Stack's Bowers & Ponterio
January 2020 NYINC Auction 17-18 Jan 2020
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GREAT BRITAIN. 5 Guineas, 1692. London Mint. William & Mary. NGC MS-62.
S-3423; Fr-300; KM-479.2. Elephant & Castle issue. Obverse: Jugate busts right of William, laureate, and Mary; elephant & castle below; Reverse: Crowned coat-of-arms, garnished with decorative escallops. An incredible and majestic RARITY, this seldom encountered issue offers highly lustrous surfaces that are free of problems and full of originality. This specimen is the finest certified by NGC, while PCGS has graded just one at this level, and one at MS-63--a testament to its scarcity. The aforementioned MS-62 by PCGS--an incredibly similar example--realized a hammer of $170,000 in our spring 2018 Hong Kong auction (lot 52146). Undoubtedly, the present piece will rival or even surpass this level, as its immense desirability will be on full display.
S-3423; Fr-300; KM-479.2. Elephant & Castle issue. Obverse: Jugate busts right of William, laureate, and Mary; elephant & castle below; Reverse: Crowned coat-of-arms, garnished with decorative escallops. An incredible and majestic RARITY, this seldom encountered issue offers highly lustrous surfaces that are free of problems and full of originality. This specimen is the finest certified by NGC, while PCGS has graded just one at this level, and one at MS-63--a testament to its scarcity. The aforementioned MS-62 by PCGS--an incredibly similar example--realized a hammer of $170,000 in our spring 2018 Hong Kong auction (lot 52146). Undoubtedly, the present piece will rival or even surpass this level, as its immense desirability will be on full display.
Featuring the elephant & castle mark below the busts of the monarchs, this issue--and other issues like it--was produced from gold supplies procured by the Royal African Company, a company operating under a royal charter in the "Gold Coast" of western Africa. Due to a shortage of gold within the kingdom, the company was tasked with obtaining the precious metal in order to facilitate further coining. The resulting coinage contained a mark identifying the source (first an elephant, then an elephant & castle), with one of the producing regions, Guinea, eventually lending its name to the denomination (and multiples thereof).
From the Marlborough-Blenheim Collection.
Estimate: $150000.00- $200000.00