Spink USA
Auction 382 15 Jan 2023
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Henry VIII (1509-1547), Second Coinage, 'Double Ryal' or Sovereign of 20-Shillings, 1541, New Obverse Die, reads FRANE for FRANC in error, (m.m.) hEnRICVS : DEI : GRACIA x REX | AnGLIE : ET x FRAnE x' DnS hIB', saltire stops, King enthroned, holding sword and sceptre, fretted throne back, the crown with more elaborate leaves and the arch above decorated with small crosses not plain bosses and the ornamental border with fleurs below each chain instead of pellets, rev. (m.m.) IhESUS : AVTEM : TRANSIENS : PER : MEDIVM : ILLORVM : IBAT, Royal shield set on Tudor Rose inside ornate floral tressure, alternating leopards and lys in inner spandrels, plain in outer spandrels, 15.01g. 11h, m.m. lis/arrow (BNJ, 1949 - Whitton pp. 69, no. 17 [dies O2/R7]; Bruun [1925] 549 = Heath [1937] 12 same dies; North 1782; Spink 2267), edges made round where removed from mount, a tiny repair above crown, otherwise bright but residually lustrous, the strike surprisingly uniform and regular with only minor softness to peripheries and below shield, struck details generally better than fine, in some areas approaching very fine, nevertheless an excessively rare die pairing, the only example of this combination to appear at commerce in decades.
Provenance
SJA 59, 26 April 2022, lot 7 - wherein graded NGC XF-Details ~ Plugged (Cert. #6133237-003)
SJA 55, 26 January 2022, lot 26 [unsold]
Glendining, 19-20 June 1990, lot 843 - has been mounted, about fine, very rare - £1,350
SCMB, June 1986, EG36* - has been mounted at 12 o'clock on obverse and sweated and is slightly reduced in weight (231.6gns.), otherwise fine and a rare opportunity to purchase such a classic scarce piece - £1,500
Whitton in his landmark thesis for the British Numismatic Journal (1949, pp. 57-89), opined: "O2 ; i.m. Lis, the new Lis die, i.e. not struck over Sunburst, and used probably while O1c was being repaired. The design of the king's crown is new, the base being now adorned with three more elaborate leaves and the arch above decorated with small crosses instead of the plain bosses on the old die. The left-hand chain of the portcullis at the king's feet is differently arranged and the ornamental border shows fleurs, contrasted with the previous pellets, below each chain; below the portcullis are three saltires; the legend shows the error Frane for Franc. Whitton identified its pairing with R4 and R6 (m.m. lis), and with only this (R7) of the two possible m.m. arrow dies. In the near eight decades that have elapsed since the Whitton thesis, only this and the Bruun-Heath coin have been recorded with authority
Estimate: $12000 - $15000
Provenance
SJA 59, 26 April 2022, lot 7 - wherein graded NGC XF-Details ~ Plugged (Cert. #6133237-003)
SJA 55, 26 January 2022, lot 26 [unsold]
Glendining, 19-20 June 1990, lot 843 - has been mounted, about fine, very rare - £1,350
SCMB, June 1986, EG36* - has been mounted at 12 o'clock on obverse and sweated and is slightly reduced in weight (231.6gns.), otherwise fine and a rare opportunity to purchase such a classic scarce piece - £1,500
Whitton in his landmark thesis for the British Numismatic Journal (1949, pp. 57-89), opined: "O2 ; i.m. Lis, the new Lis die, i.e. not struck over Sunburst, and used probably while O1c was being repaired. The design of the king's crown is new, the base being now adorned with three more elaborate leaves and the arch above decorated with small crosses instead of the plain bosses on the old die. The left-hand chain of the portcullis at the king's feet is differently arranged and the ornamental border shows fleurs, contrasted with the previous pellets, below each chain; below the portcullis are three saltires; the legend shows the error Frane for Franc. Whitton identified its pairing with R4 and R6 (m.m. lis), and with only this (R7) of the two possible m.m. arrow dies. In the near eight decades that have elapsed since the Whitton thesis, only this and the Bruun-Heath coin have been recorded with authority
Estimate: $12000 - $15000