Spink sells his publishing house
For more than a century, Spink was considered the world’s leading publisher of numismatic literature. Working closely with scholars at the British Museum, the Royal Numismatic Society and the British Numismatic Society, Spink published milestones in numismatic literature. Probably the best known is the RIC, the most important catalogue on Roman numismatics. RIC stands for R(oman) I(mperial) C(oinage). Spink has been publishing it since 1923.
In addition, Spink holds the record for the longest continuously published numismatic monthly magazine with the Numismatic Circular. It was founded in 1892 by Leonard Forrer from Winterthur. With the Numismatic Circular, Forrer anticipated the concept of the customer magazine. The Numismatic Circular combined Spink’s regular range of coins, medals and banknotes at fixed prices with specialist numismatic articles. The Numismatic Circular was discontinued in 2014.
In August 2025, Spink sold its entire book division to the Pen & Sword Group. This includes not only numismatics, but also publications on stamps, banknotes, medals and militaria. We can only speculate about the reasons for this. Perhaps Spink wants to concentrate on its core business. It is also possible that Spink was affected by the decline in book sales and the unwillingness of readers to pay an adequate price for elaborately produced books. In any case, Spink seems to be slowly downsizing. In this context, it is worth noting that one floor of the traditional building has been permanently leased to the Numismatic Guaranty Company since 2018.
With Pen & Sword, a buyer has been found for the book division that is making a name for itself with its active publishing policy. According to its own statements, around 350 books are published by this publisher each year. Pen & Sword is actually considered a specialist in military history, but in recent years it has also expanded its publishing activities to other subject areas. These include the history of transport, local history, family history and women’s history in Great Britain.
The company is breaking new ground in this area, focusing on a mix of print, eBooks, audiobooks, DVDs and magazines. The series are particularly noteworthy. British readers can purchase special publications that tell them, for example, how the First or Second World War or the fight for women’s suffrage affected their hometown.
Pen & Sword continues to operate its new numismatic division under the Spink Books label. The provisional-looking website operates under the name Spink and links to the Spink auction house, while all orders are processed by Pen & Sword.
The future will show to what extent Spink Books will continue to be a relevant numismatic publisher.
Click here to visit the new Spink Books website.
With this announcement, Spink informs its readers about the sale.
Click here to visit Pen & Sword, the new owners of Spink Books.
Pen & Sword is actively seeking authors. You can present your book projects on the company’s website.
Text and images: Ursula Kampmann
