British Coins, Charles II, five guineas, 1675, VICESIMO SEPTIMO, elephant, first bust, laur. head r., elephant below, rev. crowned cruciform shields, sceptres in angles (S.3329; not in Schneider Collection), certified and graded by NGC as Mint State 62+ and without doubt one of the best preserved and most beautiful examples of the first style of milled five guineas, fully struck with bold details throughout, perfectly centred on a choice flan, almost entirely free of contact abrasions, and featuring stunning sun-red iridescent golden toning, the finest certified and a masterpiece of the milled coinage!
*ex Sovereign Rarities 1 (25 September.2018), lot 65, realised £161,000 (inc. premium)
Samuel King, Spink 173 (5 May .2005), lot 98, realised £14,500, described 'as struck'
R. Strauss, Sotheby (26 May 1994), lot 171, realised £8,620, described as 'good extremely fine'
Lady Duveen, Glendining (29 September 1964), lot 87 realised £1,000, described as 'brilliant and toned, one of the finest known, very rare'
Glendining (26 June 1963), lot 4, realised £850
The following additional provenances are likely attributable to the coin, given the exceptional quality of the piece, however, as the coin was not photographed in the catalogues, we cannot be certain.:
Brunning, Sotheby (18 March 1908), lot 17, 'brilliant and rare', £7-2s-6d, bt. Spink. Noted as 'from the Martin, Rostron and Lady Buckley collections'
Lady Buckley, Sotheby (4 May 1906), lot 32, 'Brilliant and rare'
Simpson Rostron, Sotheby (16 May 1892), lot 373, £9-5s-0d, 'Brilliant.' Noted by Henderson in his copy of this sale (seen at the Fitzwilliam Museum), 'a beautiful piece: bought for Lady Buckley at whose sale it was bought by Mr. Brunning of Brighton.'
Rev. J. W. Martin, Sotheby (23 May 1859), lot 317, £8-2s-6d
On the basis of the above evidence, this is probably by far the best of the six known examples and certainly the only one exhibiting this degree of brilliance.
England's modern coins, produced by the mill-and-screw process, first appeared towards the end of 1663. The transition was time-consuming, commencing with the order of 17 January 1662 which instructed removal of Blondeau's machinery from Drury House and transferring it to the Royal Mint. Far more room was needed than had been true under the hammering process: stables for horses, rolling mills, an edging machine, and the seven coining presses. First struck were the silver crowns, all dated 1662. Appearing next were the gleaming new gold pounds (later called guineas), each worth four of the silver crowns, but it was a limited supply made from just 27 pounds and 8 ounces of gold, all struck during December 1663 and so dated. These coins were so impressive as pieces of money that they were never revalued by warrant, although their nominal value varied from 21-shillings initially to 22-shillings by the 1670s. A larger coin, the double-guinea, appeared in 1664, most pieces also made from the scant amount of old gold melted and re-coined by the mint into the new money. The coins were stunning compared to the earlier money, but few were to be seen across the kingdom. The problem was the lack of gold ore. Then came salvation.
The 'Company of Royal Adventurers of England Trading with Africa' was incorporated by royal charter of 10 January 1663. A second charter of 27 September 1672 renamed it the 'Royal African Company of England', and granted the company a monopoly to trade in Africa. The charters were held by the royal family and profits were to be shared with the king and his younger brother, James, Duke of York. For the first few years the company traded British manufactured goods to the African tribes for ivory, rare woods and wax, but its principal purpose from the beginning was to obtain gold from the Ashanti peoples who worked the gold fields up the Gambia River. At first the gold was scant, but by 1668 the imported raw gold was sufficient to begin minting more coins, and bigger coins. The finest of all were the five guineas, first seen in 1668. One of the early warrants (dated 24 December 1663) permitted the use of the company's badge, an elephant, to be placed beneath the king's image. This hallmark was inconsistently used, its purpose being to encourage the company to continue to sell gold to the Royal Mint, for the company was not obligated to do so. Many coins of the four gold denominations made from this ore were so hallmarked, but not all. Beginning in 1675, a tiny castle was added to the top of the elephant, most likely in deference to the king's dominant ownership of the company. Fewest made were the largest coins, the majority of which were exchanged amongst banks or used in large commercial transactions; not many reached the public at large. In the following centuries, most of these magnificent coins perished as a source of gold required to make new coins as monarchs replaced each other in succession. Relatively few were ever made, and far fewer survived the ages. The coin here offered for sale is not only very rare but it is also truly an emblem of its extraordinary times.