Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3037 Sess. 2-4 5 January 2015
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Great Britain
Victoria gold Proof 'Una and the Lion' 5 Pounds 1839 PR64 Deep Cameo PCGS, KM742, S-3851, WR-278. DIRIGE legend, medal rotation. By William Wyon. Though a very rare coin, with a mintage of just 400, there are a number of varieties of 'Una and the Lion' 5 pounds; indeed, Wilson and Rasmussen identify a total of nine different varieties. While each has its own rarity rating in their book, ranging from R2 to R7, these are essentially irrelevant to the collector because of the overall rarity of the type. In other words, it would be nearly impossible for a collector to collect Una and the Lion 5 pounds by real varieties, so it is most useful to look at them in the aggregate, without paying too much attention to specific edge lettering differences and other minor such details. Between NGC and PCGS, there have been a total of 60 examples certified in all grades. Without making a distinction between services or cameo designations, the breakdown by grade is as follows:PR60: 1PR61: 3PR62: 18PR63: 32PR64: 6**There are no examples graded higher than PR64. What this shows is just how rare the PR64 grade is for this large gold masterpiece, with only the top 10% of the graded population being 64's. Within that grade level, however, we need to control for "cameo effect" designation. Assuming an equivalency between NGC's Ultra Cameo and PCGS's Deep Cameo descriptives, there have been 2 examples graded just PR64, 1 graded PR64 Cameo, and 3 graded PR64 Ultra/Deep Cameo. In other words, if PR64 represents the top 10% of the Una & the Lion population, and PR64 Ultra/Deep Cameo represents the top 50% of that, then the present coin can be ranked in the top 5% of all certified examples of this type, and tied with just two others for that honor. The eye-appeal of this piece certainly supports that. Starkly frosted devices and highly reflective surfaces with minimal hairlines make this a real beauty in hand. Extremely rare and highly desirable, especially with this being tied for the finest certified example.
Estimate: 150000-175000 USD
Victoria gold Proof 'Una and the Lion' 5 Pounds 1839 PR64 Deep Cameo PCGS, KM742, S-3851, WR-278. DIRIGE legend, medal rotation. By William Wyon. Though a very rare coin, with a mintage of just 400, there are a number of varieties of 'Una and the Lion' 5 pounds; indeed, Wilson and Rasmussen identify a total of nine different varieties. While each has its own rarity rating in their book, ranging from R2 to R7, these are essentially irrelevant to the collector because of the overall rarity of the type. In other words, it would be nearly impossible for a collector to collect Una and the Lion 5 pounds by real varieties, so it is most useful to look at them in the aggregate, without paying too much attention to specific edge lettering differences and other minor such details. Between NGC and PCGS, there have been a total of 60 examples certified in all grades. Without making a distinction between services or cameo designations, the breakdown by grade is as follows:PR60: 1PR61: 3PR62: 18PR63: 32PR64: 6**There are no examples graded higher than PR64. What this shows is just how rare the PR64 grade is for this large gold masterpiece, with only the top 10% of the graded population being 64's. Within that grade level, however, we need to control for "cameo effect" designation. Assuming an equivalency between NGC's Ultra Cameo and PCGS's Deep Cameo descriptives, there have been 2 examples graded just PR64, 1 graded PR64 Cameo, and 3 graded PR64 Ultra/Deep Cameo. In other words, if PR64 represents the top 10% of the Una & the Lion population, and PR64 Ultra/Deep Cameo represents the top 50% of that, then the present coin can be ranked in the top 5% of all certified examples of this type, and tied with just two others for that honor. The eye-appeal of this piece certainly supports that. Starkly frosted devices and highly reflective surfaces with minimal hairlines make this a real beauty in hand. Extremely rare and highly desirable, especially with this being tied for the finest certified example.
Estimate: 150000-175000 USD