere, to serve their sentence, and then act as colonists upon release. It reads 'When this you see Remember me, tho many Miles we dis-tant be' / 'W. Backas, Born 27 April 1785, May 19 1806', this being the likely date of transportation. They were given as mementoes to loved ones. Sometimes it is possible to trace the modern-day descendants in Australia. Est £150-£200

Lot 2146: A bright and bold 'Suffragettes' badge. The Women's Social & Political Union was an organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the UK between 1903 to 1917. Est £300-£340

Part 2 of the David Murray Collection of Woven Silk Postcards will be sold in this auction. Having done so well in the March Auction, we can expect some of these to exceed our expectations again. A couple of highlights being:

Lot 2531: Lampernisse, Belgium 'in flames' 1914. Made to demonstrate the damage the Germans were doing to the occupied territories in First World War. These cards fetched amazing prices in the March Auction, but we enter here at a conservative estimate of £40 to £50. Sometimes an auction estimate is what is known in the trade as a 'come and buy me'. At the end of the day they will sell to the highest bidder. We find that this is often the best way to sell a collection, as it encourages bidders at all levels to take part. We know that the room will be full, the phones will be busy and the internet will be frantic, because the collection is being sold in the right spirit, and it is a superb collection.

Lot 2593: Commemorating an East Anglian heroine of the First World War: Edith Cavell. She was a British nurse employed in Belgium who saved the lives of soldiers from both sides of the war. From the outbreak of war, when the Germans invaded Belgium, she assisted around 200 British Allied soldiers to escape into the neutral Netherlands. She was arrested by the Germans in August 1915 and sentenced to death by court-martial. She was executed by firing squad on October 12 1915, aged 49. Estimate for this card £50-£60

There are many other interesting postcards in the auction besides the David Murray Collection such as this:

Lot 3015: This lot includes 10 postcards of the Russian Royal Family. These are a rather poignant reminder that on the night of July 16 1918 Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Tsarina Alexandra, and their five children were murdered by Bolshevik revolutionaries. The Tsar's daughters were famed for their beauty. The youngest Anastasia was 17 when she was shot. His son Alexei was just 13. Tsar Nicholas II was the cousin of our king, George V. They looked so similar they could almost have been twins. The murder of the Russian Royal Family caused such condemnation worldwide that the Soviet authorities denied it had ever taken place, insisting until 1926 that they were still alive. The estimate for this lot of cards is £50-£55