Lot 2267
Great Britain. Proof gold Guinea, 1702. Queen Anne. Pre-Union First Bust. S-3562, listed without price as "extremely rare." WR-60, listed as R5, just 6 to 10 known in all states of preservation. Plain edge. Design by John Croker. Wilson and Rasmussen's plate coin does not appear to be as sparkling and mark-free as the wonderful specimen we are offering here in this lot. That says volumes, because they generally photograph the best coins they know of, including coins from the British Museum collection. Some of the 6 to 10 known are clearly in museums. The cataloguer has not seen those coins, nor the BM piece, but he did form the Terner Collection and, in some 22 years of eager price-is-no-object searching for the best British gold, never had a chance to buy a Proof 1702 guinea. Such experience supports the accuracy of the old saying that buying a great rarity such as this coin is indeed an opportunity that may only come once in a collecting lifetime. It's not hype. It's reality, truth. However, there are rarities and then there are rarities--great coins that are both ultra-rare and extra-nice. This specimen is what one collecting friend of the cataloguer calls a "cover coin," a coin that is important and handsome enough to occupy the cover of an auction catalogue all by itself. And some cover coin it is! Beautiful and alluring almost beyond words, it sparkles with mirrored-field brilliance, sports a crisp strike, and is made even more lovely by a delicate old-gold reddish toning. As a Proof, it is also struck on a slightly larger or "jumbo" flan compared to that used for a currency coin. Probably the finest known, and without a doubt one of the highlights of the remarkable Cheshire Collection. NGC graded Proof 63.
Estimated Value $17,500 - 22,500.
The Cheshire Collection.
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| Realized $18,400 |
