Heritage World Coin Auctions
CSNS Signature Sale 3073 25-26 & 29 Apr 2019
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Great Britain
William & Mary Crown 1691 AU58 PCGS, KM478, S-3433, ESC-820. Absolutely superb; an outstanding piece of extreme rarity. Collectors of British Crowns will all have come across the same hurdle at some point or another - the acquisition of a high-grade William and Mary Crown. This is no mean feat. For one, the dies were engraved in such a way as to almost always leave significant weakness to the upper portions of the jugate portrait, and secondly they almost always seem to have been at least moderately circulated. Seemingly, very few were put aside by contemporary collectors, presumably because William and Mary's reign immediately preceded the Great Recoinage of 1696 (which saw the collection of poor quality silver coinage in circulation for recycling and recoining). For decades, coins had been undergoing clipping and counterfeiting by the unscrupulous, which rendered them unworthy of their face value. Accordingly, coins such as this Crown with protective edge lettering would have been heavily relied upon in the years leading up to the Great Recoinage as their intrinsic value could be trusted, and thus they likely changed hands very regularly. Ergo: very few high-grade examples surviving today.
This brings us to the present specimen, which has escaped the fate met by so many of its kind. Although having seen minor circulation, its wear is exceedingly minimal and indeed one might be inclined to believe that it has been somewhat conservatively graded. William and Mary's portraits exhibit fantastic detail, minor softness to the high points as expected but with otherwise razor-sharp features lit by considerable residual luster. The reverse is similarly crisp with a coverage of pale red-gold tone contrasting with the brightness of the obverse. Only two specimens of this type have been graded higher than this piece at either NGC or PCGS, elevating this Crown to the near forefront of quality for issue, and there is no doubt its incredible appeal will not escape the notice of serious type collectors.
From the Lake County Collection
HID02901242017
Estimate: 4000-6000 USD
William & Mary Crown 1691 AU58 PCGS, KM478, S-3433, ESC-820. Absolutely superb; an outstanding piece of extreme rarity. Collectors of British Crowns will all have come across the same hurdle at some point or another - the acquisition of a high-grade William and Mary Crown. This is no mean feat. For one, the dies were engraved in such a way as to almost always leave significant weakness to the upper portions of the jugate portrait, and secondly they almost always seem to have been at least moderately circulated. Seemingly, very few were put aside by contemporary collectors, presumably because William and Mary's reign immediately preceded the Great Recoinage of 1696 (which saw the collection of poor quality silver coinage in circulation for recycling and recoining). For decades, coins had been undergoing clipping and counterfeiting by the unscrupulous, which rendered them unworthy of their face value. Accordingly, coins such as this Crown with protective edge lettering would have been heavily relied upon in the years leading up to the Great Recoinage as their intrinsic value could be trusted, and thus they likely changed hands very regularly. Ergo: very few high-grade examples surviving today.
This brings us to the present specimen, which has escaped the fate met by so many of its kind. Although having seen minor circulation, its wear is exceedingly minimal and indeed one might be inclined to believe that it has been somewhat conservatively graded. William and Mary's portraits exhibit fantastic detail, minor softness to the high points as expected but with otherwise razor-sharp features lit by considerable residual luster. The reverse is similarly crisp with a coverage of pale red-gold tone contrasting with the brightness of the obverse. Only two specimens of this type have been graded higher than this piece at either NGC or PCGS, elevating this Crown to the near forefront of quality for issue, and there is no doubt its incredible appeal will not escape the notice of serious type collectors.
From the Lake County Collection
HID02901242017
Estimate: 4000-6000 USD