| Numismatica Ars Classica > Auction 145 with CNG & NGSA | Auction date: 8 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 1185 Price realized: This lot is for sale in an upcoming auction - Bid on this lot  | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: The Geoffrey Cope Collection of British Coins. Richard III. 1483-1485. AV Angel (27mm, 5.16 g, 12h). Type 2b. London mint; im: boar's head 1/boar's head 2. Struck 20 July 1483–June 1484. Archangel Michael slaying dragon / Ship bearing coat-of-arms and cross, R and rose flanking cross. Coin Register 2013, 126 = PAS LEIC-E209C1 (this coin); Winstanley 6; Schneider 488 (same dies); North 1676; SCBC 2151 (this coin illustrated on front cover, 49th ed.). With light marks and surfaces consistent with a field find. Traces of underlying lustre. Well struck and unusually clear. Light marks amd surfaces consistent with a field find. EF. A very rare coin with a remarkable find spot. Ex Spink 215 (4 December 2012), lot 37. Found at Claybrooke Magna, Leicestershire, August 2012. In the 'Foreword and Market Trends' section of the 2014 (49th) edition of the Standard Catalogue of British Coins, the editor Philip Skingley wrote: 'the cover coin for this edition... is a gold Angel of Richard III bearing the boar's head mint mark, dating it's minting to somewhere between July 1483 and June 1484. The coin was discovered by a metal detectorist in August 2012 at Claybrooke Magna, it was subsequently sold at a Spink auction in December 2012 for the price of £36,000 plus premium. The find spot of the coin was probably significant in the price, being a mere 12 miles from the site of the Battle of Bosworth, fought on the morning of 22 August 1485, and the last battle to have witnessed the death of an English king. We can only guess who lost this coin but it represented a large sum of money at the time, and is in superb condition with little evidence of circulation. Perhaps the owner had been paid directly from King's treasury to support his troops at the battle or it may have been lost by someone fleeing in haste from the battle with their loot. We will never know but the coincidence of timing of the find, which was closely followed by the discovery and exhumation of the body of Richard III himself at the site of the former Grey Friars Friary in the City of Leicester, lead us to imagine all sorts of possibilities.' In 2021 three gold coins of Edward IV were found in the same field in Claybrooke Magna (PAS NARC-0F0A9A) suggesting a purse loss or small dispersed hoard. To date the Angel of Richard III, offered here, remains the terminus post quem for the find bringing us face to face with such an historical event. Estimate: 20000 CHF |  |
