Ancient Gold (and occasional silver!) Coins
-------->Remember, postage is included<--------
Scottish & English Hammered and Milled Gold Coins:
Please note that Lay-Away is no
longer available on any gold coinage unless by
prior arrangement.
Celtic Gold
WAu-9096:
Celtic Britain
Gold Stater - Iceni Tribe, Freckengham Type. Eastern England (Norfolk), home of Boudicca. Circa 45-40 BC. Obverse: two opposed crescents with a triad
of pellets above and below, together with a row of pellets emanating from each
concave side of the crescents, but no apparent stars in the field. Sideways V shapes either side of the
crescents, running in the same direction of the crescents as
opposed to ABC 1447 (those sideways V shapes either side of the crescents run
in the opposite direction).
There is an obverse exergue (below the ground line) but unlike the other
two similar varieties listed in ABC (there are many Freckenham types but only
three recorded similar to this coin) that contain either a star of a triad of
pellets, this is empty. Reverse:
galloping horse, right, star below, solar ring above, pellet in circle above
and to the right of the horse's tail which is the exact opposite of where it
should be on ABC 1774. A more abstract
horse than usual with large pellets for the chest and rear, smaller pellets for
feet, all joined simply by lines. S.R.
426 var, ABC 1774 var, Van Arsdell 620-7 var (this variety doesn't appear in
that group either). An unusual variation
of the Freckenham type, possibly unrecorded.
That notwithstanding, this is a very nice grade coin indeed, with
excellent eye-appeal. Iceni coins,
especially gold staters, are always desirable due to the Boudicca
connection. £1,745 RESERVED J.K.
WAu-7994: Celtic Gold Spiral Type
Full Stater. Trinovantes &
Catuvellauni - Addedomaros, circa 50 BC to 1 AD. Originally located north of the Thames
area, central to the east coast. A
spiral wreath of x6 arms extending outwards from three back-to-back crescents
at the centre. The reverse horse is
facing right with a ring pellet either side and a cornucopia below. S.R. 210,
ABC 2517 - Ancient British Coins by Chris Rudd, the go-to reference for Celtic
coins since 2010, taking over from Van Arsdell.
Not a rare coin but rare in this grade - it's generally not a well
defined issue but this coin is a strong example with little wear. Toned and lustrous. Excellent provenance. £975 RESERVED J.K.
Found Wing,
Buckinghamshire
Ex T. Matthews (1999)
Ex Haddenham collection
Ex Spink
WAu-9017: Celtic Iron Age Full Gold
Stater - Verica. Sole ruler of the
Southern region, 10-40 AD, and closely
allied with Rome, so much so that in AD 42, Verica fled to Rome in order to
seek assistance from Claudius, which would appear somewhat ambitious, knowing
what we now know about Claudius, although with the Claudian invasion of Britain
in AD 43, perhaps not - even Claudius would have recognised the strategic
importance of embedded, compliant "friends" in a land to be
conquered. Obverse: "COMF" on tablet - a tribute to Commios,
Verica being the so-called third son of Commios (the others being
Eppillus & Tincommius); rev:
Horseman, right, holding spear, REX below, VIR behind the galloping
horseman. Rex is Latin for king (another
nod to Rome) but Verica literally
meant "the high one", as in Your Highness. In fairness, Verica was very successful, much
more than his brothers, at least up until AD 40!! S.R. 120, ABC 1190, Van Arsdell
500-1, BMC 1146-58. See here for weight and
tickets. An interesting question -
is the horseman actually a horsewoman? A
very nice, popular Celtic full gold stater.
£2,325
WAu-9193: Celtic Gold Quarter Stater
- only Two Men in a Boat. Catuvellauni,
Westerham type, circa 80-60 BC. Obverse:
only two men in this boat as opposed to the usual three. Reverse: a tree-like structure. S.R. ---, ABC ---, British Aa2, class 2
"Carn Brea" (reference Divided Kingdoms, pp 148-9, Greenlight
Publishing). The Durotriges of West
Hampshire derived the design of their quarter staters (usually found in silver)
from this earlier Westerham type. Extremely
rare. £645
Celtic Silver
WAu-9176: Rare and Choice Celtic
Corieltauvi Silver PROTO-BOAR Unit. Uninscribed silver issue of 55-45 BC. Termed Proto-Boar (also known as Hosidius
type as the boar is supposedly inspired by the Republican denaris of C.Hosidius
c.f. Geta, 68 BC). The obverse shows a
standing boar, right, with an incredibly curly tail, a spear protruding from
shoulder and a solar rosette above.
Usually seen with an S below the boar but this rarer example omits that. The reverse depicts a horse standing left, a
large pelleted sun above and two, not the usual one, pellet-in-rings
below. The protruding spear type is much
the rarer and keenly sought after by collectors. S.R.396 (an entry encompassing many different
types), A.B.C. 1779 (ticket in error gives 1782), B.M.C. 3208. I've been fortunate enough to have seen a few
of these over the years and have owned one for a while until it entered into
the renowned Ian Millington collection.
Without exception, this is the best example by a country mile. All the others had either the horse, or
usually the boar, off-struck and so only half there. To get an example such as thus, where you
have a full horse and a full boar, is unprecedented, at least in my experience. Further, most are what are termed "no
spear types". Rare and choice. £735
Provenance:
Found
Ewerby late 1990's
Roman Gold
WAu-9019: Roman Gold Aureus - Hadrian
with Sought After She-Wolf, Romulus & Remus Reverse. Struck Rome, AD 124-5. Obverse:
Laureate head right, slight drapery to far shoulder, HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS. Reverse: Capitoline wolf, left, suckling the
twins Romulus & Remus, COS
above, III below in exergue. An
extremely popular, sought-after and quite difficult reverse type to source and
Hadrian is one of the most popular emperors to collect anyway, regardless of
reverses. They come with the wolf left
and wolf right facing. See here for the weight
and here for a
coin-in-the-hand image using a camera phone.
RIC II. 3 709, BMCRE 449, Biaggi 598.
The last one to go through Auction was earlier this year, Spink, with an
£8,500 price after buyer's commission - I was the underbidder, or one bid under
that. There or thereabouts, though. A rare coin and a rare opportunity. £7,450 RESERVED (M.St.29-10-26 Lay-Away)
Saxon Gold
WAu-8089: Early Anglo-Saxon English
Crondall Gold Thrysma or Shilling.
Witman type with obverse bust right, a trident in front. Circa 620-45.
The reverse has a blundered legend surrounding a crude cross with what
is a very different 4th terminal to what we'd normally expect to see on this
type. Sutherland type IV.1, S.R. 753.
Of excellent gold content - it was from this point onwards that the
metal used for Saxon coinage was increasingly and progressively "watered
down" with silver (the post Crondall and European types have that insipid
gold colour about them) until by circa AD 660's, they were all entirely silver
in metal content. Recorded on the E.M.C.
database (2022-0426). The Crondall (Hampshire)
Hoard of 1828 was the single largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold coins found
prior to the 21st century. It comprised
97 gold coins, together with three unstruck gold planchets and one gold-plated
object that could have been a coin forgery. Of the 97 coins, 73 were Anglo-Saxon Thrymsa
and 24 were Merovingian or Frankish tremissis. The consensus amongst historians is that hoard
dates from between AD 635 and about AD 650.
The coins are now in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. Of the 73 Thrysmas, x4 in the hoard had the
same obverse die as the coin listed here.
All Crondall "Native Anglo-Saxon" type Thrysmas are rare -
even the late "two emperors" type, which is invariably the one to
turn up. Very few gold Saxon coins were
minted and hardly any survived - it would only be through hoards or casual
field losses. This is an extremely
important and significant Anglo-Saxon gold coin. £5,695
Medieval Hammered Gold
WAu-7812: Edward III Medieval
Hammered Gold Full Noble. Fourth
coinage, post-treaty period of 1369-77, group III. S.R. 1521, North 1281, Schneider 115. Calais mint. The town of Calais in what is now Northern France was under English rule
from 1347 until 7 January 1558, being a bit of a
vanity statement for the English monarchs in their claim on the French crown.
It cost almost 1/5th of all the revenue collected in England to maintain Calais as an English
possession. The mint was opened in 1363 as a
direct result of the treaty between France and England and meant the mintage of coinage for
England could be outsourced to Calais to aid in the newly formed
cross-channel trading routes. The
relationship between the two countries has perhaps always been a tad strained -
the mint closed in 1440 after really only producing
limited coinage under Edward III, a tiny amount of gold under Richard II and
Henry IV, a miniscule quantity of farthings under Henry V and some of the
earlier coinage of Henry VI. Rusty
obverse dies – perhaps a result of French sea air?! Ex Malthouse collection; also accompanied by
a much earlier, unidentified ticket.
£5,450
WAu-9021: Edward III Medieval
Hammered Gold Full Noble. Fourth
coinage, pre-treaty period, 1351-61.
Series E with impaired letters on the dies so c.1354-55. Initial mark Cross 2, E at centre of reverse,
S.R. 1488, Schneider 23 (the obverse),
North 1160. Note the red deposits at 1 o'clock on the reverse.
This is usually the remains of inert red wax where the coin has been
prepared to be copied into a very early iteration of the BMC. With much patience, this coin should be able
to be located with perhaps a more in-depth provenance. See here for old tickets
and here for
weight. About VF thus scarce. £4,995
Provenance
Ex Spink (2010), sold to
Ex Estafefette collection
WAu-9020: Henry IV Hammered Gold
Medieval Half Noble. Light Coinage
of 1412-13 only. This is a single issue,
S.R. 1716. A contemporary imitation. Ex Patrick Finn (1999) where he describes
this as, “Very fine, unrecorded and very interesting since there are very few
known half nobles of Henry IV.” See here for the original
Patrick Finn write-up with his corresponding photograph here. The weight is here. The official Henry IV half nobles are as rare
as hens' teeth (we're talking the fingers on one hand) but this contemporary
imitation is thought to be unique.
Nothing can be rarer than this!
£2,895
Provenance
Ex Patrick Finn FPL 17, 1999
– Number 6 – £650 “Very fine, unrecorded and very interesting since there are
very few known half nobles of Henry IV.”
WAu-9022: Henry V Medieval
Hammered Gold Full Noble. Series C
with a broken annulet on the side of the ship.
1413-22. Initial mark Cross
Pattée (4), S.R. 1742. Easter 1412, the very tail end of Henry IV,
hailed a numismatic New Dawn – due to fiscally challenging times, gold and
silver coinage was officially issued at a reduced weight. We’re all so jaded with officialdom today
that many might think this was no big deal but although there had previously
been “tinkering” of weights (Edward III nobles down from 138 grains to 120
grains), this was the first official “Light Coinage” episode where the coin in
your hand was not quite worth the amount it represented. A few Henrys on and just over 100 years in
the future, Henry VIII took this concept to a whole new level. Some might even argue that reducing silver
content by half and then ultimately taking silver out of coinage altogether in
the early and mid 20th century was worse still.
However, in 1412 in was the first time and it was momentous. This decision made, it would be an obvious
move, you’d imagine, to increase the output of gold from the mint, thereby
benefiting the exchequer. However, there
is no numismatic evidence suggesting that this actually happened; the main
reason being that bullion was still very thin on the ground. Another reason was the almost complete lack
of skilled staff at every level in the mint due to extreme inactivity during
the preceding years. In September 1412,
the warden at the mint was ordered to recruit moneyers and die-sinkers. This clearly impacted Henry IV coinage but it
also affected early Henry V coinage, especially gold, for the above reasons of
lack of sufficient bullion and a new workforce at the mint who would have
needed a lot of time to get up to speed.
See here
for weight. This gold noble is a superb
example of this rarer monarch, being at least as good as both nobles S.R. put up as plate coins, with all the vast
resources at their fingertips. £6,450
WAu-9098:
Henry VI
Medieval Hammered Gold Noble in High Grade.
Henry VI, first reign, annulet issue, 1422-30. London mint. Obverse: annulet by sword arm, trefoil stops,
lis after hENRIC. Reverse: annulet stops,
mullet after IhC, single annulet in one spandrel with lis in the remaining
seven. S.R. 1799, North 1414, Whitton
Heavy 4b, Schneider 1-275. Henry VI was born
December 6, 1421 in Windsor, Berkshire and died May 21 or 22, 1471 in London.
He reigned from 1422 to 1461 and then from 1470 to 1471. He was a pious
and studious recluse whose incapacity for government was one of the causes of
the Wars of the Roses. Old
tickets here. A most impressive
coin. £6,975
Provenance
ex Royal
Mint
ex CNG
ex Spink
WAu-9440: Henry
VI Medieval Hammered Gold Half Noble.
House of Lancaster. Tower (London) mint, "h"
in reverse centre, annulet by the sword arm together with a further in the
reverse upper spandrel replacing the fleur: Annulet issue of 1422-30. Initial mark Lis. Predominantly trefoil stops on the obverse,
bar the lis following hENRIC; predominantly annulet stops on the reverse, bar
the mullet following DOMINE. S.R.1805,
N.1417, Schneider 291ff. The annulet
issue was the first under Henry VI's reign with most of the output being in the
first two years, 1422-24. Type 1A very
much followed on from the class G Henry V issue, even to the point of repeating
the "lion-lis-lis-lion-lis" arrangement on the side of the ship. This issue probably did not outlast
1422. Following on from that
transitional issue, we have this 1B issue with a
"lis-lion-lis-lion-lis" arrangement on the side of the boat. The reverse spandrel fleurs allow us to
create a timeline. There were three
iterations, denoted by the style of fleurs in the spandrels: a = large fleur
with x2 plain side foils, b = small "equilateral" fleur and c = Large
fleur with curled "moustache" side foils. The spandrel fleurs on this coin are type a,
making this the very first issue - 1Ba.
Interestingly, type a fleurs (large fleur with x2 plain side foils)
appear on all 1A nobles and half nobles but only on the earliest of 1B
coins. The type c fleur replaced both
preceding fleurs in the summer of 1423.
Type 2 fleurs appear to have been a York and Calais only device. Thus we can say with a high degree of
certainty that this coin dates to a few months after Henry VI took the throne
but before the summer of 1423. The
mintage figures for the entirety of the Henry VI annulet issue gold output
tells us that half nobles were issued in far less quantities than nobles. Extant examples today reinforce that, showing clearly that half nobles are much
scarcer than full nobles. It is a common
misconception that because the price guides show nobles to be more valuable
than half nobles, then full nobles must therefore be rarer. That is not the case - based on gold alone,
full nobles are always going to be priced higher but price alone does not
always equate to rarity. See old paperwork here. In summary, a rarer 1Ba early half noble in
better than VF grade, albeit on a slightly wavy flan, on a full flan with all
legends and devices present. £3,875
Provenance:
ex Peter
Bartlett collection
WAu-7555:
Edward IV
Hammered Medieval Gold Ryal or Rose Noble.
Light Coinage of 1464 – 1470 only, London mint, small fleurs in spandrels,
initial mark Crown, S.R. 1951. This
coin, issued in 1465, whilst unambiguously attractive in design, was a bit of a
disaster. It superseded the old Noble
because this was now considered a clunky and old fashioned denomination at 6s.
8d. The new Ryal or Rose Noble
denomination was nice and user-friendly at 10 shillings. However, it wasn’t. The noble had been around for so long that
6s. 8d. had actually become the professionals’ standard fee. Whilst these professionals wouldn’t have
minded being the beneficiary of a not inconsequential pay rise virtually
overnight, the people who employed these individuals were most certainly not up
for that. Thus the new 10 shilling Ryal
or Rose Noble denomination was itself superseded just 5 years later by the gold
Angel and everyone was happy because the Angel circulated at, wait for it,
exactly the same as the old Noble - 6s. 8d, or at least it did until Henry VIII
got involved when, somewhat counter-intuitively, it increased to 7s. 6d in his
Second Coinage! At virtually full weight
and VF grade, this is a lovely example of an iconic English late Medieval
hammered gold coin. £6,850
Scottish Hammered Gold
WAu-9100:
Robert III
Hammered Gold Scottish Demi-Lion.
Heavy coinage, 1390-1403. Second
issue, circulated at 2s, 6d. Obverse:
crowned shield not in tressure, reverse: long saltire cross with lis and closed
trefoils in angles. S.R. 5158. The accompanying ticket is
misattributed: The light coinage was 20
grains / 1.30 grams. This coin is 24
grains / 1.56 grams. It cannot be the
light issue. Saying that, the obverse
legend: +ROBERTVS:DEI G REX SCOT (a particularly rare obverse die, more so with
the reversed C in SCOT), is a late heavy issue type but the reverse legend, XPC
REGNAT TX PE:VIN is very much an early light coinage type. As such, this coin can't physically be a
heavy-light coinage mule (could be a light-heavy coinage mule but the weight
discounts that) so it's likely to be an extremely late transitional heavy
coinage issue, utilizing the new dies destined for the light coinage, which
were literally just around the corner. Hitherto
unrecorded to my knowledge.
Coincraft state, "Several of the issues are extremely rare or
even unique but two, whilst rare, are obtainable". This coin falls into the extremely rare or even unique
category. Effectively the first Scottish
gold coinage (the trial David II noble was on a par with the English Edward 1st
groat in terms of its popularity and longevity), based on the English half and
quarter nobles. This is only the second
example of this denomination I've had from this monarch and it, along with
virtually every illustration you'll find, was not as good as this coin. Generally, the obverse dies seem to be
particular prone to poor striking. This
coin not so - in fact the moneyer was particularly enthusiastic with this coin
as the reverse cross is visible on the obverse, such was his vigour with the
hammer! Scottish gold rarely hits the
open market. Sovereign Rarities sold
their S.R. 5157 Demi-Lion last year for £9,750.
If you look it up, theirs was apparently the joint second best recorded
example. We also note that the March
2026 Davisson example - S.R.5161 - hammered at $9,500 plus associated
add-ons. The coin for sale here is as
good as that one and don't forget, prices have moved on up since then. A very rare offering in today's market - in
any market! £7,650
WAu-9195: Scottish Medieval James
1st Hammered Gold Demy of 9 Shillings.
Initial mark
Crown on the obverse, Cross Potent on the reverse. Struck Edinburgh.
Class II with large reverse open centre quatrefoils - S.R.5190. Lion rampant in a lozenge / saltire cross
within tressure. The term Demy
(sometimes Demi) derives from the French for half because this coin was very
much based on the English half noble.
That is perhaps surprising considering that when James' father died and
he was supposed to ascend the throne, James was literally being held prisoner
by the English, so much so that a Regency had to be formed under Robert, Duke
of Albany (1406-1420) and then upon the Duke's death, his son, Murdock. It would be 1424, nearly 20 years of
captivity under the English, that he eventually took up his role as rightful
monarch, but only then after a £40,000 (well over a million pound today) ransom
was paid. At virtually full weight, VF grade
and being problem-free, this medieval Scottish gold coin is extremely desirable
in today's frenetic market where individually, rarity and grade are king, but
rarity and grade together...?! The new
Scottish & Irish Sovereign Rarity (ex Spink) price guide is currently being
put together where coins in this league will surely leap forward in catalogue
pricing because for at least a couple of decades they have been held back to
well under actual market values. A
exceptional coin struck using gold mined and processed in Scotland! £6,975
WAu-9374: 1602 James VI Hammered
Gold Full Sword & Sceptre Piece of 120 Shillings. Eighth gold coinage (1601-4), struck in 22ct
gold whilst James was still only James VI of Scotland. Edinburgh mint. Obv:
+IACOBVS 6 D.G.R. SCOTORVM. S.R.
5460. It is generally accepted that
Scottish coinage is much more attractive than its English counterpart,
especially from the James V until 1603 period when James ascended the English
throne and, by necessity, the two country's followed a more unified path in
terms of coinage. This Sword &
Sceptre piece is absolutely no exception to that aesthetic appraisal. As such, these coins often turn up impaired;
being found mounted or pierced in order to display on the body in the form of
jewellery. Gold coins are also
frequently found with bite marks and creases, often straightened but always
leaving a crease mark. This coin is a
superb example with none of that, although it has been cleaned at some point in
its 420 year life. Scottish coins of
quality are increasing in value seemingly overnight; gold coinage much more so,
which is the main reason I can no longer offer Lay-Away on any gold coins. The paperwork seen in the image is no longer
with this coin. Here you have both an
investment opportunity together with a seriously attractive coin to potentially
go into your collection. £2,995
Provenance:
ex HistoryInCoins, sold to...
ex John Williams collection
WAu-9295: 1602 James VI Scottish
Hammered Gold Half Sword and Sceptre.
Eighth coinage, pre accession - circulated at 60 shillings. Initial mark Quatrefoil. Edinburgh mint. Obverse:
crowned arms; reverse: crossed sword and sceptre, crown above with thistles at
the sides. SCBI 35, 1198-9, same reverse
die, S.R.5462. The half sword &
sceptres are more difficult to source, thus rarer, than the full sword &
sceptres. Good provenance with a great
amount of tickets. Slightly wavy
flan (could easily be sorted), toned and about VF grade. £2,350
Provenance:
ex
Sovereign Rarities, ticket market at £1,300, sold to...
ex William
N. Clarke collection, many tickets
Tudor Hammered Gold
WAu-9441: Henry
VIII Tudor Hammered Gold Crown of the Double Rose. Third coinage of 1544-47 only, initial mark E
over S, Southwark
mint. hENRIC 8 ROSA SINE SPINA obverse -
distinctive in that the word RUTILANS (translates to glowing red) is removed
from the legend of this particular issue.
S.R.2308, N.1835. This Crown of
the Double Rose denomination was simply a crown, of expected value 5s. Nothing unusual there, you might think. The interesting thing lies in what it
replaced - a new denomination issued in 1526 called the Crown of the Rose, but
valued at a less than convenient sum of 4s.6d.
In fairness, this was due to a hike in the gold price, leading to gold draining
away to Europe, very similar to what happened to coinage under Henry VI
some years prior. Regardless of the
reason, the Crown of the Rose was a remarkable failure. It was withdrawn within a few months and replaced
with the Crown of the Double Rose.
Lessons were learnt as this time the coin was valued at the usual
5s. However, as the mint would show to
much greater effect in just a couple of decades, it was master of deception -
the public and traders alike thought they were getting a 5s coin, and indeed
they were, but what they didn't know was that for the very first time, the gold
content was reduced to 22ct - previously it had always been 23ct. Thus the public were happy, the books
balanced at the mint, a 22ct gold standard precedent was set for centuries to
come ... and the seed was set for what was to come in 1544 in terms of the
famous Henry VIII coin debasement!
Southwark mint, along with a second mint at the Tower and then further
mints at Dublin, Durham House (in the Strand), Bristol, York and Canterbury
were opened purely to get the debased coinage out into circulation. Gold was less debased than silver but it
still suffered, going as low as 20ct in 1546.
There was a further benefit to these mints being opened - it allowed the
government the opportunity to finally NOT renew the Episcopal mints; mints
which had been openly defrauding the country for years. It was deemed right and proper that only the
state could do that! £3,950
WAu-7311:
Henry VIII
Hammered Gold Crown of the Double Rose.
Third coinage, initial mark none / WS monogram, 1544-47, Bristol mint. S.R. 2310.
Ex Spink (various
tickets here). Slightly wavy flan
with minor edge splits. A very popular
coin and invariably a minimum of £5K in today’s market. This one priced very competitively at £4,295
WAu-9099:
Henry VIII with
WIFE Hammered Gold Crown of the Double Rose. Second coinage, 1526-44, circulated at five
shillings, 22 ct gold. London (Tower) mint. hK both sides, initial mark Lis, S.R.
2274. Struck to commemorate the king's
marriage to Katherine of Aragon. This
was the king's first wife. Katherine was
originally betrothed to Henry's elder brother, Arthur, when she was 3 years
old. They married when she was 16, but
was widowed just a few months later. It
took Henry another 7 years to marry Katherine although to be fair, he was only
18 when he married Katherine! The Irish
Harp coinage of Henry VIII celebrates some wives but not Katherine of
Aragon - she can only be found on this English gold coinage. Quick quiz: which wives, if any, are not
represented on either the English or Irish coins? Old tickets here. A pleasing solid VF grade. £4,850
Provenance
ex Royal
Mint
ex Spink
WAu-9160: Elizabeth 1st Hammered
Gold Half Angel. Initial mark Latin
Cross: 1580-81. Tower (London) mint, fifth issue, no E and Rose above the cross,
S.R.2527. A rarer denomination than the
full Angel which circulated at five shillings.
It is interesting to note that unlike earlier hammered gold coinage, as
well as later Commonwealth gold, the half angels saw considerable circulation
alongside the silver five shillings / crowns.
The economy, buoyant under Elizabeth 1st, was destined to enter a
downward turn towards the end of the reign, thus gold coinage would be far less
a part of the general economy. Good provenance - old
tickets here. Rarely offered for
sale these days. £4,895
Provenance:
ex Seaby
(old tickets), 1953? £750
ex Tim
Owen (ticket), sold 2012 for £2,500
ex
HistoryInCoins....sold 2015 for £2,995
ex
Scottish collection
WAu-9161: Edward VI - Spectacular
Portrait - Hammered Gold Half Sovereign.
Initial mark Martlet: 1550. Tower
II (London) mint, second period, January 1549 to April 1550 so
this coin very much the latter part of the second period. Crowned bust - the earlier issue had Edward
without a crown. S.R.2438. Sold 13 years ago for £5,626 - see ticket here. An impressive coin with much eye-appeal. Very rare.
£7,895 RESERVED
(S.H.25-5-26)
Provenance:
ex St
James Auction, £2012, £5,625
ex
HistoryInCoins, 2015, £6,500
ex
Scottish collection
Milled Gold
WAu-7816:
1673 Charles II
Restoration Period Milled Full Gold Guinea.
Fourth laureate bust with the rounded truncation. John & Joseph Roettier dies with
Blondeau’s machinery – the milling on the edge of the coin was a safeguard
against clipping which had been not just a thorn in the side of every hammered
period, but rather a stake. The practise
of clipping officially ended here after several hundred years. The Guinea was so named because some of the
gold bullion used came from the country of Guinea, via the Africa Company. It was a 20 shilling denomination, directly
replacing the short-lived 1662 gold Broad of 20 shillings. The racehorse aficionados among you are
probably crying out “21 shillings, 21 shillings!” but revaluation of a guinea
to that amount took place in 1717 under George 1st. Incidentally, there were times prior to 1717
where the actual value of a guinea (and remember, the value of any coin,
guineas very much included, was entirely based on the precious metal content)
was even higher than 21 shillings due to market fluctuations in the value, or
spot price of gold. S.R. 3344. No mount marks. £2,775
WAu-9442: James II Stuart 1685-88
Gold Touchpiece – Guaranteed to have been Touched by the King. This
was the official gold coin that the king (James II) personally gave to invited
sufferers of Scrofula (TB) at special "Touching
Ceremonies". The monarch of the day was deemed to be an
extension of God on earth and thus being touched by the monarch was effectively
being touched by God. An amulet held
permanently next to the skin, touched by God through the king could, it was believed,
definitely cure scrofula. Another
equally unlikely "remedy" for scrofula from the past was the act of
passing naked children through a hole in a tree, or a hole in a stone, three
times. Worthy recipients (quite poorly
looking people - a reason none of the monarchs were that keen on doing any real
touching!) were invited to the Touching Ceremony and were given a copper and /
or brass "ticket" to allow entry.
In 1635-6 alone, the mint supplied 5,500 such tickets for admission to
the Touching Ceremony at a cost of 2d each to the treasury. James II first touched for the Evil, as it
was then called, on March 4th 1685, just four weeks after the death of Charles II. Like those before and those after him, it was
something expected of him as monarch, and definitely not something he himself
relished. James II had a very short
reign and that, coupled with the fact that James is recorded as using up all
the old Charles II gold coins for his Touching Ceremony before getting his own
commissioned (some 1,905 in total), illustrates just how rare they are under
James. The elephant in the room here is
the nature of the sufferers, ie a high proportion of the poor. Assuming they even had employment, and that's
highly debatable if they were poorly enough with scrofula to be invited to the
ceremony, the weekly wage for labourers was around 4d in 1685. To be suddenly gifted a gold coin worth a
quarter of a guinea, or x60 pennies, would surely have been too much of a
temptation, and even if the sufferer didn't cash the gold in during their
lifetime, upon their death the amulet would have been melted down so fast that
it would have had friction burns on it!
Now we begin to see just how rare these relics are today. The ceremonies were performed weekly
throughout the year, except on hot days. The gold touchpiece was
designed by the famous John Roettier. In terms of price in the open
market today, this SILVER touchpiece gives you an idea - sold through a major
auction house in 2019: silver gilt on base metal
touch piece. Recommended reading: THE SOVEREIGN REMEDY by Noel
Woolf. This gold piece is literally
history in a coin (sounds vaguely familiar!)
Find something / anything else for sale that's gold and is guaranteed to
have been touched personally, albeit probably reluctantly, by the very
short-reigned James II. £1,475
WAu-7817:
1701 William III
Milled Full Gold Guinea. Second
laureate bust with a proliferation of hair.
The milling on the edge of the coin was a safeguard against clipping
which had been not just a thorn in the side of every hammered period, but
rather a stake. The practise of clipping
officially ended with the introduction of milled coinage in 1662. The Guinea was so named because some of the
gold bullion used came from the country of Guinea, via the Africa Company. It was a 20 shilling denomination, directly
replacing the short-lived 1662 gold Broad of 20 shillings of the earlier
Charles II. The racehorse aficionados
among you are probably crying out “21 shillings, 21 shillings!” but revaluation
of a guinea to that amount took place in 1717 under George 1st. Incidentally, there were times prior to 1717
where the actual value of a guinea (and remember, the value of any coin,
guineas very much included, was entirely based on the precious metal content)
was even higher than 21 shillings due to market fluctuations in the value, or
spot price of gold. S.R. 3463. Ex Morton & Eden (their ticket sold with
this coin) for £2,000 hammer (£2,600 after commissions) in 2022, ex Spink. No mount marks and really, a very nice grade
example for a William III guinea. £2,975
WAu-7818:
1714 Queen Anne
Milled Full Gold Guinea. Post
Scottish union, third draped bust. The
milling on the edge of the coin was a safeguard against clipping which had been
not just a thorn in the side of every hammered period, but rather a stake. The practise of clipping officially ended
with the introduction of milled coinage in 1662. The Guinea was so named because some of the
gold bullion used came from the country of Guinea, via the Africa Company. It was a 20 shilling denomination, directly
replacing the short-lived 1662 gold Broad of 20 shillings of the earlier
Charles II. The racehorse aficionados
among you are probably crying out “21 shillings, 21 shillings!” but revaluation
of a guinea to that amount took place in 1717 under George 1st. Incidentally, there were times prior to 1717
where the actual value of a guinea (and remember, the value of any coin,
guineas very much included, was entirely based on the precious metal content)
was even higher than 21 shillings due to market fluctuations in the value, or
spot price of gold. It won’t have
escaped your notice that with Queen Anne gold coinage in particular, when they
do come up, they are almost always HALF guineas. It really is hard work finding full
guineas. S.R. 3574. Ex Spink with associated
Spink tickets. Interestingly, Spink
now appear to use the Ellerby
Hoard as a classification guide – their classification is “Ellerby
181-190”, meaning lots 181 through to 190 in the Ellerby Hoard sale that they
conducted were all 1714 Queen Anne Guineas.
For context, the Ellerby Hoard is a hoard of 266 17th-18th century hammered
and milled gold coins found in a manganese-mottled salt-glazed stoneware vessel
in the garden of a house in Ellerby, East Riding of Yorkshire in 2019. Hoard estimate £200,000; hammer
£750,000. As this guinea is ex Spink
(but not ex Ellerby), I think it only fair to compare. The Ellerby coin that I’ve attached here,
lot 187, is clearly not quite as good grade as the one on offer on this
website. Never-the-less, both attracted
a Spink grade of “pleasing VF” (NGC got a little carried away and graded it
About Uncirculated!) The Ellerby coin
sold for £4,000 after commissions, and that was several years ago with the
market ever moving upwards. Obviously
there’s a small premium for provenance to consider as it was very good
provenance. This coin: no mount marks,
some lustre, well struck up. £3,275
