Watch List notes:

Five Guineas 1693 Obverse conjoined busts of joint monarchs right. GVLIELMVS ET MARIA DEI GRATIA. Reverse, crowned garnished square topped arms, lion of Nassau in centre Elephant and Castle below the bust S3423. Edge year QVINTO in raised letters on edge, GEF rare thus, not far off in grade to our lot 857 in LCA 155 Dec 2016 which realised £71,500 hammer. But this piece, the Elephant and Castle variety, is usually more sought after. The famous Samuel King Five Guineas sale by Spink included their well researched analysis of Five Guineas offered for sale in a 40 year period and the 1693 E & C offered here had a frequency of 19 compared to 91 of the S3422 type (1693 without E & C below). Last year a William and Mary 5 Guineas of this same type S3423 Elephant and Castle below in MS63 realised $258,000 in the USA. William and Mary were spouses who reigned over the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland. They began their joint reign in February 1689 after they were offered the throne by the Convention Parliament. James II (Mary's father) had fled the country and William and Mary occupied what was in effect a vacant throne. They were the first joint rulers in England for over 800 years, although Philip II and Mary I had appeared on English coinage together. Mary was to reign until her death from smallpox in December 1694 and William continued his rule alone, until his death in March 1702. The reign of William and Mary was brief and their coins are relatively scarce, the piece offered here has a very competitive starting price and would truly be a bargain in todays market at the low estimate or in our opinion at several bids above.

Estimate: 50000-75000 GBP