Spink
Auction 22109 4 May 2022
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(x) PCGS MS63 | James II (1685-1688), Crown, 1687 TERTIO, second laureate and draped bust left, rev. crowned shields cruciform, six strings to harp, large lettered edge downwards, 7h (Pywell-Phillips 117; Bull 743; ESC 78; Spink 3407), rub to hair and usual striking weakness to forepart of laurel wreath and to corresponding French shield, die rust in obverse field otherwise fully mint lustrous with dapples of tone, good very fine / extremely fine, albeit much as issued, in PCGS holder, surprisingly graded MS63 (Cert. #32791657).
Early milled issues are notoriously complicated to grade, with the variables of haymarking, mint flan adjustment and uneven striking pressure all contributing to a veritable minefield for the budding collector. This concatination of conditional concern is none so more apparent than in the emissions of James II. The present example exudes sufficient striking lustre to classify it in the upper percentiles of extant examples, but only cursory examination of the '63s' offered at global auction shows the sheer spread of striking quality for James' hairline, with the present admittedly amongst the weakest for the assigned grade. Nevertheless the freshness of the remaining surfaces in spite of the rub to hairline exposes this coin as a treasured keepsake of the last English Catholic monarch evidently saved soon after entering circulation, undoubtedly by a contemporary witness of the 'Bloodless Revolution' of the following year, when James II rather than his former kingdom was given a bloody nose, both literally and figuratively, with the arrival of William III of Orange and Mary II. In any case it is perhpas a pleasant surprise to see this coin rated so generously high by independent third party graders.
Estimate: £1500 - £2500
Early milled issues are notoriously complicated to grade, with the variables of haymarking, mint flan adjustment and uneven striking pressure all contributing to a veritable minefield for the budding collector. This concatination of conditional concern is none so more apparent than in the emissions of James II. The present example exudes sufficient striking lustre to classify it in the upper percentiles of extant examples, but only cursory examination of the '63s' offered at global auction shows the sheer spread of striking quality for James' hairline, with the present admittedly amongst the weakest for the assigned grade. Nevertheless the freshness of the remaining surfaces in spite of the rub to hairline exposes this coin as a treasured keepsake of the last English Catholic monarch evidently saved soon after entering circulation, undoubtedly by a contemporary witness of the 'Bloodless Revolution' of the following year, when James II rather than his former kingdom was given a bloody nose, both literally and figuratively, with the arrival of William III of Orange and Mary II. In any case it is perhpas a pleasant surprise to see this coin rated so generously high by independent third party graders.
Estimate: £1500 - £2500