St. James's Auctions
Auction 39 30 September 2016
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
† Charles II, five guineas, 1682, QVARTO, second laur. bust r., elephant and castle below, rev. crowned cruciform shields, sceptres in angles (S.3332), certified and graded by NGC as Extremely Fine 40, evenly struck on a broad flan and exhibiting pleasing gold toning, scarce
The only example graded this highly by NGC or PCGS.
While the coins of the early years of this era reflect a youthful monarch, as Charles aged so did his image on his money, seen here suggesting a maturing man; the change of image is most quickly identified by the rounded bust. Again, though, the final hallmark of the Royal African Company is boldly displayed below the king. The 1680s began with relative peace. Early in his reign Charles and his subjects endured the plague in 1665 and the Great Fire of London of 1666, which happily destroyed the rats which were the source of the plague but also, disastrously, destroyed almost all of the medieval city's wooden buildings. In the 1670s London was being rebuilt under the guidance of such gifted architects as Christopher Wren. But the decade had been one of war as well. When peace came again, trade increased and the royal treasury swelled, and one result was the creation of large gold coins such as we see in this lot. Two years after this coin was made, its value was legitimately given a boost to 110 shillings as the underlying unit, the guinea, increased in buying power from 20 to 22 shillings ('The price of gold was not very stable and, although the coins were not formally revalued, they were passing at between 21s 0d and 22s 0d to the guinea by the 1670s'-Peter Woodhead, The Herbert Schneider Collection, volume 2, opposite plate 36). Not long after, in the spring of 1685, Charles II died suddenly aged 54. He is remembered as a courteous, dignified man who possessed good humour, was enamored of culture and loved art but was not particularly clever nor very good looking, and yet dallied with a number of mistresses. He survived civil war, foreign aggression, a new political brand of governance in which his power was mainly titular, plague and fire, and even the threat of a new civil war caused by the existence of an illegitimate son in the absence of an heir. He restored dignity to the monarchy, and he achieved his final wish that his brother James (their father's third son) should succeed him to the throne. Curiously, the age was never named after him, but his kingly image has never been diminished. (£17500-22500)
The only example graded this highly by NGC or PCGS.
While the coins of the early years of this era reflect a youthful monarch, as Charles aged so did his image on his money, seen here suggesting a maturing man; the change of image is most quickly identified by the rounded bust. Again, though, the final hallmark of the Royal African Company is boldly displayed below the king. The 1680s began with relative peace. Early in his reign Charles and his subjects endured the plague in 1665 and the Great Fire of London of 1666, which happily destroyed the rats which were the source of the plague but also, disastrously, destroyed almost all of the medieval city's wooden buildings. In the 1670s London was being rebuilt under the guidance of such gifted architects as Christopher Wren. But the decade had been one of war as well. When peace came again, trade increased and the royal treasury swelled, and one result was the creation of large gold coins such as we see in this lot. Two years after this coin was made, its value was legitimately given a boost to 110 shillings as the underlying unit, the guinea, increased in buying power from 20 to 22 shillings ('The price of gold was not very stable and, although the coins were not formally revalued, they were passing at between 21s 0d and 22s 0d to the guinea by the 1670s'-Peter Woodhead, The Herbert Schneider Collection, volume 2, opposite plate 36). Not long after, in the spring of 1685, Charles II died suddenly aged 54. He is remembered as a courteous, dignified man who possessed good humour, was enamored of culture and loved art but was not particularly clever nor very good looking, and yet dallied with a number of mistresses. He survived civil war, foreign aggression, a new political brand of governance in which his power was mainly titular, plague and fire, and even the threat of a new civil war caused by the existence of an illegitimate son in the absence of an heir. He restored dignity to the monarchy, and he achieved his final wish that his brother James (their father's third son) should succeed him to the throne. Curiously, the age was never named after him, but his kingly image has never been diminished. (£17500-22500)