The Cook Collection of Banknotes Far Exceeds Expectations at Noonans

A single-owner collection of more than 250 lots of Central and Eastern European banknotes from 23 countries including Albania, Bulgaria, the Baltic States, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania and Yugoslavia and its successor states fetched a hammer price of more than £250,000, more than £100,000 above its maximum pre-sale estimate, when they were offered at Noonans Mayfair on Thursday, November 28, 2024.

The notes, which date from 1794 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.

Lot 1022: Albania. National Bank of Albania, colour trial specimen 100 Franka Ari, ND (1926). Estimate: £3,000-£4,000. Result: £14,000.

Ninety-six per cent of the collection was sold, with the highest price being paid for a colour trial of the Albania 1926 100 Franka Ari. Estimated to fetch £3,000-4,000, the note, in a different and spectacular set of colours to the one actually issued, realised a hammer price of £14,000. It was purchased by a passionate Albanian collector after a bidding war.

Lot 1045: Bulgaria. Bulgarian National Bank, printers archival specimen 10 Leva Srebarni, ND (1899). Estimate: £6,000-£8,000. Result: £10,000.

Elsewhere a printer’s archival specimen of a 10 Leva note from the Bulgarian National Bank dating from 1899, and one of only two ever produced for this series, sold for £10,000 against an estimate of £6,000-£8,000. It was bought by a long-term collector of Bulgarian banknotes who had been waiting many years for one to come to market.

Lot 1188: Romania. Banco Nationala a Romaniei, specimen 5000 Lei, 31 March 1931. Estimate: £1,000-£1,500. Result: £6,500.

While from Romania, a specimen 5,000 Lei note from Banco Nationala a Romaniei dated from 31 March 1931 with a red BRADBURY WILKINSON seal sold for £6,500 against an estimate of £1,000-£1,500. It was bought by a Romanian collector.

Lot 1020: Albania. National Bank of Albania, colour trial specimen 100 Franka Ari, ND (1926). Estimate: £3,000-£4,000. Result: £7,000.

After the sale, Joe Cook commented: “The results were beyond expectations, with Albania, Bulgaria and Romania performing exceptionally well. I understand from Thomasina Smith and Andrew Pattison that many of the buyers are from the issuing countries, so it’s pleasing that many of the banknotes are going ‘back home’!”

Andrew Pattison, Head of Banknotes department at Noonans added: “This was one of Noonans most successful banknote auctions ever, and it was a privilege to work with Joe Cook and handle such rare and special items from a region that has traditionally underperformed. Those days of underperformance are well and truly over, and the spectacular results across the board speak for themselves.”