Welcome to Smalls Auction Sale 317, featuring a standout collection of Australian Pre-Decimal Threepences and Sixpences from the reign of King George V, many of which are PCGS graded and sit high in the census, including a near-flawless raw 1914 Sixpence. Highlights include a finely carved 19th-century scrimshaw horn inscribed “from the Horn of an Australian Ox,” linking it to Colonial Australia, and rare plaster coin models by renowned Australian silversmith Stuart Devlin depicting Royal figures Sarah and Diana—never officially issued and thus unique, with Sarah’s model accompanied by the original photographic study from Buckingham Palace in 1991. Film memorabilia collectors will enjoy original theatre lobby card sets from classics like Ben Hur, Spartacus, and West Side Story, evoking cinema’s golden era. Sale 317 offers a diverse and compelling range of collectables sure to appeal to a wide variety of tastes.

The Ottoman Caliphate began with the capture of Adrianople in 1362 and ended in 1924 when Kemal Atatürk abolished it in favour of a secular republic. The Sultan ruled over the Empire which at its peak spanned Southeast Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa but steadily declined due to territorial losses and its ill-fated alliance with Germany in World War I. During the war, Ottoman banknotes were backed by German Treasury Bills and printed by the German firm Giesecke & Devrient. These emergency notes, printed on poor-quality paper, circulated until 1927 with few surviving in high-grade condition. In 2016, a remarkable archive of lightly cancelled specimen notes surfaced in Australia, which has since been determined were once owned by Huseyin Cahid, Vice-President of the Ottoman Parliament. Housed in a leather-bound album, the collection mirrors the circulation issues that bore Cahid’s signature with a printed breakdown of the notes printed for each denomination. The list reveals that only 40 examples of the high-denomination 50,000 Livre were printed and in today's terms each would now have a gold equivalent value of USD $34 million. Most surviving high-value notes are found in extremely poor condition, making this archive the only known repository of high-grade notes. The collection offers a unapparelled glimpse into the pristine artistry and history of Ottoman currency and presents a rare opportunity for collectors.