Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3030 5-6 January 2014
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Great Britain
George II gold 5 Guineas 1729-E.I.C., S-3664, Young laureate Head, Tertio edge, MS62 NGC, a glittering specimen, struck with reflective luster, the flan ideal without flaws, the images perfectly centered on each side with fairly consistent raised rims, the king's portrait really sharp in detail with but a single short adjustment through the hair by his ear, on the reverse his royal shield unusually bold in detail, the legends all crisp, as is the E.I.C. hallmark beneath his portrait, the only adjustments on the reverse done prior to striking and now just vague ghosts in the luster -- and it is the luster which overwhelms the viewer's eye, making the tiny abrasions on the surfaces all but fade away. Added to these wonderful qualities is a beautiful reddish gold color to the gold. It might be graded "MS62" but this is a really choice coin for a 1729-E.I.C. 5-guineas, and in fact, looking hard, we cannot locate auction records for any finer piece, or indeed for any coin this choice.The blood-lines of the English monarchs were curiously enriched in 1714 upon the passing of Queen Anne. All of her 14 children died before she did, and that meant that Parliament was charged with the need to select her successor. But Parliament was divided, especially as concerns the Scots ministers. Anne's half-brother was James Stuart, and a Catholic -- known in his day as both James III and the Old Pretender. The English Parliament wanted nothing to do with the old Jacobite divisiveness which had festered at the time of George II's birth in 1683. That potential for civil war had been quashed by the selection of William III and his wife, Mary, to succeed the Catholic deposed king James II. The Bloodless Revolution saved England from strife, but its peace potentially ended upon the death of the last Stuart, Queen Anne, in 1714. After much debate and even threat of battle, Parliament chose a successor to the English throne, a woman of great ancestry including the Stuart line, the Empress Sophia of Hanover. She would have become Queen Sophia of Great Britain had she not collapsed in her gardens in Germany and died at age 83. But the choice had been made, and the title fell to her son, Prince George, who thus became King George I of England among a long list of his titles which included his most powerful position as Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. His coronation was met by rioting throughout England, but he proved a beneficent king who seldom visited England. All of his titles appeared in abbreviated Latin on his English coins. He lived not long as king, however, and in 1727 his English throne was left to his only child, who dutifully became King George II. He lived in Britain and soon left his Germanic ancestry behind him, preferring the English, and securing the monarchy for his family. He spoke perfect English and among his kingly passions was the military. In fact, he was the last English monarch to personally lead troops in battle. His coins have become classics of numismatics, with several famed issues bearing distinctive hallmarks. Perhaps the boldest, and chronologically the first, was the series of gold coins marked on their dies with raised letters "E.I.C." prominently displayed under the king's neckline. These initials stood for the East India Company, which was a London-based trading organization chartered in 1600 by Elizabeth I. It reached the zenith of its influence and wealth during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 in the reign of Queen Victoria, finally being dissolved in 1874. In the 1720s, though, its reach was expanding into the Indian subcontinent, and its full legal name was the Honourable East India Company. It traded for all sorts of basic commodities. Its owners were merchants of immense wealth and aristocrats. It would come to rule vast regions of the Indian continent and maintain control using its own private armies, and would issue a number of coins over many decades bearing its name and made from ore it supplied. The first was this large gold coin, and others in the guinea series, made of specie supplied to the Royal Mint by the company. England became a rich nation during the reign of Elizabeth I but not a dominant player on the world scene until the 18th century. In a manner of speaking, this splendid gold coin was an "announcement" of the empire to come.
Estimate: 20000-25000 USD
George II gold 5 Guineas 1729-E.I.C., S-3664, Young laureate Head, Tertio edge, MS62 NGC, a glittering specimen, struck with reflective luster, the flan ideal without flaws, the images perfectly centered on each side with fairly consistent raised rims, the king's portrait really sharp in detail with but a single short adjustment through the hair by his ear, on the reverse his royal shield unusually bold in detail, the legends all crisp, as is the E.I.C. hallmark beneath his portrait, the only adjustments on the reverse done prior to striking and now just vague ghosts in the luster -- and it is the luster which overwhelms the viewer's eye, making the tiny abrasions on the surfaces all but fade away. Added to these wonderful qualities is a beautiful reddish gold color to the gold. It might be graded "MS62" but this is a really choice coin for a 1729-E.I.C. 5-guineas, and in fact, looking hard, we cannot locate auction records for any finer piece, or indeed for any coin this choice.The blood-lines of the English monarchs were curiously enriched in 1714 upon the passing of Queen Anne. All of her 14 children died before she did, and that meant that Parliament was charged with the need to select her successor. But Parliament was divided, especially as concerns the Scots ministers. Anne's half-brother was James Stuart, and a Catholic -- known in his day as both James III and the Old Pretender. The English Parliament wanted nothing to do with the old Jacobite divisiveness which had festered at the time of George II's birth in 1683. That potential for civil war had been quashed by the selection of William III and his wife, Mary, to succeed the Catholic deposed king James II. The Bloodless Revolution saved England from strife, but its peace potentially ended upon the death of the last Stuart, Queen Anne, in 1714. After much debate and even threat of battle, Parliament chose a successor to the English throne, a woman of great ancestry including the Stuart line, the Empress Sophia of Hanover. She would have become Queen Sophia of Great Britain had she not collapsed in her gardens in Germany and died at age 83. But the choice had been made, and the title fell to her son, Prince George, who thus became King George I of England among a long list of his titles which included his most powerful position as Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. His coronation was met by rioting throughout England, but he proved a beneficent king who seldom visited England. All of his titles appeared in abbreviated Latin on his English coins. He lived not long as king, however, and in 1727 his English throne was left to his only child, who dutifully became King George II. He lived in Britain and soon left his Germanic ancestry behind him, preferring the English, and securing the monarchy for his family. He spoke perfect English and among his kingly passions was the military. In fact, he was the last English monarch to personally lead troops in battle. His coins have become classics of numismatics, with several famed issues bearing distinctive hallmarks. Perhaps the boldest, and chronologically the first, was the series of gold coins marked on their dies with raised letters "E.I.C." prominently displayed under the king's neckline. These initials stood for the East India Company, which was a London-based trading organization chartered in 1600 by Elizabeth I. It reached the zenith of its influence and wealth during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 in the reign of Queen Victoria, finally being dissolved in 1874. In the 1720s, though, its reach was expanding into the Indian subcontinent, and its full legal name was the Honourable East India Company. It traded for all sorts of basic commodities. Its owners were merchants of immense wealth and aristocrats. It would come to rule vast regions of the Indian continent and maintain control using its own private armies, and would issue a number of coins over many decades bearing its name and made from ore it supplied. The first was this large gold coin, and others in the guinea series, made of specie supplied to the Royal Mint by the company. England became a rich nation during the reign of Elizabeth I but not a dominant player on the world scene until the 18th century. In a manner of speaking, this splendid gold coin was an "announcement" of the empire to come.
Estimate: 20000-25000 USD