St. James's Auctions
Auction 39 30 September 2016
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† Charles II, five guineas, 1679, T. PRIMO, second laur. bust r., rev. crowned cruciform shields, sceptres in angles (S.3331), some light blank filing on rims, with some obvious wear from commerce, slightly prooflike, certified and graded by NGC as About Uncirculated 53
One other example graded AU55 by PCGS.
As a mere boy, Prince Charles endured one of the most savage acts anyone could experience, the execution of his father, the head of his country, labelled a traitor. The Prince was in Holland when the infamous act occurred, on his way to France and safety at the court. His sense of the divine right of kings was never altered, and by 1650 he had returned to Scotland, where he was proclaimed King of Great Britain, France and Ireland. Shortly, he formed an army of some ten thousand men. The next year he marched into England where he fought Oliver Cromwell's army at Worcester, but the Scots did not prevail and Charles escaped the battlefield with a bounty on his head. While trying to raise another army, he suddenly found he did not have to: Cromwell had succumbed to a painful death from kidney stones, and the Protectorate was doomed. Charles famously landed at Dover and almost immediately issued a proclamation guaranteeing religious toleration as well as a free Parliament. He was proclaimed King at Westminster on 8 May 1660 in absentia and the following day, on his 30th birthday, he entered the capital to a rousing proclamation from the loyalists. Many supporters wanted revenge on Cromwell's followers but King Charles II was weary of strife, and his famous Act of Oblivion and Indemnity forgave most of his and his father's enemies. Only the most vicious were executed. In place of the civil badges of the Commonwealth, the royal portrait now appeared on England's money, opposed on this coin of huge value in its day by crowned shields forming a cross and offset by 'royal' sceptres as images of authority, much to the great pleasure of all who had remained loyal to the monarchy during its darkest days. (£22500-27500)
One other example graded AU55 by PCGS.
As a mere boy, Prince Charles endured one of the most savage acts anyone could experience, the execution of his father, the head of his country, labelled a traitor. The Prince was in Holland when the infamous act occurred, on his way to France and safety at the court. His sense of the divine right of kings was never altered, and by 1650 he had returned to Scotland, where he was proclaimed King of Great Britain, France and Ireland. Shortly, he formed an army of some ten thousand men. The next year he marched into England where he fought Oliver Cromwell's army at Worcester, but the Scots did not prevail and Charles escaped the battlefield with a bounty on his head. While trying to raise another army, he suddenly found he did not have to: Cromwell had succumbed to a painful death from kidney stones, and the Protectorate was doomed. Charles famously landed at Dover and almost immediately issued a proclamation guaranteeing religious toleration as well as a free Parliament. He was proclaimed King at Westminster on 8 May 1660 in absentia and the following day, on his 30th birthday, he entered the capital to a rousing proclamation from the loyalists. Many supporters wanted revenge on Cromwell's followers but King Charles II was weary of strife, and his famous Act of Oblivion and Indemnity forgave most of his and his father's enemies. Only the most vicious were executed. In place of the civil badges of the Commonwealth, the royal portrait now appeared on England's money, opposed on this coin of huge value in its day by crowned shields forming a cross and offset by 'royal' sceptres as images of authority, much to the great pleasure of all who had remained loyal to the monarchy during its darkest days. (£22500-27500)