An Ipswich man who owned a scrap-metal business collected a rather different form of metal in his spare time.
When James Grinter, managing director of Reeman Dansie Auctioneers in Colchester, Essex, went on a routine house call he discovered one of the finest collections of swords, medals and militaria he had ever seen.
It had been amassed by Philip Southgate, a scrap-metal merchant who died earlier this year, and included two Lloyds Patriotic Fund swords of £100 and £50 values which will now be offered in the May 18 sale.