| Heritage Auctions Europe / MPO Auctions > Auction 80 | Auction date: 13 November 2023 |
| Lot number: 7803 Price realized: 750 EUR (Approx. 802 USD) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: France - Orange - William IX (1647-1650) - ½ Ecu 1649 mm. DE for Louis Deslonges (V/vdW 102 / KM 95) - Obv. Bust of the prince with long hair to right, below rose / Crowned arms, below mm. - 13.54 gram - VF+ / very rare - NB. William IX was known in The Netherlands as 'Stadhouder' Willem II Starting price: 500 EUR |  |
Match 1:
| Spink > Auction 23151 | Auction date: 14 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 2006 Price realized: 370,000 GBP (Approx. 464,766 USD / 430,977 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: (g) NGC PF63+ UCAM | William IV (1830-1837), Pattern Proof Five-Pounds, 1831, struck from the Coronation 'W.W.' Crown dies in .999 Fine Gold, by William Wyon after Francis Chantrey and Jean-Baptiste Merlen for the Royal Mint, GULIELMUS IIII D: G: BRITANNIAR: REX F: D: bare head right, W.W. buried in truncation, rev. crowned shield-of-arms within the Collar of the Order of the Garter and draped with ermine mantle, St George pendant below, edge plain, [Median Spink XRF: 99.99% Au], 39.828g [614.64grns], 5h ("A Memoir of the Life and Works of William Wyon ESQ A.R.A, Chief Engraver of the Royal Mint", Nicholas Carlisle [1837], pp. 107-109; "The Wyons", L S Forrer [Spink, 1917], p. 103; KM Pn99; Fb. 381; PCGS ID 531509/542036; MCE p. 94, Pattern 34a; L&S 2, p. 71 this coin mentioned; Davies 300; W&R 270 [R5]; ESC 272 [R5]; Bull 2463 [R5]; Holloway GH 102; Sainthill -; Montagu 1086; Murdoch 437; Nobleman 198; Wertheimer 176 = Lingford 533; Blake BL310 this coin ['6 known']; Lady Duveen 64 = Douglas-Morris 184 ['about 10 known']; Spink 3833), an historic scratch to forehead with the faintest wisps to fields, below neckline and to right of mantle above the expected die flaw, with delicate carbon spotting to peripheries, otherwise entirely original and utterly splendiferous, the "frabjous" fields of Wyon's auriferous "wonderland" canon a befittingly exalted canvas for the strikingly high relief and stupendously cameo "Coronation portrait" personally approved by the King from this very obverse die, from an exceedingly limited corpus; this the viable finest of the nine confirmed specimens; truly "fresh from the die" and technically FDC, totally unblemished by recent 'conservation' or even rim contact marks that plague the extremities of every other known survivor, simply put: outrageous; extraordinary; and practically peerless; unseen at public auction for almost a CENTURY, having previously blessed the Alfred John Morris; George Hamilton-Smith; Hugh Vincent Summers, George Blake and Charles Dabney-Thompson cabinets, in NGC 'St. Helier' holder, conservatively graded PF63+ ULTRA CAMEO (Cert. #6767923-004) [Only 1 Certified Finer]. Provenance, ~ Recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records (1969) as the most expensive British coin ever sold at the time. For context, the average house price in the United Kingdom in July 1966 was £3,558.0.0 ~ , Spink, by private treaty, 4 July 1966 - £5,350.0.0, Charles Dabney-Thompson, collection purchased en bloc by Spink, 1965, SCMB, June 1956, BL310* - "AV Five Pounds, 1831, Pattern by William Wyon and Merlen...only six coins of this denomination are believed to have been issued. brilliant, FDC, RRRR" - £800.0.0, George Blake, collection purchased by Seaby, May 1956, ~ 1956: "In May of this year we were able to announce the purchase of the George Blake collection, which was one of the best we have bought in recent years. Pieces worth noting where the Cromwell half-broad, Charles II Petition and Reddite crowns, the George III five guineas of 1777, and the William IV five pounds of 1831" (H A Seaby, SCMB, July 1966, p. 241) ~, B A Seaby, by private treaty with George Blake, by February 1947, Hugh Vincent Summers ['XYZ'], collection purchased by Seaby, 1946, George Hamilton-Smith (died 18 November 1926), Glendining, 23-25 May 1927, lot 189 - "Pattern Five Pound Piece, 1831....edge plain, brilliant and of great rarity" - £110.0.0 [Spink for H V Summers], "Formerly in the Morris Collection", Alfred John Morris (5 February 1880 - 16 January 1943), collection sold by private treaty to Hamilton-Smith, between April and July 1922, Little is known about the Morris collection, as only Hamilton-Smith seems to have directly or at least publicly benefitted from it. It contributed at least three coins, a 1770 Pattern Five Guineas, an 1820 Five Pounds and this 1831 Five Pounds which is rather telling of its calibre and quality. Indeed Morris, first appears on the radar at the Nobleman sale of 27 March 1922, when he newly-registers as a commission bidder with Spink for the sale. Presenting the profile of an investor, strangely Morris targets only four lots - the strikings in silver of the 1820 Five-Pounds and Two-Pounds; a Pattern 1816 Sovereign, and finally lot 67A - the Incorrupta Crown in Gold. Strikingly no effort was made towards bidding for the Pattern Five Guineas, the 1820 Five Pounds or indeed the Renotiere example of the 1831 Gold piece - highly suggestive of a pre-existing collection, but an especially targeted focus when bidding. In each case Morris would be defeated by Spink's separate commission bidder Virgil Michael Brand, perhaps initiating Morris to apply for membership to the British Numismatic Society only a month later whereupon he would undoubtedly have met one of its council members, George Hamilton-Smith who probably persuaded him to approach him in his separate capacity as newly acting director of auctioneer Glendining's. His father had founded a company of upholsterer spring manufacturers, having started his career as a book-keeper in Belper, Derbyshire. Partnering with Edward Bagshaw, the firm of Bagshaw and Morris operated under the Morris' sole ownership from 43 Charlotte Road, Shoreditch between 1889 and 1935. It claimed to be the oldest manufacturer of coppered-steel springs for the upholstery trade. , , Corpus:, , 1) The Arnold Specimen (May 1993); Private Collection [PCGS PR63 DCAM] , , 2) The Murdoch Specimen (January 2020), 39.87g; Private Collection [PCGS PR63 DCAM - Cert. #39237162] , , 3) The Duveen Specimen (October 2020), 39.90g; Submitted for grading, Sarasota, Florida (January 2014), and 'brown'-holdered [NGC PF63 UCAM - Cert. #3731659-001]; Resubmitted and "conserved" before sale in Monaco; Private Collection [NGC PF66* UCAM - Cert. #5744153-004] , , 4) The St. Helier Specimen (May 1927), 39.828g, this coin; [NGC PF63+ UCAM - Cert. #6767923-004] , , 5) The Paramount Specimen (January 2023), 40.446g; graded NGC Proof Details ~ Obverse Tooled [Cert. #6066350-025]; Private Collection, presently unencapsulated. , , 6) The Thomas H Law Specimen (August 2013); [NGC PF63 UCAM]. , , 7) The Strauss Specimen (May 1994); [PCGS PR61 DCAM] , , 8) The Hunterian Specimen (-), ex Major-General William Yorke-Moore, Sotheby's, 21 April 1879, lot 340 - £22.0.0 [Rollin & Feuardent for Burns]; Edward Burns, by private treaty with Coats; Thomas Coats, collection bequeathed to Hunterian Museum, 1921 , , 9) The Ashmolean Specimen (-) , , https://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/6767923-004/63/ Estimate: £240000 - £300000 |  |
Match 2:
| Ira & Larry Goldberg Coins & Collectibles > Auction 137 | Auction date: 29 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 1129 Price realized: 750,000 USD (Approx. 694,650 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Great Britain. "VIGO" Five Guineas, 1703. S-3561; Fr-183; KM-520.1. 41.69 grams. SECVNDO on edge. Queen Anne, 1702-1714. Draped bust left; VIGO below bust. Reverse; Crowned cruciform arms, with alternating scepters and a central (Tudor) rose. Uncirculated, a wonderful specimen blessed by superb eye appeal, with all details sharp, and complimented by deep, proof-like luster. Scattered faint hairlines (from being in important collector cabinets over the past 300 years). Historical, and excessively rare. Sure looks like a special proof strike. Pop 1; The Finest Proof-Like graded at any service. PCGS graded MS-61 Prooflike. Estimated Value $300,000 - UP The queen is shown facing left with her long hair curled and tied in a bow, her body draped. Beneath her portrait are the letters VIGO in large capitals. The reverse shows the date at top and consists of the classic "cruciform" composed of the shields of the kingdoms (England, Scotland, France and Ireland), each with a crown over it, a double open rose at center, each angle displaying a scepter topped by an emblem of the four kingdoms-of England, Scotland, France and Ireland in order from the first to last angle. The bold surrounding legend in Latin abbreviations proclaims her Queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland. For centuries, since the victory at Agincourt in 1415, English kings and queens claimed to be the sovereigns of France, and this appears in their titles as seen on this coin. Bourbon Spain and Catholic France were the oldest enemies of the kingdom. During the 17th and 18th centuries, English buccaneers attacked their ships at sea, attempting to seize treasure, especially gold and silver mined in the New World and being transported back to Spain for that country's coinage. One of the most famous of all seizures occurred near the beginning of Queen Anne's reign, in October 1702. England and the Dutch Republic were allies against their common enemies. Sir George Rooke of the British navy was in command of some 50 warships that attacked a treasure fleet returning from South America anchored at Vigo Bay on the northwest coast of Spain. It consisted of three Spanish treasure galleons protected by French warships. Rooke and his fleet of warships entered the bay, breaking through a huge boom of heavy chain and timber that stretched across the entrance to the bay, sailed straight at the moored ships, and a furious battle took place inside the harbor. After a day and a half, the enemies' ships had been almost all destroyed and Rooke's marines seized the one treasure galleon remaining at the port. They were startled to discover that most of the specie had been unloaded and carted away before they had arrived, but what remained was no small prize. It consisted of more than two tons of silver, but just a few pounds of gold. It was all hauled back to England aboard Rooke's ships, arriving at the mint inside the Tower of London. The queen commanded that the word VIGO be placed under her portrait on all coins made from this captured treasure, in part to mock their enemies but also to use these coins as patriotic symbols. Thousands of English silver coins so marked circulated to serve this purpose, but the prize was also much needed because silver was in short supply. The small amount of captured gold was coined into half-guineas, guineas, and five-guineas pieces, most of which were paid to the officers and sailors who had taken part in the sea battle, and those coins seem to have been almost all spent at the time; in later years, many were melted. All are very rare today, but especially the biggest coin, the 1703-VIGO five-guineas, and especially this truly stunning coin. It would be a prize in any collection. Ex Murdock 1903, lot 834. Only 15-20 specimens known, and this is reputedly the finest. With diagnostic lint mark on the scepter of the fourth quarter of the cruciform. Most numismatists believe the 1703 VIGO Five Guineas to be the rarest of all English gold coins. This coin was the sole cover illustration of the 2003 edition of Spink's Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of England and the United Kingdom, London, 2002; Illustrated in Money of The World, coin 105; Ex Goldberg 'Millennia' Sale, 46, May 26, 2008, lot 354. |  |
