| Ira & Larry Goldberg Coins & Collectibles > Auction 137 | Auction date: 29 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 1119 Price realized: 67,500 USD (Approx. 62,519 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Great Britain. Milled Half Pound, ND. S-2543; N-2019. 5.69 grams. Elizabeth I, 1558-1603. Milled Coinage (1565-1570). Coinage by Mestrelle, the monarch in jeweled dress, with curly "Z" in her name, and grained edge. Crowned bust left. Reverse; Crowned, square-topped shield. Lis mintmark (struck 1567-1570, era of the 3rd Coinage). A splendid example, rich with luster and mellow golden red toning, on a broad flan and showing intricate design details. Few exist of this caliber! Extremely rare as such. Pop 1; The only Example graded. NGC graded MS-62. Estimated Value $30,000 - UP Tower Mint, London. This coin features a famous coinage portrait of the queen wearing a ruff around her neck, her long hair seemingly studded with jewels, flowing from beneath her crown down the back of her neck, her dress elaborate and also jeweled. Her profile is dramatic and accurate to life. Above her near the rim is a "lis" initial mark. The reverse side shows a familiar motif that became the standard for her smaller gold coins: a quartered shield, crowned, holding the royal insignia, with her initials ER split to the sides. The "lis" again appears, here before one of Elizabeth's favored religious legends, in Latin SCVTVM FIDEI PROTEGET EAM, which in English means "The shield of faith shall protect her." The "lis" initial mark signifies that this coin was minted 1566-70 as part of what is called Elizabeth's Third Coinage period. This was relatively early in her long reign at a time when she was determined to rectify the debasement of English money which began when her father, King Henry VIII, raided his own treasury to pay for his personal excesses, and they were numerous. By contrast, his daughter was almost stingy and her desire was that all English coins issued in her name would be of high quality-that is, of a fineness of metal that would inspire confidence in the money as well as loyalty to her as queen. She also commanded that her Royal Mint would fashion her money well, with a sharpness of design that would be consistently well detailed. At the time, coins were made using an ancient technique involving individual "moneyers" at the mint holding one die while the other was settled into a block; when a blank piece of metal was placed on the lower die, the coiner would place the upper die on it and strike it with a hammer, often more than once. This produced coins of inconsistent quality, sometimes sharp here or there, sometimes struck off center with areas of weakness of design. About 1561 the Privy Council, which advised the queen and was the sole intermediary between the monarch and her various agencies of government, was approached by a man of great talent at minting-Eloye Mestrelle, a French moneyer who possessed some equipment that was not yet known in England. It was a "screw press" worked by two or more men who swung a long lever that caused the mechanism to close on a piece of metal held in place below it. The blank pieces of metal from which the coins were struck in this manner were made by another piece of machinery powered by a horse-drawn mill in another part of the mint. He called his novel money "mill" coinage, now known as "milled" by collectors. Elizabeth liked the idea and ordered her Privy Council to engage Mestrelle. He set up his equipment at the old Royal Mint inside the Tower of London and produced this special coinage from 1565-70. Unfortunately there was a downside to the story of his great success: the guild of old-time workers, who had hammered out coins for decades, felt so threatened by the Frenchman's inventiveness that they told their masters at the mint that the equipment was unreliable and slow, compared to their own work. They orchestrated Mestrelle's removal from the mint in 1572, but what was experimental in 1565 remained impressive to many eyes and within a century "milled coinage" would return and become the new standard in Great Britain. Ex Dr Jacob Y. Terner Collection (by private treaty to the Millennia Collection). Illustrated in Money of The World, coin 84; Ex Goldberg "Millennia" Sale 46, May 26, 2007, lot 296. |  |
Match 1:
| Stack's Bowers Galleries (& Ponterio) > January 2024 NYINC Auction | Auction date: 12 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 52255 Price realized: 550,000 USD (Approx. 501,545 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: GREAT BRITAIN. Gold 7 Kilogram Platinum Jubilee Commemorative (7000 Pounds), 2022. Llantrisant Mint. Elizabeth II. GEM PROOF. This unique masterpiece is perhaps the most significant modern issue from The Royal Mint to be offered publicly. Produced in 7 kilograms of .999 fine gold and measuring a massive 185mm in diameter, it is as visually spectacular as it is historically significant. This piece was created in celebration of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee, which marked the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne on 6 February 1952. In the seven decades since, the world had seen her grow from a young queen crowned in post-war Britain, into a widely respected Head of State and a loving great-grandmother. Under Queen Elizabeth II's leadership, the monarchy adapted to the modern era while preserving its historical traditions and constitutional role. Her reign was marked by profound historical events, cultural shifts, and remarkable achievements including the expansion of the British Commonwealth and the transition from empire to a more diverse and inclusive society. As the longest serving monarch in British history, Queen Elizabeth II has left an indelible mark on the United Kingdom and the world which will continue to inspire generations to come. And much like this legacy, the present gold 7 kilo commemorative coin is unique and without parallel. Large gold coins have long been used to recognize and celebrate head's of state going back thousands of years to the very beginnings of coinage. Perhaps the most famed from antiquity are the large gold octodrachms first struck by the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt shortly after the death of Alexander III the Great in 323 BC. This oversized format was also adopted by several Roman emperors who struck large multiple-aurei gold medallions during the second quarter of the first millennium AD. This tradition was elevated to new heights beginning in the 16th century when gargantuan medallic multiple-ducats were struck by the Kings of Austria, Germany, and Poland. Large gold coins also have a storied legacy within British numismatics specifically, perhaps the most famous of which are the large gold Una and the Lion 5 Pound coins struck beginning in 1839 to commemorate the ascension of Queen Victoria in 1837. A century later, an unforeseen rarity was created by the premature striking of gold 5 pound coins to mark the coronation of King Edward VIII, who ultimately abdicated the throne five months shy of coronation. While both the Una and the Lion and the King Edward VIII 5 pound coins are prized treasures, their respective rarities pale in comparison to this unique 7 kilo masterpiece celebrating Queen Elizabeth II. The Production and design of this piece required hundreds of hours of craftsmanship and utilized state-of-the-art engraving and laser technology. Instead of being struck on a press between two dies like a traditional coin, the details of this piece were cut into a solid gold ingot by a high-speed precision computer numerical control (CNC) engraving machine. The gold ingot originally began at a weight between 9 and 10 kilograms before being machined into the 7 kilo finished product over several weeks. The master craftsmen at The Royal Mint closely inspected the ingot for quality before positioning it in the CNC machine, which was programed with unique parameters to properly scale the design to this massive format and achieve the technical and aesthetic requirements intended by the designers. It took 3 to 4 days to engrave each side, after which the design was further hand finished over 2 days to remove imperfections and enhance key elements. As a final step, the surfaces were then hand-polished to a high luster over 2 to 3 days before the coin was set into its acrylic mount and oak display case, both of which were produced in the UK. Complementing these advanced production techniques are bespoke commemorative designs on both sides that had been personally approved by The Queen. This numismatic triumph was designed by respected coinage artist John Bergdahl, who has created numerous designs for UK coins including the 2008 Britannia coin, coins celebrating the London 2012 Paralympic and Olympic Games, the £2 coin commemorating Tudor naval ship the Mary Rose, and coins commemorating Magna Carta and the Battle of Hastings. On the obverse of this 7 kilo Platinum Jubilee coin is a special commemorative design depicting The Queen on horseback surrounded by the garter from the Royal Coat of Arms. It draws inspiration from the similar equestrian designs seen on the 1953 coronation crown coin created by Gilbert Ledward RA and the 2002 Golden Jubilee crown by Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS. The reverse depicts a crowned EIIR cypher surrounded by roses, daffodils, thistles and shamrocks, representing the United Kingdom. When reflecting on this special reverse design, Bergdahl explained that he "decided to make use of the royal cypher (EIIR) and looked for a way of differentiating it from the modern more simplistic, minimalistic treatment and adopt a richer, more regal, portrayal. To achieve that, I looked to the past and decided to utilize the kind of rococo cartouche used in the mid eighteenth century." An absolute triumph in every sense, this gold 7 kilo masterpiece combines the pinnacles of rarity, artistry, and minting technology to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. This unique piece is sure to serve as crowning jewel in the most advanced collection of British or world gold coins, and Stack's Bowers Galleries is beyond honored to present this treasure to collectors on behalf of The Royal Mint. Estimate: $600000 - $800000 |  |
Match 2:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Auction 126 | Auction date: 28 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 1226 Price realized: This lot is for sale in an upcoming auction - Bid on this lot  | |
| Lot description: TUDOR. Elizabeth I. 1558-1603. Pattern AR Threepence (20mm, 1.51 g, 6h). Milled coinage. Tower (London) mint; im: mullet. Dies by Derek Anthony(?). Dated 1575. ELIZABETH · D'· G'· ANG FRA & · HIB REGINA ★, crowned bust left, wearing ruff; rose to right / ★ POS VI · DEV'· AD IVTOREM MEV'·, plain cross over shield; · 15 75 · above. Borden & Brown 52 (O1/R1; this coin cited); North 2048. Richly toned with traces of underlying luster. Superb EF. A magnificent coin of the highest rarity. Ex Saunders Collection, purchased from Seaby, February 1959; R. Carlyon-Britton Collection; R.C. Lockett (Part II, 11 October 1956), lot 2057; Sir John Evans Collection; J.G. Murdoch (Sotheby, Wilkinson, & Hodge, 31 March 1903), lot 663 ('a gem'); H. Montagu (Sotheby, Wilkinson, & Hodge, 13 November 1896), lot 130, purchased 1883; S. Addington Collection; R.M. Murchison (Sotheby, Wilkinson, & Hodge, 27 June 1864), lot 195; T.F. Dymock (Sotheby & Wilkinson, 1 June 1858), lot 271. This beautiful coin belongs to a very small issue of pattern silver Sixpences and Threepences struck in 1574 and 1575 using the machinery installed in the mint by Eloy Mestrelle for his earlier milled coinage. The dies, most probably the work of Derek Anthony, were modeled on the earlier milled currency issues but engraved in much higher relief, portraying the Virgin Queen as Gloriana defined, wearing a richly jeweled dress and with flowing hair which prefigures Anthony's later hammered gold portrait issues. Today only two Sixpences are known, both in museums. Four Threepences are recorded; one in the BM, another in the Fitzwilliam Museum, the Comber specimen, and the coin offered here which has a peerless pedigree and is also the finest known. Estimate: 25000 USD |  |
Match 3:
| 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. |  |
Match 4:
| Ira & Larry Goldberg Coins & Collectibles > Auction 137 | Auction date: 29 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 1122 Price realized: 45,000 USD (Approx. 41,679 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Great Britain. Triple Unite, 1643. S-2726; N-2383. 26.71 grams. Charles I, 1625-1649. Oxford mint. Crowned bust left, holding sword and branch, scarf behind king's shoulder. Reverse; Scrolled "Declaration." Plume mintmark. Lustrous and especially choice for issue, on a full flan with excellent sharpness for this massive piece, part of obverse legend at bottom doubled but otherwise crisp. Very rare, especially in high grade. PCGS graded Uncirculated Detail (Repaired). Estimated Value $25,000 - UP After the peaceful early years of his reign, King Charles I's sense of his absolute God-given right to rule England was challenged by his Parliament. He clashed many times with his legislators. His marriage to the Catholic princess Henrietta Maria of France led to revolts in Ireland and Scotland. Aristocrats steadily turned against Charles and in January 1642 members of the "Long Parliament" (the longest lasting one) seized power, forcing Charles to march north to escape violence. He reached Nottingham by late August, then went on to Oxford, where he set up court in October and began to make ready for civil war. At one of the war's early skirmishes, at Wellington, the king urged support when he made what has come down through history to be called the Wellington Declaration. He vowed to uphold and enforce England's three greatest traditions-the Protestant religion, the laws of England, and the liberty of Parliament-thereby seeking to dissuade all opponents that he was pro Catholic, or a monarch who might disavow laws for his personal convenience. The Civil War ran intermittently from the fall of 1642 until its horrid conclusion in early 1649. All during that time, coinage was solely the king's prerogative, traditionally his right and his alone in the kingdom; history abounds with stories of college plate and other local riches being converted to money bearing the king's name, perhaps most famous of all his massive triple unites, which were the ultimate images of his monetary power and by far his largest coins. Most of these coins were used to pay his generals and purchase supplies, arms, rents and other necessities, not least of which was loyalty. Within six years of when this impressive coin was minted, Charles was captured, tried for treason by his enemies, and beheaded in January 1649. Never before had an English king been so treated. At his demise, the ancient divine right of kings effectively ended across the land. Never again would a king of England rule with absolute power. He had relinquished the sword he is depicted as holding on this coin. In a way, today's collectors may still hold the king's hopes in their hands, here in this golden emblem of its age. Ex Dr Jacob Y. Terner Collection (by private treaty to the Millennia Collection); Ex Goldberg "Millennia" Sale 46, May 26, 2007, lot 306, previously in NGC holder graded MS-62, price realized $100,000. |  |
