Sovereign Rarities Ltd
Auction 2 24 Sep 2019
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Struck From Royal African Company of England Gold, the 1691 Guinea
William and Mary (1688-94), gold Guinea, 1691, elephant and castle below conjoined busts right, legend surrounding, GVLIELMVS. ET. MARIA. DEI. GRATIA., toothed border around rim both sides, rev. crowned quartered shield of arms, date either side of crown, MAG. BR. FR. ET. HIB . REX. ET. REGINA., weight 8.30g (Schneider 470; MCE 153; S.3427). Lightly toned with some flecking both sides and underlying mint brilliance, a bold to good very fine and rare.
James and Norbert Roettier, the sons of John who was about to retire to Brussels, were the engravers of the coinage and expected to take over his position as Chief(s), however perhaps because they were Roman Catholic, the position of Chief went to George Bowers at Michaelmas 1689, but he later died on 1st March 1690. As the Chief position then went to the Engraver of Seals, Henry Harris, and as he did not have coin die work experience he arranged for the Roettier brothers to work on the coin dies right through till 1697 whereupon a similar arrangement was taken up with John Croker.
For 1691 gold output was the second lowest of this joint reign at £54,497 for the calendar year across all the denominations, the highest output being in 1689 at £128,442 worth and the lowest in 1690 at £48,772. This coin is struck from gold supplied by the Royal African Company of England which is defined by the elephant and castle provenance mark below the bust.
Provenance:
Ex A. H. Baldwin and Sons Ltd, purchased Autumn 2009.
William and Mary (1688-94), gold Guinea, 1691, elephant and castle below conjoined busts right, legend surrounding, GVLIELMVS. ET. MARIA. DEI. GRATIA., toothed border around rim both sides, rev. crowned quartered shield of arms, date either side of crown, MAG. BR. FR. ET. HIB . REX. ET. REGINA., weight 8.30g (Schneider 470; MCE 153; S.3427). Lightly toned with some flecking both sides and underlying mint brilliance, a bold to good very fine and rare.
James and Norbert Roettier, the sons of John who was about to retire to Brussels, were the engravers of the coinage and expected to take over his position as Chief(s), however perhaps because they were Roman Catholic, the position of Chief went to George Bowers at Michaelmas 1689, but he later died on 1st March 1690. As the Chief position then went to the Engraver of Seals, Henry Harris, and as he did not have coin die work experience he arranged for the Roettier brothers to work on the coin dies right through till 1697 whereupon a similar arrangement was taken up with John Croker.
For 1691 gold output was the second lowest of this joint reign at £54,497 for the calendar year across all the denominations, the highest output being in 1689 at £128,442 worth and the lowest in 1690 at £48,772. This coin is struck from gold supplied by the Royal African Company of England which is defined by the elephant and castle provenance mark below the bust.
Provenance:
Ex A. H. Baldwin and Sons Ltd, purchased Autumn 2009.