Lot 1105
James II (1685-88), gold Five Guineas. Struck from 22 carat gold supplied by the African Company, 1687, elephant and castle below first laureate head left, Latin legend and toothed border surrounding, IACOBVS. II. DEI. GRATIA, rev. crowned cruciform shields, scepters in angles, date either side of top crown, Latin legend and toothed border surrounding.MAG. BR. FRA. ET. HIB REX. edge inscribed in raised letters, +.DECVS. ET. TVTAMEN. ANNO. REGNI. TERTIO.+., weight 41.72g (Schneider 452; MCE 118 VR; S 3398; Fr 293; KM 460.2). A number of small pin prick marks on obverse field and cheek of King, a few more on reverse, weak on the high points and weak strike on tip of neck and corresponding part of reverse on 16 of date, otherwise with an attractive red tone in PCGS holder graded AU Detail (Damage), extremely rare. Estimated Value $30,000
PCGS certification 34313308. The Samuel King Survey co-written by this cataloguer and published in May 2005 recorded only 38 examples traded in commerce over a 45 year period, making this the second rarest Five Guineas of King James II. In fact since the Samuel King sale, only five examples have come up for sale by auction in the succeeding period, and this coin is now a sixth to add to the list. Significantly the largest group of Five Guineas ever sold did not contain an example of this variety of Five Guinea. This coin was once part of the A H Baldwin "basement stock" of coins that had been put aside for their rarity. The old claim to the French Kingdom dating back to the time of the Wars of the Roses, when King Henry VI had regnal jurisdiction over a portion of France, and a number of Mints including Paris. Subsequently the last French possession of Calais had been physically lost in the time of Mary Tudor on January 7th 1557/8.
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