Baldwin's of St. James's
Auction 43 25 Mar 2020
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British Coins, George VI, silver threepence, 1945, bare head l., rev. royal shield on rose (S.4085; ESC.2159; Bull 4301), certified and graded by NGC as Mint State 63, exceedingly rare
This tiny coin, of exquisite rarity, is only the second known, the other piece (graded VF) having been sold in 1970. This is a recent discovery. As the Standard Catalogue of British Coins points out, this denomination was struck for homeland use from 1937-1941, the final few years of mintage having been made entirely for export to the West Indies colonies. The denomination had never actually been popular except in Scotland; as a thin, tiny coin, it was easily lost. The denomination was essentially replaced in 1937 by the brass threepence, which came to existence in the patterns of Edward VIII. Quickly modified for use under the authority of the new king, George VI, the brass coin was much larger, thick, twelve-sided, and easily picked out of the pocket-even in the dark. It proved to be so popular that the Committee on Coinage for the Royal Mint decided to suspend issuing the silver piece for homeland after 1941. All of the silver threepences dated 1942, 1943 and 1944 were thus shipped to the colonies. The same fate was intended for the silver pieces dated 1945, but a major change in the coinage metal intervened. The Coinage Act of 1946 (passed into law on 6 November) ended centuries of silver coins for Britain. It began a process which continued for years of sorting out all silver coins for melting. First, the vaults of the mint and the Bank of England were purged of silver, which clearly caused the melting of the 1945 silver threepences, recently minted. How any escaped remains for speculation. Did a few fall from hoppers? Did a mint employee decide to keep a few souvenirs? The culling of all silver from circulation continued for years, first by hand at individual banks, which then sent the coins to the mint; fairly soon, though, it was decided that the most efficient way to recall the silver was by automation inside the mint itself. Sensing this change, the public also began keeping aside old silver coins. By the 1960s it was a rare instance to find any silver in circulation. For these reasons it was universally believed by numismatists that all of the silver threepence coins of 1945 had been melted, until a single piece was found in 1970. No others have turned up in the intervening fifty years, with the sole exception of this high-grade example-just recently identified. It is one of the greatest British rarities of the twentieth century, and it remains to collectors as a hallmark distinguishing the end of the 500-fine silver coinage and the beginning of modern coins made of copper-nickel and brass.
(15000-25000 GBP)
This tiny coin, of exquisite rarity, is only the second known, the other piece (graded VF) having been sold in 1970. This is a recent discovery. As the Standard Catalogue of British Coins points out, this denomination was struck for homeland use from 1937-1941, the final few years of mintage having been made entirely for export to the West Indies colonies. The denomination had never actually been popular except in Scotland; as a thin, tiny coin, it was easily lost. The denomination was essentially replaced in 1937 by the brass threepence, which came to existence in the patterns of Edward VIII. Quickly modified for use under the authority of the new king, George VI, the brass coin was much larger, thick, twelve-sided, and easily picked out of the pocket-even in the dark. It proved to be so popular that the Committee on Coinage for the Royal Mint decided to suspend issuing the silver piece for homeland after 1941. All of the silver threepences dated 1942, 1943 and 1944 were thus shipped to the colonies. The same fate was intended for the silver pieces dated 1945, but a major change in the coinage metal intervened. The Coinage Act of 1946 (passed into law on 6 November) ended centuries of silver coins for Britain. It began a process which continued for years of sorting out all silver coins for melting. First, the vaults of the mint and the Bank of England were purged of silver, which clearly caused the melting of the 1945 silver threepences, recently minted. How any escaped remains for speculation. Did a few fall from hoppers? Did a mint employee decide to keep a few souvenirs? The culling of all silver from circulation continued for years, first by hand at individual banks, which then sent the coins to the mint; fairly soon, though, it was decided that the most efficient way to recall the silver was by automation inside the mint itself. Sensing this change, the public also began keeping aside old silver coins. By the 1960s it was a rare instance to find any silver in circulation. For these reasons it was universally believed by numismatists that all of the silver threepence coins of 1945 had been melted, until a single piece was found in 1970. No others have turned up in the intervening fifty years, with the sole exception of this high-grade example-just recently identified. It is one of the greatest British rarities of the twentieth century, and it remains to collectors as a hallmark distinguishing the end of the 500-fine silver coinage and the beginning of modern coins made of copper-nickel and brass.
(15000-25000 GBP)