Lot 287
Great Britain. Sovereign of 20 Shillings, ND. S-2450. 10.71 grams. Edward VI, 1547-1553. Third Period (1551-1553). Crowned and armored half-figure right, holding sword and globus cruciger. Reverse: Crowned shield, with supporters. Tun mintmark. Well struck, with intricate details showing on the portrait. On a broad flan with full legends. An exceptionally choice EF. Very rare. NGC graded EF-40.
Edward VI, son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, was born in 1537. He ascended the throne at age nine, upon the death of his father. He was betrothed to his cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, but deteriorating English-Scot relations prohibited their marriage. The frail, Protestant boy died of consumption at age sixteen, having never married.
Economic hardship plagued England during Edward's rule and foreign relations were in a state of disarray. The new faith and the dissolution of the monasteries (effected by his cash-strapped father) had left a considerable population of ecclesiastical officials out of work at a time when unemployment soared. The enclosure of monastic lands as Crown property likewise deprived many peasants of their means of subsistence. The coinage lost value when new coins were minted from inferior metals, even as specie from the New World flooded English markets. The debasements that Henry initiated were continued sporadically under the regency of the minor king. So that no odium would be attached to the new reign, these coins still bore the portrait of King Henry. In 1551, when the duke of Northumberland was in charge of Edward's regency, a resolve was made to remedy the currency. This involved one more debasement, which gave officials almost enough bullion to coin an issue approaching the old sterling standard. The new coinage included a handsome new silver crown, the first English silver coin of thaler size, and a half crown. These impressive pieces were put to the public, as it were, as a pledge of reform of the currency. The new scheme did not quite work. The price of silver was still so high that it was tempting to hoard or melt down the new money. It wouldn't be until the time of Elizabeth that the currency problems would finally be resolved.
Estimated Value $12,000 - 15,000.
Ex Stack's Dec. 1998 sale, lot 301. Ex Dr Jacob Y. Terner Collection (by private treaty to the Millennia Collection).
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| Realized $20,125 |
