Noonans Mayfair, formerly Dix Noonan Webb, is an auction house based in London. It specialises in coins, medals, jewellery and paper money. Since being established, the firm has sold over 400,000 lots. Noonans was established in 1990 as Buckland Dix and Wood. The name was changed to Dix Noonan Webb in 1996 and to its present name in 2022. It holds regular traditional auctions throughout the year. As of March 2022, the founders are CEO and chairman Pierce Noonan, deputy chairman and managing director Nimrod Dix, and director of

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...

Christopher Webb. Frances Noble heads the jewellery department. Matthew Richardson, curator of social history at

Manx National Heritage Manx National Heritage ( gv, Eiraght Ashoonagh Vannin) is the national heritage organisation for the Isle of Man. The organisation manages a significant proportion of the island’s physical heritage assets including over 3,000 acres of coastlin ...

, suggests that the company are "Britain's foremost auctioneers of military medals". In 2010, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' called the firm "a prominent London auction house, specialising in militaria". Noonans is the largest

auctioneer in London; it had £11.7m of total hammer sales in 2018. In September 2019, it increased its

buyer's premium In auctions, the buyer's premium is a charge in addition to the hammer price (i.e. the winning bid announced) of an auction item, or lot. The winning bidder is required to pay both the hammer price and the percentage of that price called for by the ...

to 24%, becoming the first UK numismatics auctioneer to go above 20%. During the 2020

COVID-19 lockdown Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...

, the company donated 5% of all buyer's premiums to the

NHS Charities Together The Association of NHS Charities, operating as NHS Charities Together, is a federation of over 250 charitable organisations that support the devolved National Health Service (NHS), their staff, volunteers and patients, in the United Kingdom. ...

Covid-19 Appeal for a total of £24,879. The firm experienced a record level of website traffic during the COVID lockdown; according to the CEO, "people were stuck at home with little else to spend their money on." Noonans Mayfair is mentioned in

Jeffrey Archer Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English novelist, life peer, convicted criminal, and former politician. Before becoming an author, Archer was a Member of Parliament (1969–1974), but did not ...

's 2019 novel ''Nothing Ventured'', in which a character is encouraged to visit the firm because they are specialists in Spanish cob coins.

SAS medal controversy

In March 1997, the firm auctioned nearly 50 lots of Special Air Service medals and related memorabilia, raising more than £63,000. Pierce Noonan told the ''Birmingham Post'', "Never before have so many awards to members of the SAS been offered to the public at once". But four medals were withdrawn when police said the wife of former sergeant major Mel "Taff" Townsend got a court injunction to halt the auction, identifying the medals as having been stolen in the 1988 burglary of their family home in Kent. An investigation revealed the medals had been sold multiple times by other reputable dealers before finally coming possession by the collector, and were held by the auction house pending the determination of the rightful owner. In June 1998, after a 14-month legal battle, Townsend recovered his medals, which Dix Noonan Webb had estimated would have sold for £20,000 at auction. Townsend later sold his medals in 2009, through

Spink & Son Spink & Son (established 1666) are an auction and collectibles company known principally for their sales of coins, banknotes, stock and bond certificates and medals. They also deal in philatelic items, wine and spirits, and other collectible ...

Recent auction highlights

Among the items that Noonans have recently sold at auction are: * September 2021: A diamond and pearl bracelet once owned by Princess Margaret for £396,800. * September 2021: A triple unite of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

for £54,560. * December 2021: A set of military decorations, including a

Conspicuous Gallantry Cross The Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (CGC) is a second level military decoration of the British Armed Forces. Created in 1993 and first awarded in 1995, it was instituted after a review of the British honours system to remove distinctions of rank in t ...

, for £150,000. * January 2022: Peter Parrott's decorations, including a Distinguished Flying Cross and an Air Force Cross, for £200,000. * February 2022: A £100 banknote from the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...

for £39,680. * March 2022: A 1344 gold half florin for £140,000. * May 2022: A hoard of 142 Roman silver coins discovered in the

Vale of Pewsey The Vale of Pewsey or Pewsey Vale is an area of Wiltshire, England to the east of Devizes and south of Marlborough, centred on the village of Pewsey. Geography The vale is an extent of lower lying ground separating the chalk downs of Salisbu ...

for £81,160. * September 2022: A

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

belonging to Thomas Henry Kavanagh for £750,000, a new world record for a Victoria Cross at auction. * October 2022: A Dickin Medal belonging to Rob the Dog for £140,000.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 51.5073, -0.1445, display=title London auction houses Retail companies established in 1990 1990 establishments in England Companies based in the City of Westminster