More Than 200 PMG-certified Notes from the Ibrahim Salem Collection Part 2 to be Sold

More than 200 banknotes certified by Paper Money Guaranty® (PMG®) are part of the Ibrahim Salem Collection of British Commonwealth Banknotes Part 2 sale being held October 2, 2019, by renowned global auction house Spink & Son Ltd. Most of these notes were certified at a PMG on-site grading event held in Munich over the summer.

The top lot in the auction is an extremely rare Zanzibar 1928 10 Rupees, graded PMG 25 Very Fine. This note has an estimate of £50,000 to £60,000 (about $61,600 to $74,000 USD). Zanzibar, located in eastern Africa, was a British colony when the note was issued.

Zanzibar 1928 10 Rupees, graded PMG 25 Very Fine. Click images to enlarge.

The Ibrahim Salem Collection of British Commonwealth Notes is an outstanding collection of rare and important issues from current and former territories of the United Kingdom. For instance, Malta was a British colony for 150 years before it gained its independence in 1964. A rare Malta 1918 5 Shillings Specimen graded PMG 55 About Uncirculated is also featured in the October sale, with an estimate of £20,000-25,000 ($24,700 to $30,800 USD).

Malta 1918 5 Shillings Specimen graded PMG 55 About Uncirculated. Click images to enlarge.

Mr. Salem is a titan of the banknote collecting world, having built a collection of 150,000 notes over more than 40 years. Recently, Mr. Salem opted to focus his collection on Arab and Middle East notes and has been reducing other parts of his collection.

At an earlier on-site grading event in London, PMG certified over 250 selections for Part 1 of the Ibrahim Salem Collection of British Commonwealth Banknotes. These were offered in an April 2019 Spink sale. Highlights included a Gibraltar 1914 £5 = 5 Libras graded PMG 20 Very Fine NET that realized £23,000 (about $30,000 USD) and a Fiji 1914 £5 Specimen graded PMG 62 Uncirculated that realized £14,000 (about $18,200 USD).

PMG-certified notes from the October auction have been added to an online image gallery for the Salem collection at PMGnotes.com/salem or PMGnotes.uk/salem.

“PMG’s global reputation for expertise and integrity made it the obvious choice to certify notes from a collection that covers nearly 150 years and six continents,” said Spink’s Director of Banknotes, Barnaby Faull. “PMG’s on-site grading events in London and Munich provided an exceptionally fast turnaround time, helping us to bring this collection to auction sooner.”

“We are honored that Spink chose PMG to grade these outstanding notes, and we are pleased that our on-site grading events made the submission much more convenient,” said Steven R. Eichenbaum, CEO of PMG. “Bidders can rest easy knowing these notes were certified by our expert grading team, whose determinations are backed by our comprehensive guarantee of authenticity and grade.”

For more information about Spink and to bid in this and other upcoming auctions, visit spink.com.

All estimates provided by the auction house.