Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3030 5-6 January 2014
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Great Britain
Edward VI (1547-53) gold Sovereign ND, of 20 Shillings, S-2450, North-1927 (very rare), Crowned half-length portrait holding sword and orb, 3rd Period of 1550-53, Tun mm (struck 1551-53), VF35 NGC, a pleasing example of this type, evenly worn with clarity to the motifs and nearly perfect legends, including a crisply detailed Tun initial mark on each side, the flan broad but slightly wavy and a touch off center on the obverse, no damage or abusive marks, luster remaining within letters of the legends, slight alloy porosity under the lion's belly on reverse. Considerable eye-appeal for this grade level.The gold and especially the silver coins of this brief reign vary in fineness as much as any coinage of any English monarch. This variance, together with distinctive changes in portraiture, has caused the mint's issues to be divided into three periods. The earliest coins of Edward VI reflect the debasement that was a characteristic of the end of Henry VIII's reign. Edward's father was a lavish spender all his life, and over time he went through his own father's large treasury. Not only did Henry spend like a madman on his Court but he also committed his nation to huge, ongoing expenditures abroad. The result was chaos. The silver in particular was of very poor quality from the 1540s. The boy-king's mint-masters inherited the problem, and had no choice but to continue to make debased coins during the first two periods of this reign, from 1547 into about the middle of December 1550. Poor alloys often meant poor quality of strike, too. For today's collectors that means finding a fine portrait coin, in any metal, of Edward VI from these first two periods is a real challenge. The beautiful Half Sovereign (S-2435) seen elsewhere in this auction is therefore outstanding in this respect. This difficulty was resolved within the first few months of the 3rd Coinage period, and Edward's coins made from 1551 to 1553 generally offer finer images and higher content of precious metals. Slowly, the treasury recovered from Henry's wild spending. The gold of his son was 20-ct pure in the 1st Period, then 22-ct pure in the 2nd Period, and finally 23-ct 3.5 gr pure in the 3rd Period (or almost pure gold) but not for every denomination. This variance of course caused the worst to come to the fore in human beings. Some of the early, base silver was counter-stamped with images of a greyhound or of a portcullis, an attempt by the mint to assure the public that those coins would be accepted by the treasury at full face value. This practice continued into the reign of Elizabeth. In the 3rd Period, the silver coins were all given a consistent, higher purity that was actually better than the standard .925-fine "sterling," and these met with commercial success. The gold coins fared differently. Most of the early gold was melted, while the later gold of higher pureness circulated long and hard, proven by their general scarcity and by the rarity of well-preserved pieces. The gold Sovereign of 20 Shillings, as seen in this lot, however, was made of 20-ct gold. That was done in order to differentiate it from the larger Sovereign of 30 Shillings. J.J. North indicates that this coin type continued to circulate at face until about 1560, when Queen Elizabeth, embarrassed by the state of the treasury she inherited, called for the melting of all coins of inferior gold and silver content. No one today knows how many long-portrait gold Sovereigns of the unlucky Edward VI were turned into molten gold, but judging by the rarity of these coins it must not have been few.
Estimate: 15000-20000 USD
Edward VI (1547-53) gold Sovereign ND, of 20 Shillings, S-2450, North-1927 (very rare), Crowned half-length portrait holding sword and orb, 3rd Period of 1550-53, Tun mm (struck 1551-53), VF35 NGC, a pleasing example of this type, evenly worn with clarity to the motifs and nearly perfect legends, including a crisply detailed Tun initial mark on each side, the flan broad but slightly wavy and a touch off center on the obverse, no damage or abusive marks, luster remaining within letters of the legends, slight alloy porosity under the lion's belly on reverse. Considerable eye-appeal for this grade level.The gold and especially the silver coins of this brief reign vary in fineness as much as any coinage of any English monarch. This variance, together with distinctive changes in portraiture, has caused the mint's issues to be divided into three periods. The earliest coins of Edward VI reflect the debasement that was a characteristic of the end of Henry VIII's reign. Edward's father was a lavish spender all his life, and over time he went through his own father's large treasury. Not only did Henry spend like a madman on his Court but he also committed his nation to huge, ongoing expenditures abroad. The result was chaos. The silver in particular was of very poor quality from the 1540s. The boy-king's mint-masters inherited the problem, and had no choice but to continue to make debased coins during the first two periods of this reign, from 1547 into about the middle of December 1550. Poor alloys often meant poor quality of strike, too. For today's collectors that means finding a fine portrait coin, in any metal, of Edward VI from these first two periods is a real challenge. The beautiful Half Sovereign (S-2435) seen elsewhere in this auction is therefore outstanding in this respect. This difficulty was resolved within the first few months of the 3rd Coinage period, and Edward's coins made from 1551 to 1553 generally offer finer images and higher content of precious metals. Slowly, the treasury recovered from Henry's wild spending. The gold of his son was 20-ct pure in the 1st Period, then 22-ct pure in the 2nd Period, and finally 23-ct 3.5 gr pure in the 3rd Period (or almost pure gold) but not for every denomination. This variance of course caused the worst to come to the fore in human beings. Some of the early, base silver was counter-stamped with images of a greyhound or of a portcullis, an attempt by the mint to assure the public that those coins would be accepted by the treasury at full face value. This practice continued into the reign of Elizabeth. In the 3rd Period, the silver coins were all given a consistent, higher purity that was actually better than the standard .925-fine "sterling," and these met with commercial success. The gold coins fared differently. Most of the early gold was melted, while the later gold of higher pureness circulated long and hard, proven by their general scarcity and by the rarity of well-preserved pieces. The gold Sovereign of 20 Shillings, as seen in this lot, however, was made of 20-ct gold. That was done in order to differentiate it from the larger Sovereign of 30 Shillings. J.J. North indicates that this coin type continued to circulate at face until about 1560, when Queen Elizabeth, embarrassed by the state of the treasury she inherited, called for the melting of all coins of inferior gold and silver content. No one today knows how many long-portrait gold Sovereigns of the unlucky Edward VI were turned into molten gold, but judging by the rarity of these coins it must not have been few.
Estimate: 15000-20000 USD