Ira and Larry Goldberg Auctioneers
Auction 122 15-16 Jun 2021
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Great Britain. Sovereign, 1855. S.3852D; Fr-387e; KM-736.1. Weight 0.2355 ounce. Victoria. Young head. Reverse; Crowned shield. PCGS graded MS-62. In special PCGS Ship of Gold holder which contains One Pinch of Gold Dust recovered from the S.S. Central America treasure.
Special PCGS number 674149.62/35474681. Estimated Value $800 - UP
On the night of 15 May 1855, a train shipment of three boxes of gold coins and bullion from London to Paris was robbed by four men, William Tester, James Burgess, Edward Agar, and William Pierce. This high-profile robbery was known in contemporary papers as the Great Gold Robbery and involved the use of wax impressions of safe keys and inside involvement from employees of the South Eastern Railway. The robbers emptied the railway safes of some 224 pounds of gold valued at £12,000 at the time and left no clues for the authorities as to who had done it or even where the crime had taken place. There was dispute as to whether the robbery had taken place on the English or the French side of the Channel. However, when the career criminal Edward Agar was arrested on another crime, he asked Pierce to provide money to his girlfriend and child. When Pierce failed to help, she went to Newgate Prison and gave authorities there the names of the robbers. Abgar subsequently turned Queen's Evidence against his associates, who were all arrested and convicted. Pierce received a sentence of two-years' hard labor in England while Tester and Burgess suffered transportation to Australia for 14-years.
These criminal escapades of 1840 were later popularized by Michael Chrichton in the 1975 novel, The Great Train Robbery, and its 1979 film adaptation starring Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland.
Special PCGS number 674149.62/35474681. Estimated Value $800 - UP
On the night of 15 May 1855, a train shipment of three boxes of gold coins and bullion from London to Paris was robbed by four men, William Tester, James Burgess, Edward Agar, and William Pierce. This high-profile robbery was known in contemporary papers as the Great Gold Robbery and involved the use of wax impressions of safe keys and inside involvement from employees of the South Eastern Railway. The robbers emptied the railway safes of some 224 pounds of gold valued at £12,000 at the time and left no clues for the authorities as to who had done it or even where the crime had taken place. There was dispute as to whether the robbery had taken place on the English or the French side of the Channel. However, when the career criminal Edward Agar was arrested on another crime, he asked Pierce to provide money to his girlfriend and child. When Pierce failed to help, she went to Newgate Prison and gave authorities there the names of the robbers. Abgar subsequently turned Queen's Evidence against his associates, who were all arrested and convicted. Pierce received a sentence of two-years' hard labor in England while Tester and Burgess suffered transportation to Australia for 14-years.
These criminal escapades of 1840 were later popularized by Michael Chrichton in the 1975 novel, The Great Train Robbery, and its 1979 film adaptation starring Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland.