Charles Montagu Crompton-Roberts, Coin Collector – Hugh Pagan

The composition of the notable coin collection put together by Charles Montagu Crompton-Roberts (1865-1931), heir to a partnership in an exceptionally profitable paints and varnishes business, has remained obscure because when the Spink firm purchased it in 1920 they initially offered it for sale in the Numismatic Circular without any mention of its past ownership by Crompton-Roberts. The collection was especially strong in the Anglo-Saxon series, and the present note explains that virtually all the Anglo-Saxon coins involved were acquired by Crompton-Roberts within the years 1893-6 through commissions for lots in Sotheby coin auction sales placed by him with the dealer Frederick William Lincoln. A list of the coins in question is attached : it may seem alarmingly lengthy, but it should be useful for future researchers.