The New York Sale
Auction 40 11 January 2017
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WORLD COINS, GREAT BRITAIN, Elizabeth II, (1952-). Satin Proof Gold Sovereign, 1965. Designed by Mary Gillick. Portrait facing right of young Queen Elizabeth. Rev. St. George slaying dragon with sword, tiny B.P. to upper right, date below exergue. Reeded edge. 7.99 g, 22.2 mm. (S4125 type. KM 908 type). Superb in eye appeal, fully struck, blemishless high rims, with a lovely vivid-gold color to the silken satiny textured surfaces. In all a beautiful specimen of the highest rarity, at least R7 and possibly unique. NGC graded Satin Proof 64.
ex Baldwin's Auction 79, The Bentley Collection (Part 3), May 8, 2013, lot 1237.
ex An Important Collection of Gold Sovereigns 1816-2000, offered as one lot, Sotheby's, November 2000, Lot 525 (part).
ex Stack's, New York, June 1, 1997, lot 701.
A mysterious coin, previously unrecognized for what it is, bearing the early, first portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, designed by Mary Gillick. It is the so-called Second Issue type, as struck from 1957 to 1968 (although in 1957 the edge reeding was slightly finer, or thinner). The First Issue gold sovereign, dated 1953, had included as part of the royal title the abbreviated Latin BRITT·OMN; it was struck in brilliant proof for the Coronation but created strictly for museums: it was never sold to the public. The royal legend was then modified in 1957 to eliminate over-crowding of letters. Proofs of this so-called Second Issue style occurred only in 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1963, the last date being itself a great rarity made in two surface types, brilliant and matte. Brilliant proof sovereigns of 1957, 1958 and 1959 appear irregularly for sale. Each date is very rare and keenly sought after by collectors, but these pale in rarity compared to the proofs of 1953, 1963 and the coin offered here.
The supposition has long been held by numismatists that certain proof gold coins of the 20th century were struck, in extremely limited numbers, not in brilliant mirror-like format but with non-reflective matte surfaces - entirely for the purpose of facilitating photographic imaging by and at the Royal Mint. This is the reason normally given for the existence of the exceedingly rare matte proofs of 1937, which were the first gold coins minted in this format since the matte proofs of 1902, during the reign of Edward VII. Those 1902 matte-surfaced proofs looked dull at the time, compared to the brilliant gold proofs of 1887 and 1893, and they proved to be so unpopular with collectors of the day that the Royal Mint reverted to striking proofs in brilliant reflective format for all subsequent gold coins made for sale to collectors (1911, 1937, and later issues of 1979 up through today). The only exceptions to such brilliant proofs therefore are these matte pieces intended for photography. And yet, the coin appearing in the present lot is not matte-like at all. Instead, it displays a gleaming satiny finish, silky in texture, on each side. Quite obviously, it is not dull and was not made for photographic purposes. What is it, then?
If we look into the history of Britain's mint, we discover that the decade of the 1960s was a time of experimentation - as well as of anticipation. Early in 1966, it was announced that a decimal currency system would gradually replace the traditional Pounds, Shillings, Pence money, starting in February 1971. Then, on April 25, 1967, the Chancellor of the Exchequer formally announced that the Royal Mint would be moved from its ages-old location near the Tower of London to a Welsh town near Cardiff, where a modern mint was going to be built. The move had been discussed for more than a decade. A larger facility was needed. A secure spot outside of London was sought, and finally Llantrisant was decided upon. Thus, in the middle 1960s, a lot of planning was underway at the mint, and the man in charge was Deputy Master Sir Jack James. He was a decisive man of few words but considerable vision. He was something of an efficiency expert. He reviewed every detail of every department of the mint, and modernized its organization. Beginning in 1957, he also engaged in a variety of experiments to improve the coinage - a new gas-fired annealing furnace in 1963, more than a dozen new coining presses in 1964 and 1965, and new techniques for inspecting struck coins to assure consistent quality. In 1964, he also created a special "specimen coin section" as part of the medals department, with some 70 workmen, so as to efficiently produce coins for sale to collectors, including overseas customers. His efforts earned the mint, for the first time ever in 1966, the Queen's Award for Industry, seen by James's contemporaries as a great achievement, and this included the queen's visit to the Tower Hill Mint on June 8, 1966, when she inspected the Deputy Master's many advancements.
Much favored by Queen Elizabeth was the portrait of her by Mary Gillick, who in fact was the first woman sculptor ever to have designed an image of the monarch used on British coins. Mary Tutin Gillick was born in 1881 and educated at the Nottingham School of Art and at the Royal College of Art. Her effigy of the queen was selected from seventeen designs submitted by artists for consideration by the Royal Mint in 1952, and in 1953, upon Elizabeth's coronation, the portrait began appearing on all of Britain's coins. It depicts the queen as a young beauty, looking towards the future with her hair tied by a bow fluttering behind her. This image of the queen has also appeared on all British commemorative postage stamps since 1966. Mary Gillick died on January 27, 1965. We can only surmise but, given the experiments at the mint in the middle 1960s, as well as the significance of the Queen's visit and award, and finally Sir Jack James's creation of a new specimen-producing section at the mint in 1964, it seems more than possible that this very unusual and superb-looking Satin Proof sovereign was created as a distinctive Proof of Record to memorialize the passing of the queen's favorite designer in this year.
Estimate: $ 65,000
ex Baldwin's Auction 79, The Bentley Collection (Part 3), May 8, 2013, lot 1237.
ex An Important Collection of Gold Sovereigns 1816-2000, offered as one lot, Sotheby's, November 2000, Lot 525 (part).
ex Stack's, New York, June 1, 1997, lot 701.
A mysterious coin, previously unrecognized for what it is, bearing the early, first portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, designed by Mary Gillick. It is the so-called Second Issue type, as struck from 1957 to 1968 (although in 1957 the edge reeding was slightly finer, or thinner). The First Issue gold sovereign, dated 1953, had included as part of the royal title the abbreviated Latin BRITT·OMN; it was struck in brilliant proof for the Coronation but created strictly for museums: it was never sold to the public. The royal legend was then modified in 1957 to eliminate over-crowding of letters. Proofs of this so-called Second Issue style occurred only in 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1963, the last date being itself a great rarity made in two surface types, brilliant and matte. Brilliant proof sovereigns of 1957, 1958 and 1959 appear irregularly for sale. Each date is very rare and keenly sought after by collectors, but these pale in rarity compared to the proofs of 1953, 1963 and the coin offered here.
The supposition has long been held by numismatists that certain proof gold coins of the 20th century were struck, in extremely limited numbers, not in brilliant mirror-like format but with non-reflective matte surfaces - entirely for the purpose of facilitating photographic imaging by and at the Royal Mint. This is the reason normally given for the existence of the exceedingly rare matte proofs of 1937, which were the first gold coins minted in this format since the matte proofs of 1902, during the reign of Edward VII. Those 1902 matte-surfaced proofs looked dull at the time, compared to the brilliant gold proofs of 1887 and 1893, and they proved to be so unpopular with collectors of the day that the Royal Mint reverted to striking proofs in brilliant reflective format for all subsequent gold coins made for sale to collectors (1911, 1937, and later issues of 1979 up through today). The only exceptions to such brilliant proofs therefore are these matte pieces intended for photography. And yet, the coin appearing in the present lot is not matte-like at all. Instead, it displays a gleaming satiny finish, silky in texture, on each side. Quite obviously, it is not dull and was not made for photographic purposes. What is it, then?
If we look into the history of Britain's mint, we discover that the decade of the 1960s was a time of experimentation - as well as of anticipation. Early in 1966, it was announced that a decimal currency system would gradually replace the traditional Pounds, Shillings, Pence money, starting in February 1971. Then, on April 25, 1967, the Chancellor of the Exchequer formally announced that the Royal Mint would be moved from its ages-old location near the Tower of London to a Welsh town near Cardiff, where a modern mint was going to be built. The move had been discussed for more than a decade. A larger facility was needed. A secure spot outside of London was sought, and finally Llantrisant was decided upon. Thus, in the middle 1960s, a lot of planning was underway at the mint, and the man in charge was Deputy Master Sir Jack James. He was a decisive man of few words but considerable vision. He was something of an efficiency expert. He reviewed every detail of every department of the mint, and modernized its organization. Beginning in 1957, he also engaged in a variety of experiments to improve the coinage - a new gas-fired annealing furnace in 1963, more than a dozen new coining presses in 1964 and 1965, and new techniques for inspecting struck coins to assure consistent quality. In 1964, he also created a special "specimen coin section" as part of the medals department, with some 70 workmen, so as to efficiently produce coins for sale to collectors, including overseas customers. His efforts earned the mint, for the first time ever in 1966, the Queen's Award for Industry, seen by James's contemporaries as a great achievement, and this included the queen's visit to the Tower Hill Mint on June 8, 1966, when she inspected the Deputy Master's many advancements.
Much favored by Queen Elizabeth was the portrait of her by Mary Gillick, who in fact was the first woman sculptor ever to have designed an image of the monarch used on British coins. Mary Tutin Gillick was born in 1881 and educated at the Nottingham School of Art and at the Royal College of Art. Her effigy of the queen was selected from seventeen designs submitted by artists for consideration by the Royal Mint in 1952, and in 1953, upon Elizabeth's coronation, the portrait began appearing on all of Britain's coins. It depicts the queen as a young beauty, looking towards the future with her hair tied by a bow fluttering behind her. This image of the queen has also appeared on all British commemorative postage stamps since 1966. Mary Gillick died on January 27, 1965. We can only surmise but, given the experiments at the mint in the middle 1960s, as well as the significance of the Queen's visit and award, and finally Sir Jack James's creation of a new specimen-producing section at the mint in 1964, it seems more than possible that this very unusual and superb-looking Satin Proof sovereign was created as a distinctive Proof of Record to memorialize the passing of the queen's favorite designer in this year.
Estimate: $ 65,000