Simmons Gallery The core business of the company, first established in 1982 by Howard and Frances Simmons, is the provision of a general service to collectors of numismatic coins and related material.
Semi-reitred we now trade from Leytonstone, in east London, having given up our retail premises. As a result, we’re a virtual gallery with real people, real stock and a real passion for what we do.
Simmons Gallery actively promotes the smallest sculptural art objects, namely coins, tokens, medals and weights.
- We buy and sell world coins and have specialist numismatic knowledge for South East Asia, China, Japan, the Indian sub-continent and Latin America.
- Tokens, coin weights, scales and other coin-related items are specialities.
- Historical medals and prizes form an important part of the business, particularly those of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Art Nouveau and Art Deco period.
- Modern and contemporary art medals feature strongly. We aim to blur the traditional boundaries between numismatics, sculpture and fine art, and to promote the contemporary studio cast medal as a truly vibrant form. We also advise in the commissioning of new medals and trophies, liaising between artist and client.
History:
Howard has been collecting coins since he was a toddler, when a family friend gave him some old silver threepences and sixpences. As a teenager and student he used to rummage in antique shops and in coin dealers’ junk boxes. He became interested in non-standard items such as tokens and weights, and coin series like those of Thailand, China, India and Japan. At that time these were not well-collected, as more monied collectors specialised in British milled coinage. Despite two degrees in geology and mineral chemistry, Howard gave up his postgraduate work and decided to make coin-dealing his profession. Meanwhile he married Frances who took up medal collecting in self defence and they eventually set up Simmons & Simmons Numismatists Ltd in 1982, now Simmons Gallery Ltd.
After nearly 40 years of dealing professionally, a passionate curiosity in numismatics remains as strong as ever. However we are now semi-retired so taking things much easier than in the past. Visiting not exhibiting at fairs. No more auctions. The website is our shop window with lots of interesting coins, medals, tokens and numismatic stuff, at fixed prices.
