Lot 115
Great Britain. Half Broad, 1658. By Johann Sigismund Tanner. Oliver Cromwell. WR-41. Grained edge. This is the rarest of all Cromwell's gold coins, struck by Tanner in 1738 for collectors. No contemporary half broad was ever coined. The classic reference Numismata Cromwelliana, by Henry William Henfrey (London, 1877), notes that Tanner used Thomas Simon's 1650s punches for the portrait as well as the crowned shield of arms, which Simon had used for the sixpence coins (both still preserved in the Royal Mint die-collection), but invented the various other devices; it was because of such invention that the legends differ slightly from those of the coins struck during Cromwell's lifetime. The grained edge variety is R7: exceedingly rare, and obviously this specimen easily fits among the finest known. Henfrey knew of only 3 pieces made with the grained edge, citing such owners as the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. The half broad was so famously rare, even in the 19th century, that Henfrey had to examine such impounded coins as those owned by the Hermitage and British museums. PCGS graded MS-63.
Estimated Value $12,000 - 15,000.
This marvelous coin is ex Montague, Maynard, Murdoch, and Brand.
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| Realized $20,125 |
