Lifetime's collection of Wiltshire currency up for auction

A staggering collection of almost 650 coins, tokens and notes amassed over a lifetime is to be sold at auction.

The Wiltshire-themed collection was put together by accountant David Ward, who lived in the village of Bulford, on Salisbury Plain.

Mr Ward, who died earlier this year, started collecting the currency of his home county as a teenager and continued adding to it over the next 52 years.

It is expected to fetch £20,000 at auction on 30 September.

The collection covers towns and cities in the county such as Salisbury, Wilton, Bradford-upon-Avon, Chippenham, Devizes, Calne, Highworth, Amesbury, Trowbridge, Malmesbury, Marlborough and Swindon.

It also includes a very rare medal dating from 1796 showing Stonehenge and the ancient druids, which is estimated to fetch between £500 and £700.

A penny from the reign of William I, that was minted in Salisbury, also carries a similar estimate.

Peter Preston-Morley, from auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb, said Mr Ward had amassed an "important group" of Wiltshire coins, tokens, historical medals and paper money.

"Most unusually, the Ward collection of Wiltshire 17th century tokens is the second significant group of the county to be sold in these rooms in 2021," he said.

"It includes many pieces absent from the [first] collection and is to be commended to those seeking to fill gaps in the county series."

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