Lot 317
Great Britain. Tanner's Pattern Crown, 1658. S-3226B. ESC-13. By Tanner. Oliver Cromwell. Laureate and draped bust of Cromwell left. Reverse: Crowned shield of the Protectorate. A supremely sharp, full strike, with only a few of the most trivial marks on the obverse. This specimen of this great rarity is one of the very finest extant, a gorgeous coin with ancient gray toning, almost identical to that often encountered on the Simon crowns. NGC graded Proof 64.
Famed copy of the Cromwell portrait crown, by J.S. Tanner (1706-1775), engraver at the Royal Mint under the reign of George II. Edge not viewable in the slab but it is noted that there is no die flaw on its edge. Much rarer than the Simon crown (which is "scarce" while the Tanner coin is rated R4 by ESC, extremely rare, just 11 to 20 known). Simon's engraving on the original shows a brooding, unpleasant pseudo-king, somehow evincing his war-like disposition in the aspect of his jowls and the "anger" in his eye. This was the work of a supreme artist, and Cromwell in life was Simon's model. By contrast, the wonderful "copy" by Johann Sigismund Tanner, a marvelously talented engraver in his own right but the product of a later century, shows Cromwell as a figure along the order of that of a Roman emperor. The mood in his face is now remote, and distanced. The engraving is altered to give a portrait of finer quality, calmer and statuesque -- evincing more of that "detatched, classical air" of Roman antiquity. It is not lesser rendering; rather, it is different. What Tanner in fact did was locate the puncheons used by Simon, re-engrave them, and create new dies that almost duplicated Simon's. Almost. Certainly it was by intention, not error, that he made the date a sharp, singular 1658, not 8/7. Certainly he paid homage to the great Thomas Simon by respecting the minute differences in engraving of the earlier piece. At the same time, Tanner imparted intimate detail in Cromwell's hair (but left his laurel crown less pronounced) and gave an extraordinary clarity to the details of the reverse shield. Tanner also substituted rounded, slightly more even beading to the rims. This is a major rarity, and ranks at the very top of those few pieces known today.
Estimated Value $12,500 - 15,000.
Ex Cheshire Collection.
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| Realized $23,000 |
