Rare pieces of Bay of Plenty history including a Mount Maunganui man’s fire brigade medals and a postal note issued in Whakatāne in 1893 are among rare items of New Zealand history going up for auction.

Mowbray Collectables in Ōtaki is holding its coin, banknote, medal and stamp auction on March 14-15.

Director David Galt said the auction would feature a New Zealand postal note issued in Whakatāne in 1893. Its original value was one shilling and sixpence (15 cents), but it now has an estimated value of $500.

New Zealand issued postal notes were introduced in 1886 and allowed a cheap way to transfer smaller amounts of money between people. The design was modelled after British postal orders and issued at local post offices.

The auction would also feature a collection of United Fire Brigade medals awarded to George Henry Barney, who expanded his father’s grocery store into Barney’s Supermarket in Mount Maunganui.

“These medals are estimated at $350,” Galt said.

Barney was a founding member of the local Mount Volunteer Fire Brigade and the Mount Golf club. One medal was dated 1977.

United Fire Brigades Association medals awarded to Mount Maunganui resident George Henry Barney. Photo / supplied

The highest estimate was for a unique sheet of “Teddy Bear” health stamps issued in error in 1996, estimated at $50,000.

“The stamps show the child seated facing forward. After they were produced, there was a rapid withdrawal,” Galt said.

The auctions for coins, banknotes, medals and stamps drew strong international interest from America to Thailand, he said.

A unique sheet of “Teddy Bear” health stamps issued in error in 1996, estimated at $50,000. Photo / supplied

A rare set of Irish 1928-1931 coins from shipwrecks was estimated at $12,000.

These revolutionary designs paved the way for New Zealand’s own first coins in the 1930s, including the Waitangi Crown (50 cents), marking the signing of Te Tiriti by the same designer, Galt said.

“A Waitangi Crown is estimated at $4500.”

The auction would occur physically and online, so international bidders could participate, Galt said.

Some items like stamps would have an international appeal and postal notes and medals would stay closer to home, he said.

Coins from shipwrecks and a very rare set of Irish 1928-31 coins estimated at $12,000. Photo / supplied

Once the bidding process was complete, the auction house would arrange shipping and could deliver items to nearly any country worldwide.

Some rare items have passed through Mowbray Collectables, including a Canadian $1 coin, with Queen Elizabeth on one side and a canoe on the other that sold for $60,000.

“There was a lot of bidding from Canada for it that went for about five times our estimate,” Galt said.

The auction would have a value of $1.5 million according to the Mowbray standards catalogue, he said.

For more information on the auction, visit www.mowbrays.co.nz/mowbray-international/.