Gold dinar shines in sale

An extremely fine gold dinar, dating from the time of the ninth Umayyad caliph, Yazid II, who ruled from 9 February 720 until his death in 724, was the top lot in a recent country house sale at a Cheltenham auctioneers.

The coin was highly contested at Mallams and eventually sold to a UK bidder for £6,200 this month.

Elsewhere in the sale, a 17th-century Aubusson tapestry from The Old Vicarage in Tredington, also performed well, selling to a UK bidder for £5,800, just under the lower end estimate. Hand woven from wool and silk it featured a woodland scene with exotic birds and measured 198 x 260cm.

A 19th-century mahogany and marble top side cabinet with enclosed brass grille doors and carved supports was conservatively priced but it clearly piqued the interest of several buyers with the hammer finally falling at £3,200 to a UK bidder.

Two lots which came from a direct descendent of General Sir Hubert Gough, a senior officer in the British Army in the First World War, also featured in the sale. An unusual, silver-plated pocket watch mounted on the taxidermied hoof of Gough’s horse Tommy with a dedication plaque to his ‘faithful friend from 1906-1916, died in France during The Great War, 1916‘ was estimated at £100-£200 but achieved a hammer price of £3,400.

A sketchbook by Harriet Gough (General Sir Hubert Gough’s wife), containing approximately 40 original drawings and watercolours completed during trips to India with her husband between 1870 and 1890, beat its estimate of £100-£200 to sell to a UK museum for £1,500.