GEOFFREY BELL AUCTION FALL 2023 SALE

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V26 2023 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 26, Number 38, September 17, 2023, Article 28

Here's some information and highlights from the Geoffrey Bell Auctions Toronto Coin Expo Fall Sale. -Editor

A very special welcome to our 2023 Fall Expo and Warmup Sale to be conducted in conjunction with the Toronto Coin Expo. This sale features a superb selection of chartered banknotes, copper coins from The Robert Turner collection, Part II of the Glassford Error Collection, a nice PEI collection and last but not least is the finest 1935 $500 on the market. The SickKids Foundation have also consigned a donated world coin collection, with all proceeds from these lots, including our services, being donated directly to their mission.

Our complete auction listings for the warm-up sale on Sept. 26th and Toronto Coin Expo Sale on Sept. 29th can be found on our website at GBellauctions.com. The sale includes a diverse Prince Edward Island Collection featuring the Collection of prominent collector Ralph Dickieson

Ralph Dickieson was born and lived most of his life in New Glasgow, Prince Edward Island. He was a life-long collector of coins, paper money, antiques and collectibles. His early career included working as a manger for Co-op Stores, Sumner and Company, and operating his own general store in New Glasgow, PEI. He later worked as an instructor at the Provincial Vocation School (now Holland College). In 1958, he and some other residents of New Glasgow started a fund raising project having Lobster Dinners in New Glasgow. This quickly grew and eventually became a business known as New Glasgow Lobster Suppers. Ralph was a founding owner and the general manager from 1958 to 1987. He was active in his community, serving as fire chief of the New Glasgow Fire Department. He was very active in the tourism industry on PEI serving as president of the Cavendish Tourism Association and Tourism Industry Association of PEI. He was the recipient of the Lieutenant Governor's Tourism Award for individuals who have made a significant contribution to tourism on PEI.

Ralph focused his coin collecting on coins, tokens, medals and paper money from Prince Edward Island. During his lifetime, he collected one the best collections of PEI paper money, collecting rare specimens of the Bank of Summerside, Union Bank, Merchant's Bank, Bank of Rustico and Bank of Prince Edward Island. His collection included all of the major known coins and tokens which originated in PEI, including the Holey Dollar, Sheaf of Wheat Token, MacAusland Penny, Ships Colonies and Commerce Tokens, and many others. He was active in the PEI Coin Club serving as President at various times. He was a fellow of the Canadian Numismatic Research Society. He enjoyed researching his acquisitions and was a co-author of the book The Currency and Medals of Prince Edward Island.

He did not collect or try to acquire coins or paper money based on their value or rarity. Rather, he wanted to have a complete collection, which told a story of the history of PEI in the 19th and 20th centuries. He enjoyed collecting trade dollars, commercial tokens from the 1960s, '70s and '80s which told a story of business on PEI. His collection of dairy tokens tells the story of the dairy industry on PEI. He was always quick to adapt to new technology and enjoyed buying and selling coins on Ebay in the 1990s and 2000s. Ralph passed away in March of 2016 at the age of 88.

Lot 444
Prince Edward Island Holey Dollar. Prince Edward Island Holey Dollar. The Wickham Specimen that comes from a group of 5 similar pieces identified by Faulkner. He has determined that all five are contemporary merchant counterfeits. They have 10 rays and are on a host cast Spanish American 8 reales coin. This particular piece was first photographed around 1920 and has a spectacular pedigree. After Wickham's ownership, it passed through several auctions eventually ending up with J.D. Ferguson and John McKay-Clements. In the later sale in 1976, it was purchased by Dr. Ken Beers and subsequently by Ralph Dickieson. Faulkner lists this specimen in Group E as E.1. 1803 Charles IV Mexico FT. A Canadian rarity for which we anticipate great demand. Dickieson Collection.
$8,000-$10,000

SickKids Foundation Information for Lots 44 through Lot 68
Geoffrey Bell Auctions is honoured to be assisting The Hospital for Sick Children Foundation, with a world coin collection that has been generously donated, where all proceeds from these items will be donated to the foundation.

SickKids treats everything from broken arms and appendicitis to rare brain cancers and congenital heart defects. Every year, some 100,000 patients come to us from across the province, country and even the world for specialized care, while our scientists are making important medical discoveries every day. Our research breakthroughs also have implications in the adult world including expanding knowledge on diseases such as dementia and brain tumours.

For all our triumphs—clinical and research—legacy gifts have been instrumental, helping create our storied Research Institute, where scientists created Pablum, discovered the cystic fibrosis gene, and continue to crack the code of childhood cancers and heart disease. Legacy gifts have enabled SickKids to become a world-class leader for intensive care, organ transplants, and complex heart surgeries. It's because of our donors that we've grown from a community hospital to a global leader in child health.