· Written by Connor Jones, Editor
UK Auction House Comparison: Where to Sell Coins
Eight venues handle most UK coin sales: Spink, Baldwin's, London Coins, Coin Cabinet, Hosker & Haynes, NumisBids, Onebid and eBay UK. Each has a different commission structure, audience, and price tier. This guide compares them side-by-side using live data from our scraper feeds — the realised-price table below auto-updates with every new sale we ingest.
Last updated: 4 May 2026
In brief. Buyer's premium is 18-26% across UK coin auction houses; seller's
commission 10-20%. Spink and Baldwin's top tier (high realisations, premium fees). London Coins and
Coin Cabinet middle tier. Hosker & Haynes good for regional / specialist material. NumisBids and Onebid
are aggregators bringing European houses to UK bidders. eBay UK is cheapest below £500; auction houses
win for £1,000+ pieces.
Live data from our scraper feeds
Numbers below pull directly from our coin_prices verified-sales table and update with every new
scraper run. They show how active each source is and what realised price tier it operates at — useful for
deciding which venue to consider for your coin.
| Source | Verified sales on file | Avg realised | Range | Latest sale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Spink Mayfair, London · spink.com |
18 | £4,517.78 | £200.00 – £39,000 | 2026-04-23 |
|
Baldwin's St James's, London · sgbaldwins.com |
61 | £1,280.33 | £20.00 – £9,500 | 2026-03-18 |
|
London Coins Bracknell · londoncoins.co.uk |
3,891 | £882.29 | £9.00 – £42,000 | 2026-03-08 |
|
NumisBids Aggregator (multi-house) · numisbids.com |
142 | £7,141.85 | £4.30 – £349,800 | 2026-04-27 |
|
Coin Cabinet London · thecoincabinet.co.uk |
177 | £1,221.11 | £10.00 – £26,000 | 2026-04-28 |
|
Hosker & Haynes Yorkshire · hoskerhaynes.co.uk |
17 | £1,086.47 | £80.00 – £2,600 | 2025-09-16 |
|
Onebid Aggregator (European) · onebid.com |
445 | £2,902.12 | £1.72 – £319,920 | 2026-04-26 |
|
eBay UK Online marketplace · ebay.co.uk |
12,535 | £42.31 | £0.11 – £4,711 | 2026-05-04 |
Data refreshes automatically as our scrapers ingest new sales. "—" indicates a source we monitor but don't currently have verified data from.
Commission rates (2026)
| House | Buyer's premium | Seller's commission | Sale frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spink | 24-26% | 10-15% (per-lot min £25) | Quarterly British coin sales |
| Baldwin's | 24-25% | 10-15% (per-lot min £15) | Quarterly |
| London Coins | 22% | 10% (per-lot min £5) | Quarterly |
| Coin Cabinet | 20-22% | 10-12% | Monthly online sales |
| Hosker & Haynes | 20% | 10-15% | Quarterly Yorkshire-based sales |
| Noonans Mayfair | 22-24% | 10-15% (per-lot min £15) | Quarterly |
| NumisBids (aggregator) | House premium + 2-3% | House commission | Continuous |
| Onebid (aggregator) | House premium + 3% | House commission | Continuous |
| eBay UK | None (buyer doesn't pay extra) | ~12.8% final value fee | Continuous |
Which venue for which coin
| Coin or collection | Best venue | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Single coin under £500 | eBay UK | Cheapest fees, fastest, no consignment lag |
| Single coin £500-2,000 | London Coins / Coin Cabinet | Lower commissions than top tier, decent reach |
| Single coin £2,000-10,000 | Spink, Baldwin's, or Noonans | Top realisations on premium British material |
| High rarity (£10,000+) | Spink or Heritage | Global reach + cataloguing |
| Hammered / ancient British | Spink | Spink Standard Catalogue is the trade reference |
| Modern Royal Mint sets | eBay or Coin Cabinet | Volume products, no premium tier needed |
| European / Continental | NumisBids / Onebid | Aggregator reaches European bidders |
| Bulk junk-silver lot | Local coin dealer | Melt + small premium, instant payment |
Featured British coins on MyCoinage
½ Sovereign - Elizabeth II 3rd portrait; Proof
up to £7,155
1 Sovereign - Elizabeth II Gold Sovereign Anniversary
up to £1,588
1 Sovereign - Elizabeth II 4th portrait; Golden Jubilee
up to £1,395
1 Sovereign - Charles III Bullion
up to £1,300
1 Sovereign - Elizabeth II 5th portrait; Platinum Jubilee
up to £1,128
1 Sovereign - Charles III
up to £1,057
Buy-now eBay options
The links below open eBay UK searches; if you buy through them, MyCoinage earns a small commission at no cost to you.
Slabbed British coins (PCGS) ↗ Spink Standard Catalogue ↗ Baldwin's sale catalogues ↗ Slabbed sovereigns ↗
Related guides
- Where to sell rare coins UK
- Inherited a coin collection UK
- PCGS vs NGC vs CGS UK
- UK coin value checker
- How to spot fake British coins
External references
- Spink · Baldwin's · Noonans · London Coins
- Coin Cabinet · Hosker & Haynes
- NumisBids · Onebid
- BNTA — UK numismatic trade calendar.
- the-saleroom.com — UK auction aggregator with coin filter.
Frequently asked questions
Which UK auction house has the lowest commission?
Buyer's commission (paid by the winning bidder on top of the hammer price) ranges roughly 18-26% across UK numismatic auction houses in 2026. Seller's commission (deducted from the hammer price for consigners) ranges 10-20%. Spink and Baldwin's sit at the higher end (premium service, marquee British coin sales); Coin Cabinet, Hosker & Haynes and London Coins generally sit lower. eBay is technically the cheapest auction format (eBay's seller fee is around 12.8%) but isn't a numismatic-specialist venue and lacks the cataloguing and authentication assurance of a proper auction house.
How does Spink compare to Baldwin's?
Both are top-tier London auction houses with deep British coin specialism. Spink is the older (founded 1666) and runs more frequent British coin sales; Baldwin's (founded 1872) has a strong overlap with ancient and Continental European coinage. For typical 19th-21st century British coins both produce similar realisations; for hammered medieval and ancient pieces Spink's catalogue is the standard reference. Buyer's premiums are similar (24-26%); seller's commission is similar (10-15% with a per-lot minimum £15-25). For a single high-value piece (£5,000+) get pre-sale estimates from both before consigning — the variance can be 10-20% on which house produces the better realised price.
What's a "buyer's premium"?
Buyer's premium is the percentage added to the hammer price that the winning bidder pays to the auction house. Hammer price £1,000 + 25% buyer's premium = £1,250 total. The seller receives only the hammer price minus their seller's commission (typically 10-15%), so £1,000 hammer = £850-900 to the seller. Total auction-house revenue on the lot is therefore around 35-40% of the hammer price (split between the two parties). When comparing online dealer prices to auction realised prices, remember the dealer price already includes margin equivalent to the buyer's premium.
Is eBay really cheaper than an auction house?
For low-value lots (£50-300) yes — eBay's seller fee is roughly 12.8% of the final selling price, vs auction-house seller commission of 10-20% PLUS the buyer's premium that depresses the final selling price. For high-value lots (£1,000+) the auction house usually wins: they reach more serious buyers, the catalogue presentation lifts realised prices 20-50%, and the authenticity-guaranteed environment means buyers are willing to pay more. The break-even is roughly £500 single-coin value: below, eBay is cheaper; above, auction realisations net more even after commissions.
What's NumisBids?
NumisBids is an online aggregator that lets you bid on lots from multiple auction houses worldwide through a single account. It's used by many smaller European houses to access English-language bidders without their own platform. Commission is paid to the underlying auction house; NumisBids takes a small fee on top (typically 2-3%). Useful for finding lots that wouldn't otherwise appear on UK eBay. The downside: shipping is from the host country and customs / VAT becomes the buyer's problem.
What about Heritage Auctions?
Heritage Auctions is the largest numismatic auction house globally, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. They run quarterly British coin sales as part of their broader programme. Heritage achieves strong realisations on top-tier rarities (1933 penny, 1839 Una and the Lion crown) because they reach a global bidder pool. Buyer's premium is around 20-25%; seller's commission around 10-15%. For UK-domiciled coins under £5,000 the freight, VAT and customs friction makes UK auction houses more efficient; for £5,000+ the higher Heritage realisations can outweigh the freight cost. Heritage doesn't feature in our scraped sources because their British coin volume is lower than the UK specialists.
How do dealer prices compare to auction realisations?
Dealer asking prices are typically 50-100% above realised auction prices for the same coin and grade. The reasoning: dealers buy at auction (or directly from collectors) at realised prices, hold inventory, slab high-value pieces, and sell with their own margin. As a buyer, the auction route is cheaper if you have time and patience to wait for the right lot; the dealer route is faster but pricier. As a seller, dealer outright offers are 60-80% of fair-market auction realisation; auction consignments take 4-6 months but typically net 20-40% more after commissions.
How long does an auction consignment take?
Most UK numismatic auction houses run quarterly British coin sales. From consignment to seller payout: typically 4-6 months. Sequence: physical drop-off or insured posting (1 week), professional photography and cataloguing (4-6 weeks), pre-sale viewing window (3-7 days before the auction), the live auction (one day), buyer payment window (30 days from sale), seller payout (30 days from buyer settlement). For high-value lots, 4-6 months is the right wait; for sub-£500 pieces, dealer outright offers may be more efficient.
Should I take the dealer offer or wait for auction?
Three considerations. Time: dealer offers are same-day or within a week; auction consignments take 4-6 months from consign to payout. Coin value: below £500 the dealer offer often nets more after commissions; above £1,000 auction realisations reliably exceed dealer outright. Coin specificity: auction houses produce stronger realisations for rare / unusual / conditional rarities where catalogue exposure matters. The pragmatic test: get pre-sale estimates from at least two auction houses (free, takes 2-4 weeks) and one dealer offer; if the dealer offer is within 80% of the lower auction estimate, take the dealer for the speed; otherwise consign.
Can I bid in a Spink or Baldwin's auction online?
Yes — both run live online bidding through their own platforms (Spink Live, Baldwin's Live) with no platform-side fees beyond the standard buyer's premium. Both also list lots on the-saleroom.com aggregator (3% on top of buyer's premium) and Liveauctioneers (5%). For UK collectors bidding direct via the auction house's own platform is cheapest. Pre-bidding (commission bidding) at a fixed maximum is also free; the auction house bids on your behalf up to your limit during the live sale.
How does eBay sold-listings compare for valuation?
eBay's "Sold listings" filter is the most useful free price reference for UK coins under £500. Sort by "Most Recent" (NOT "Highest Price" which shows outliers), look at 5-10 recent comparable sales, and calculate the median. The numbers reflect actual realised prices including buyer commission, so they're directly comparable to dealer asking prices and auction-house realised totals (for reasonable accuracy you should subtract roughly 10-15% from auction-house realised totals to get the equivalent eBay-style figure). For lots above £500 the eBay reference is less reliable because volume thins; auction-house archives become the better reference.
Are there UK coin auction calendars?
Yes. Spink, Baldwin's and Noonans all publish their forthcoming sale calendars on their own websites; the BNTA (British Numismatic Trade Association) publishes a consolidated UK numismatic calendar at bnta.net. The-saleroom.com is the largest UK auction aggregator and lets you filter by "Coins & Medals" for the next 30 / 60 / 90 days across all member houses. NumisBids covers European houses similarly. Most major British coin auctions cluster in March, June, September and December.