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NYINC Signature Sale 3030 5-6 January 2014
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Scotland
James VI (1567-1625) gold Thistle Noble ND (1588), S-5456, Quatrefoil mm, 5th Coinage of 1588, valued at issue at 146 shillings and 8 pence, or 11 merks, 116.8 grains, 0.243 Troy oz, nearly pure gold, very rare, uncertified, lustrous AU, slight discernible wear, long flan crease and faint crack but sound, small area outside of the inner beaded circle on each side missing detail (possibly the result of striking through grease, possibly smoothed), but the flan is fairly broad and nearly round, the strike is sharp overall and mostly clear (slight doubling on the lion within the royal shield on the ship), the surfaces are choice and remarkably without abrasions -- clearly, this coin was saved at issue. All in all, a beautiful example of this classic rarity, seen only occasionally in any condition. This specimen compares favorably to the Spink plate coin and is close in sharpness to the Burns plate coin (Edward Burns, The Coinage of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1887, volume 3, plate LXIX, number 951), which interestingly is cracked in exactly the same place as this specimen. An important offering of this classic Scottish rarity.The golden Noble was first issued in England during the reign of Edward III (1327-77) beginning in the year 1344. Its purpose was to facilitate trade with Flanders in the wool market. Scotland had no such market, and gold tended to be issued only occasionally, each design type lasting briefly. A decade after Mary Queen of Scots' son James (born June 19, 1566, from her union with Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley) acceded to the Scottish throne upon his mother's abdication on July 24, 1567, gold was first issued in large denominations, the heaviest being the famous £20 piece of 1575-76. Mostly the gold coins were of the normal size in Scotland, averaging 25 to 80 shillings in value in various denominations. The Lion Nobles (worth 75 shillings) of 1584-88 were suddenly supplemented by 1588's 5th Coinage of the Thistle Noble, valued at 146s 8d -- equivalent in gold weight to the present-day Sovereign, which represented a massive amount of buying power in its day. It was struck in only one year, and no similarly large gold coin was struck again until after James became dual monarch of Scotland and England in 1603, when his well-known gold Unit (or Unite in England) began to appear, valued at the sterling equivalent of £1, the same as the Thistle Noble but of slightly less fine gold (22 ct versus 23 1/3 ct for the Thistle Noble), and suddenly, as Burns noted, "the thistle nobles were decidedly overvalued" and many were "received at the mint" later in the reign, which surely accounts in part for the rarity of this earlier Scottish gold coin.The Thistle Noble was modeled on Edward III's piece but differs significantly not only in its unique legends. The ship is more detailed, and in place of the visage of the king at its center appears the Scots royal crest; the ship bears two flags, holding the king's "J 6" title abbreviated (the master's arms, stated the Act of Privy Council of September 13, which ordered the coin to be made), and a central thistle in the waves below the shield. "On some pieces a saltire indented on the small flag above the ship is observable," states Burns, and it appears on the present specimen. The coin's name is mostly derived from the thistle marks appearing on the reverse side, the largest above the central cross, and a smaller thistle decorates each angle of the tressure, which is internally festooned with four crowned lions passant and four crowns with a cross on top of each. The combination of legends is distinctive to this issue. On the obverse, the king's title is the normal IACOBVS 6 DEI GRATIA REX SCOTORUM, but the reverse's religious legend reads FLORENT SCEPTRA PIIS REGNA HIS IOVA DAT NUMERATQUE, the Latin translating as "Sceptres flourish with the pius, Jehovah gives them kingdoms and numbers them." The central cross of this side consists of two crossed sceptres upon which is laid a flowering Scottish thistle.
Estimate: 5000-7000 USD
James VI (1567-1625) gold Thistle Noble ND (1588), S-5456, Quatrefoil mm, 5th Coinage of 1588, valued at issue at 146 shillings and 8 pence, or 11 merks, 116.8 grains, 0.243 Troy oz, nearly pure gold, very rare, uncertified, lustrous AU, slight discernible wear, long flan crease and faint crack but sound, small area outside of the inner beaded circle on each side missing detail (possibly the result of striking through grease, possibly smoothed), but the flan is fairly broad and nearly round, the strike is sharp overall and mostly clear (slight doubling on the lion within the royal shield on the ship), the surfaces are choice and remarkably without abrasions -- clearly, this coin was saved at issue. All in all, a beautiful example of this classic rarity, seen only occasionally in any condition. This specimen compares favorably to the Spink plate coin and is close in sharpness to the Burns plate coin (Edward Burns, The Coinage of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1887, volume 3, plate LXIX, number 951), which interestingly is cracked in exactly the same place as this specimen. An important offering of this classic Scottish rarity.The golden Noble was first issued in England during the reign of Edward III (1327-77) beginning in the year 1344. Its purpose was to facilitate trade with Flanders in the wool market. Scotland had no such market, and gold tended to be issued only occasionally, each design type lasting briefly. A decade after Mary Queen of Scots' son James (born June 19, 1566, from her union with Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley) acceded to the Scottish throne upon his mother's abdication on July 24, 1567, gold was first issued in large denominations, the heaviest being the famous £20 piece of 1575-76. Mostly the gold coins were of the normal size in Scotland, averaging 25 to 80 shillings in value in various denominations. The Lion Nobles (worth 75 shillings) of 1584-88 were suddenly supplemented by 1588's 5th Coinage of the Thistle Noble, valued at 146s 8d -- equivalent in gold weight to the present-day Sovereign, which represented a massive amount of buying power in its day. It was struck in only one year, and no similarly large gold coin was struck again until after James became dual monarch of Scotland and England in 1603, when his well-known gold Unit (or Unite in England) began to appear, valued at the sterling equivalent of £1, the same as the Thistle Noble but of slightly less fine gold (22 ct versus 23 1/3 ct for the Thistle Noble), and suddenly, as Burns noted, "the thistle nobles were decidedly overvalued" and many were "received at the mint" later in the reign, which surely accounts in part for the rarity of this earlier Scottish gold coin.The Thistle Noble was modeled on Edward III's piece but differs significantly not only in its unique legends. The ship is more detailed, and in place of the visage of the king at its center appears the Scots royal crest; the ship bears two flags, holding the king's "J 6" title abbreviated (the master's arms, stated the Act of Privy Council of September 13, which ordered the coin to be made), and a central thistle in the waves below the shield. "On some pieces a saltire indented on the small flag above the ship is observable," states Burns, and it appears on the present specimen. The coin's name is mostly derived from the thistle marks appearing on the reverse side, the largest above the central cross, and a smaller thistle decorates each angle of the tressure, which is internally festooned with four crowned lions passant and four crowns with a cross on top of each. The combination of legends is distinctive to this issue. On the obverse, the king's title is the normal IACOBVS 6 DEI GRATIA REX SCOTORUM, but the reverse's religious legend reads FLORENT SCEPTRA PIIS REGNA HIS IOVA DAT NUMERATQUE, the Latin translating as "Sceptres flourish with the pius, Jehovah gives them kingdoms and numbers them." The central cross of this side consists of two crossed sceptres upon which is laid a flowering Scottish thistle.
Estimate: 5000-7000 USD