Watch List notes:

SCOTLAND. Half Rider, ND (1475-83). James III. NGC EF-45.
S-5260; Fr-14; Burns-2. (fig. 620). Weight: 2.41 gms. Type II, King Left, Lis Below Arm. Impeccably executed with ideal centering and superior sharpness. Struck from rusted dies with a small striking split at 1 o'clock on the obverse. The beaded borders are virtually complete on both sides and the legends are fully intact. Pleasing warm apricot tone with considerable luster in the protected areas. An IMPORTANT RARITY among Scottish gold.

The gold rider represented an entirely new denomination issued by James III, though it was short lived and was replaced by the Unicorn circa 1484. Burns associated these half riders with the issue of five-pointed mullet groats introduced circa 1482, indicating a very short window of production of perhaps three or four years. This could explain the great rarity of this issue, of which only four distinct specimens can be traced over the past two decades. This example is surely one the finest extant, comparing favorably to both the Murray coin (Very Fine) and the LaRiviere coin (Good Fine).

From the Loch Ness Collection.

Estimate: $12000 - $18000