Sovereign Rarities Ltd
Auction 7 21 Sep 2022
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MS61 | Edward VIII (1936), nickel-brass dodecagonal pattern Threepence, 1937, bare head left, HP below for designer T. Humphrey Paget, Latin legend surrounding, EDWARDVS VIII D: G: BR: OMN: REX F: D: IND: IMP., rev. thrift plant within circle, value THREE above, PENCE below, date split either side, weight 6.08g (S.4064B). Some toning, scratches and hairlines commensurate with moderate handling, otherwise well-preserved and pleasing, of the highest rarity, graded by NGC as MS61.
NGC Certification 4241976-007. Note: The NGC holder has split but the coin is still housed within.
The Latin legends translate as on obverse "Edward the Eighth, by the grace of God, King of all the Britons, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India".
Provenance: Ex Penn Collection, Heritage Auctions, 21 January 2021, lot 31245
The coinage of Edward VIII caused much controversy in development, mainly from Edward's refusal to follow the coinage tradition to face the opposite direction to his predecessor, as his father King George V had faced left. This tradition dated back to King Charles II who had wished to face the opposite way to Oliver Cromwell on his English coinage, and was followed by all succeeding monarchs, until Edward VIII who preferred his left facing profile. In Edward's memoirs there is an account of his own discussions with Sir Robert Johnson the Deputy Master (pp.293-294), between February and April 1936 revealing that the mint went as far as instructing Thomas Humphrey Paget the artist in favour, as he had impressed the King with his effigy upon the Master Mariner medal (Giordano CM139), to transfer the King's left side facial features to a right facing portrait (not including the hair in this transition) before Edward insisted, as was his privilege, for his left facing portrait only to feature on coins and stamps. Subsequently the Deputy Master had to report to the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the King insisted on facing left, which was approved.
Trial strikes of proposed coinage designs were shown to the King on 24th July 1936 for final approval, where he chose the bare head left facing effigy by T. H. Paget to represent him on the obverse of British coins, and a crowned bust by Percy Metcalfe for the Dominions. A series of heraldic designs were chosen for the reverses of the silver denominations designed by Kruger Gray with the classic St. George and dragon design after Pistrucci for the gold coinage reverses. In addition, a new brass Threepence was introduced featuring a thrift plant design by Madge Kitchener, notable for its radical new shape, having 12 sides. This dodecagonal form was adopted after testing of various scalloped designs. Because this was the first instance of a 12-sided coin in the history of British numismatic design, samples of the adopted flan were requested by the vending machine manufacturers in the UK to adapt their machinery to, with a large number of samples being produced and sent out by the Mint. The currency samples were supposed to be sent back to the Mint once the vending machine manufacturers had finished with them and many complied; however inevitably a few pieces did not find their way back to the Mint, leaving the legacy of the very few examples that change hands often privately from time to time amongst collectors.
This cataloguer has catalogued five separate examples of this coin in the 30 years including the piece herewith and it is thought perhaps only 5 to 8 examples are in private ownership, with perhaps a maximum of twelve in existence of varying thicknesses. The design and shape can be considered a success as a similar design was used for the reign of King George VI, and the shape of this denomination continued until the 1967 dated Threepence of our current Queen. Most recently the new One Pound decimal coin dated from 2016 has been issued with a dodecagonal flan and is considered a great success in combatting the problem of forgery due to its security features including wording on the 12-sided raised rim. Numismatists who were collecting in the 1950s and 1960s will recall hunting through their brass Threepences in the hope of finding an Edward VIII piece.
In Portraits of a Prince, Giordano reveals that the Duke of Windsor tried to obtain a set of the British proof coins featuring his portrait from the Royal Mint, as can be seen from a Royal Mint memorandum of 3 December 1951 (Giordano letter C, p.258). The request was deferred for an answer from George VI himself, who refused his elder brother's request. The Duke of Windsor died 25 May 1972. An unrivalled opportunity occurs now to bid for and own a piece of history, one of the only original portrait coins of this short-reigned king available to collectors.
For further reading of how the proposed coinage progressed from start till the King's abdication please see "The Proposed Coinage of Edward VIII" by G P Dyer, published by HMSO 1973. Portraits of a Prince – Coins Medals and Banknotes of Edward VIII, by Joseph S Giordano Jr, published 2009. A King's Story, The Memoirs of HRH The Duke of Windsor KG, published 1951.
Estimate: £30,000-50,000
NGC Certification 4241976-007. Note: The NGC holder has split but the coin is still housed within.
The Latin legends translate as on obverse "Edward the Eighth, by the grace of God, King of all the Britons, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India".
Provenance: Ex Penn Collection, Heritage Auctions, 21 January 2021, lot 31245
The coinage of Edward VIII caused much controversy in development, mainly from Edward's refusal to follow the coinage tradition to face the opposite direction to his predecessor, as his father King George V had faced left. This tradition dated back to King Charles II who had wished to face the opposite way to Oliver Cromwell on his English coinage, and was followed by all succeeding monarchs, until Edward VIII who preferred his left facing profile. In Edward's memoirs there is an account of his own discussions with Sir Robert Johnson the Deputy Master (pp.293-294), between February and April 1936 revealing that the mint went as far as instructing Thomas Humphrey Paget the artist in favour, as he had impressed the King with his effigy upon the Master Mariner medal (Giordano CM139), to transfer the King's left side facial features to a right facing portrait (not including the hair in this transition) before Edward insisted, as was his privilege, for his left facing portrait only to feature on coins and stamps. Subsequently the Deputy Master had to report to the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the King insisted on facing left, which was approved.
Trial strikes of proposed coinage designs were shown to the King on 24th July 1936 for final approval, where he chose the bare head left facing effigy by T. H. Paget to represent him on the obverse of British coins, and a crowned bust by Percy Metcalfe for the Dominions. A series of heraldic designs were chosen for the reverses of the silver denominations designed by Kruger Gray with the classic St. George and dragon design after Pistrucci for the gold coinage reverses. In addition, a new brass Threepence was introduced featuring a thrift plant design by Madge Kitchener, notable for its radical new shape, having 12 sides. This dodecagonal form was adopted after testing of various scalloped designs. Because this was the first instance of a 12-sided coin in the history of British numismatic design, samples of the adopted flan were requested by the vending machine manufacturers in the UK to adapt their machinery to, with a large number of samples being produced and sent out by the Mint. The currency samples were supposed to be sent back to the Mint once the vending machine manufacturers had finished with them and many complied; however inevitably a few pieces did not find their way back to the Mint, leaving the legacy of the very few examples that change hands often privately from time to time amongst collectors.
This cataloguer has catalogued five separate examples of this coin in the 30 years including the piece herewith and it is thought perhaps only 5 to 8 examples are in private ownership, with perhaps a maximum of twelve in existence of varying thicknesses. The design and shape can be considered a success as a similar design was used for the reign of King George VI, and the shape of this denomination continued until the 1967 dated Threepence of our current Queen. Most recently the new One Pound decimal coin dated from 2016 has been issued with a dodecagonal flan and is considered a great success in combatting the problem of forgery due to its security features including wording on the 12-sided raised rim. Numismatists who were collecting in the 1950s and 1960s will recall hunting through their brass Threepences in the hope of finding an Edward VIII piece.
In Portraits of a Prince, Giordano reveals that the Duke of Windsor tried to obtain a set of the British proof coins featuring his portrait from the Royal Mint, as can be seen from a Royal Mint memorandum of 3 December 1951 (Giordano letter C, p.258). The request was deferred for an answer from George VI himself, who refused his elder brother's request. The Duke of Windsor died 25 May 1972. An unrivalled opportunity occurs now to bid for and own a piece of history, one of the only original portrait coins of this short-reigned king available to collectors.
For further reading of how the proposed coinage progressed from start till the King's abdication please see "The Proposed Coinage of Edward VIII" by G P Dyer, published by HMSO 1973. Portraits of a Prince – Coins Medals and Banknotes of Edward VIII, by Joseph S Giordano Jr, published 2009. A King's Story, The Memoirs of HRH The Duke of Windsor KG, published 1951.
Estimate: £30,000-50,000