Ancient Gold 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.
WAu-7993: Extremely Rare Celtic
Gold Full Stater. Gallic War
issue - Ambiani - imported from Gaul or
specifically, the modern day Rouen area of France, circa 60-50 BC. A seemingly common enough Ambiani stater from
the Gallic War period with the disjoined or sinuous horse, right, and a blank
obverse. However, the double
"S" below the horse and either side of the pellet render this coin
excessively rare. Ancient British Coins
(ABC) by Chris Rudd, the go-to reference for Celtic coins since 2010, taking
over from Van Arsdell, has no recorded examples. Ambiani is ABC 16, with nothing either side
of the pellet. He lists an Atrebates
stater (ABC 19) as having a single S below the horse but the coin for sale here
is NOT Atrebates (the Atrebates were separated from the Ambiani by the Canche
river) as they have a letter A on the obverse.
Spink lump the Gallic War issues together and put forward Spink 13 - a
stater with a single S on the reverse, but this turns out to be Atrebates and
references back to ABC 19 - but again, even if this was the correct
attribution, and it isn't, it's just a single S whereas this coin has a double
reversed S. Interestingly, the double
reverse "SS" symbols appear on slightly later staters and quarter
staters from the North Thames region, ABC 2237 and 2243-49 (these are the only
marks on an otherwise plain reverse, unlike the symbols on this coin) and are
thought to represent lightning flashes rather than letters. So, a very common tribe (although
interestingly, Ambiani staters now seem to be more expensive than Coritani
staters, which certainly wasn't the case a decade ago) but an excessively rare
variant that is to my knowledge unrecorded and / or unpublished. Quite a find!
5.85g (see image here). From an old Northern collection - the
collector does not want to be named on the internet but is willing for me to
disclose his name and town to the buyer for provenance. £1,895
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. Spink 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-7995: Celtic Gold Full Stater. Gallic War issue - Ambiani - imported from Gaul or
specifically, the modern day Rouen area of France, circa 60-50 BC. A common enough Ambiani stater from the
Gallic War period with the disjoined or sinuous horse, right, and a blank
obverse. Ambiani staters were very
common a decade or so ago on the back of a couple of large hoards that came
up. However, all those coins are now
dispersed into institutions or collections and the price has risen rather
impressively, to the point where they are now more expensive than Coritani
staters. Spink 11, ABC 16 - Ancient
British Coins (ABC) by Chris Rudd, the go-to reference for Celtic coins since
2010, taking over from Van Arsdell. From
an old collection - the collector does not want to be named on the internet but
is willing for me to disclose his name and town to the buyer for
provenance. See here for old
tickets etc. £770
Found Herts, 1990's
Ex Chris Rudd (sold for
£550 back in the day)
Ex Northern collection
WAu-7996: Rare Celtic Gold Broad
Flan Type Quarter Stater. Ambiani
tribe - imported from Gaul or specifically, the modern day Rouen area of France,
circa 3rd century BC to the mid 1st century AD.
These were the first coins to be used in Britain. Gallo-Belgic "Broad Flan" type with
a rather impressive flamboyantly wreathed head facing right on the obverse and
a somewhat stylised horse on the reverse, again facing right. Spink 6, ABC 28 (listed "Rare") -
Ancient British Coins (ABC) by Chris Rudd, the go-to reference for Celtic coins
since 2010, taking over from Van Arsdell.
From an old collection - the collector does not want to be named on the
internet but is willing for me to disclose his name and town to the buyer for
provenance. See here for old
tickets etc. £670
Ex J.Follws collection
Ex Chris Rudd (sold for
£500 back in the day)
Ex Northern collection
WAu-7997: Rare Celtic Tincomarus
Spiral Type Quarter Stater. Regini
& Atrebates (south of the River Thames), Tincommius (now thought to be
Tincomarus based on the 1996 Alton Hoard), circa 25 BC to AD 10. Termed the Tincomarus Spiral, although it's
actually a circular wreath giving the impression of a spiral. Pellet at the centre. The reverse depicts a horse galloping to the
right with a "T" sloping to the left above the horse. The apparent letter "C" below the
horse is a rear horses leg in full gallop.
Spink 73, ABC 1094 (listed "Rare") - Ancient British Coins
(ABC) by Chris Rudd, the go-to reference for Celtic coins since 2010, taking
over from Van Arsdell. From an old
collection - the collector does not want to be named on the internet but is
willing for me to disclose his name and town to the buyer for provenance. See here for old
tickets etc. £680
Ex J.Follws collection
Ex Chris Rudd (sold for
£550 back in the day)
Ex Northern collection
WAu-7999: Extremely Rare Celtic
Unrecorded Quarter Stater. North
Thames Region, Eastern. The x33
uninscribed coins found predominantly in the Eastern part of the North Thames
Region, especially Essex, can not be comfortably attributed to the Trinovantes
nor the Catuvellauni. They are all
extremely rare (Van Arsdell only listed x7).
Current attribution has this coin in the "Cantian-inspired gold and
silver types" category. Obverse
plain field apart from a single "S" shape in the centre (the main
image did not really highlight the "S" so I've added another image here) - reverse
"S" symbols are thought to represent lightning flashes
rather than letters although this "S" is not inverted / the reverse
depicts a tree-like trophy on a triad of ringed pellets with various motifs surrounding. Spink not listed, ABC 2249 (listed
"Extremely Rare") - Ancient British Coins (ABC) by Chris Rudd, the
go-to reference for Celtic coins since 2010, taking over from Van Arsdell. From an old collection - the collector does
not want to be named on the internet but is willing for me to disclose his name
and town to the buyer for provenance. See here for old
tickets etc. £885
Ex Chris Rudd (sold for
£650 back in the day)
Ex Northern collection
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, Spink
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 as rare - even the late "two
emperors" type, which is invariably the one to turn up, is rare as 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
WAu-8056:
**Choice**
Saxon Merovingian Gold Tremissis.
Wico in Pontio (Quentovic), c. 620-640. Tremissis (Gold, 13mm, 1.26g, 0h), Moneyer
Dutta. +VVICCO FIT Laureate bust to right. Rev. DVTTA MONET, Cross on three
steps. Belfort 4959. NM II p. 55, 14. Prou 1125. Rare but rarer still being centrally struck
and such good grade. Clear and well struck, good very fine or better. The Merovingian Dynasty was based in ancient
Gaul (which is now France) and dates from the middle of the 5th century
AD. The coins were very much trading
pieces and many have been found in Britain as Saxon trade between the Continent
and Britain was extremely robust.
Similar examples have been found as far west as Cornwall and as far
north as Northumbria. Ex Ian Millington
(an expert on Anglo Saxon coinage), ex Silbury Coins (their ticket), ex
DNW. You will not find a better example
of this early Saxon gold coin. It really
is a choice coin. £3,250
WAu-7812:
Edward III
Medieval Hammered Gold Full Noble.
Fourth coinage, post-treaty period of 1369-77, group III. Spink 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-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, Spink 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
WAu-7940:
Henry VII
Hammered Tudor Gold Angel. Type IV,
rarer Greyhound Head initial mark (1502-4), Spink 2185. This is the first Greyhound Head angel I have
had. Very much the new dies type - angel
with both feet on the dragon as opposed to the old type with just one
foot. A nice, presentable rarer initial
mark hammered gold angel, ex mount, for well under £2,000 (possibly even
cheaper if you take up the Coin News advert challenge?!) Good look in finding any other Angel, for any
monarch, for sale at under £2K these days.
£1,850 RESERVED (M.He.21-12-23)
WAu-7311:
Henry VIII
Hammered Gold Crown of the Double Rose.
Third coinage, initial mark none / WS monogram, 1544-47, Bristol mint. Spink 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-7813:
James 1st
Stuart Hammered Gold Full Angel.
Second coinage, initial mark Tower: 1612-13. Spink 2616, North 2081, Schneider –. Pierced for use as a touch-piece. This is an historically significant and
important coin: it was literally touched by King James 1st before being presented
to a sufferer of Scrofula (modern name TB).
Just to reiterate, this coin is guaranteed to have been touched by King
James 1st (as well as someone presumed dying with TB!) This happened at an official Touching
Ceremony organised by the palace. The
origins of “Touching” go back to Henry II; the idea being that only God can
cure this incurable disease and as the monarch had direct contact with God, the
monarch touching the sufferer was the same as God touching. The gold coin, touched by the king (and thus
God himself) was to go around the neck of the sufferer and be always in contact
with the skin. Some years before James 1st,
Mary took this very seriously indeed.
She literally pressed the sufferer’s open sores with her own two hands
and later in the ceremony, she touched the same places with the gold coin
whilst making the sign of the cross. She
then personally threaded a ribbon through the coin and placed it around the
neck of the unfortunate individual.
James 1st held his first Touching Ceremony on October
1603. It has to be said that he was
extremely reluctant, partly for religious reasons (he refused point blank to
make the sign of the cross) but mainly because he really couldn’t face being
around “these superstitious, afflicted people”.
However, much as he was reluctant to even be there, he was even more unwilling
to break with Royal tradition so the Touching Ceremonies continued. See here for some
excellent research on a Charles 1st touch-piece – a coin less
frequently encountered, in my opinion, than the James 1st
touch-piece. Incidentally, I remember
than coin selling for not just more than I was willing to pay but significantly
more than I thought even a collector would be willing to pay! This coin ex Peter Mitchell of Baldwin’s (old
ticket in his hand). Richly toned, good
VF and very rare. £3,850 RESERVED (L.P.T.17-7-24)
WAu-8142:
Charles II Gold
Touch-Piece: Guaranteed to have been personally touched by King Charles II. John Roettier dies - type A, obverse 4,
reverse 5. An ancient practice – that of
The Devine (the monarchy was seen very much as a physical, tangible extension
of God) healing sufferers of Scrofula (Tuberculosis) – dating as far back as
Henry II. All subsequent monarchs took
some part in the ceremony (William & Mary refused because William was not
of English royal decent) although Henry VIII was the most reluctant. Interestingly, although somewhat disinclined
due to an unwillingness to mingle with the common man, it was Henry VIII who
initiated the design of St George and the dragon on subsequent Touching
Ceremony gold coins. At the dawn of the
Restoration, no other monarch in English history believed more in this divine
right of kings than Charles II. A such,
even though it meant being in the presence of the afflicted common people (it
is estimated that 1% of the entire London population suffered during this
time), Charles was an enthusiastic advocate of the Touching Ceremony. Charles II personally attended these
ceremonies and physically handed the touch-piece to each and every
sufferer. Sufferers were invited and
issued with an official Ticket-Pass to admit them to the ceremony. You gave your Ticket-Pass in at the door,
entered the ceremony, got touched by the king, received your gold coin from the
king himself and hopefully left as a cured individual. The Ticket-Tokens were collected and
re-issued for the next Touching Ceremony, clearly the gold touch pieces were not. Some 79,200 people were touched by Charles II
between 1664 and 1684 with around 200 sufferers being admitted to each ceremony
with ceremonies on Fridays from 1st November to 18th December, then during
January and February and for a month in Easter.
It was suspended during the potential hot weather months to lessen the
risk of spreading infection. It was
around 400 people touched per year.
During Charles’s exile under England’s Commonwealth, Charles had
actually “touched” at Touching Ceremonies in the Low Countries using silver 10
shilling pieces, or whatever was available.
Charles’s first Touching Ceremony as king was just four weeks after his
return and weekly from then on – he felt it was that important; not for the
sufferers, but entirely for himself and his personal profile. During that time, he again used any coinage
that he had to hand, which clearly couldn’t be anything to do with Cromwell or
the Commonwealth. It took four years
before John Roettier designed and struck the official gold touch-pieces. In 1684, the size of the gold touch-pieces
were reduced (the change from type A to type B). This touch-piece is one of the earlier type
A, full weight examples at 54 grains.
The value of these pieces was some 10 shillings so very few would have
survived the temptation of being spent as currency and thus would be quickly
melted down upon numerous currency recalls, not least upon the death of
monarchs. This one looks to have bucked
that trend and actually been used for what it was intended.
The last
one I saw go through Spink (or it might have been DNW or CNG) was James II and
it sold for £3.5K. Very rare indeed. £1,975 RESERVED
WAu-8088:
Charles II
Restoration Period Hammered Gold Crown.
First issue, initial mark Crown, circa very early in the 1660-62
hammered period. Obverse 3, reverse 3
dies. Spink 3303, North 2757, Schneider
389, Bull 114 (plate coin). Pierced and
plugged (immediately to the left of the obverse initial mark / around the
letter R of the reverse – die rotation 10h).
I bought this as a nEF, unplugged coin because even though I’d looked
closely, I did not spot the plug. In
honesty, I still can’t place it with any high degree of certainty as it’s a top
rate job. If the paperwork (which came
to me after I’d bought the coin) stating the presence of the plug were to
become disassociated from this coin, I doubt anyone would ever notice – the
workmanship is that good. This extremely
late hammered coinage period of 1660-62, even though it spanned three issues,
was very much treading water and just really getting anything out there that
would reassure the public of the Restoration of the monarchy and the demise of
the Commonwealth. The quality of coinage
in general was not good and did deteriorate through the issues – you only have
to look at the hammered halfcrown issues to see that. Everyone at the mint was aware that hammered
coinage was dead in the water and that milled coinage was coming (indeed,
Blondeau was getting everything together, ready for production of his new
milled coinage, literally as this coin was being minted) so the dies were
mediocre at best, as was the actual execution of the coinage. And yet look at the state of this coin,
especially the obverse! What a
tremendous coin! Something else to bear
in mind: Blondeau needed all the silver and gold he could get his hands on for the
onset of milled coinage, and the country was still teetering on bankruptcy
after the Commonwealth, so very little bullion was actually put into the
hammered years. A very rare, attractive
and desirable coin. £4,850
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. Spink 3344. No mount marks. £2,775
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. Spink 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-7765:
1710 Queen Anne
Full Gold Guinea. Post Scottish
union, third draped bust, Spink 3574. 8.36g. 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. Very light ex
mounting marks at 11, 12 and 1 o’clock but again, find one that doesn’t these
days. However, they really are minor and
do not detract. Sold with a ticket that
made no mention of mount marks. £2,395 RESERVED (M.He.23-5-23)
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. Spink 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