Lot 2213
Great Britain. Crown, 1662. S.3350. Charles II. Obverse; First laureate draped bust right by John Roettier CAROLVS II DEI GRA, rose below bust. Reverse; Inverted die axis, crowned cruciform shields, with interlinked Cs in angles. Shields of England and France combined, royal garter star at centre MAG BR FRA ET HIB REX. Edge simply reads DECVS ET TVTAMEN in raised letters. Beautifully struck on a large and impressive flan. Light blue and golden toning over practically flawless surfaces which exhibit original mint lustre. Practically as struck, and with great eye appeal. A truly spectacular coin. We note that a 1662 Crown described as "a most pleasing extremely fine" sold for £52,080 ($67,000) in a March 2019 Spink London sale. Cracked out from PCGS AU Details - Cleaned holder. Estimate Value $13,000 - 15,000
*Charles II remained by his father's side in the early stages of the English Civil War, but from 1646 to 1649 he was, on his father's orders, sent abroad. It was in the Hague that the young Charles learned of his father's death when a fellow exile addressed him as 'Your Majesty,' and the response was that the young Prince burst into tears. After a brief return to England, Charles was pragmatic enough to realise that he was unlikely to unseat Oliver Cromwell, and he spent nearly a decade in exile.
Cromwell died in September 1658 and the nation grew restless. After a year and a half, in May 1660, welcomed by Parliament, Charles entered London to a stupendous welcome from the crowds who had twenty months earlier mourned the dead Cromwell.
Charles II was a popular monarch. Britain had grown restless, and the majority now resented the austerity of the Cromwellian era. Charles was a great patron of the arts, he paid attention to Cromwell's navy, and he founded the Royal Society which did much to further scientific enquiry and knowledge, graced by such figures as Sir Isaac Newton, Edmond Halley (of Halley's comet fame) and Robert Boyle who formulated 'Boyle's law' as the basis of chemistry. Charles II's companions were a group of hard drinking young men who including the Duke of Buckingham, Sir George Etherage and the Earl of Rochester. But they had a biting wit which showed itself in the Restoration drama of such playwrights as William Congreve, and in Rochester's poetry. Charles himself loved the theatre - among those he licensed was Drury Lane - and horse racing, which he established at Newmarket as the 'sport of kings.'.
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