Lot 416
Great Britain. Proof Sovereign, 1817. S-3785; WR-197; Fr-371; KM-674. George III, 1760-1820. New Coinage. Older, laureate head right. Reverse: St George and the Dragon, frosted against a mirrored field, all set within an inscribed border composed of the royal garter, frosted. Legend type A; reeded edge. R5, extremely rare: 6 to 10 listed as known by Wilson & Rasmussen; this is a bit of an exaggeration; nonetheless, this piece is among the finest extant, or seen in at least two decades of searching by its former owner-collector (Dr Terner), and there are probably in fact perhaps 20 known, including those impounded in museum collections. All in all, here for your bidding pleasure is a truly rare and splendid, deeply mirrored, cameo Proof which would be difficult if not impossible to locate any finer. NGC graded Proof 63 Cameo.
A Proof of Record, struck to preserve examples for museum collections. The new sovereign, valued at 20 shillings, which replaced the venerable guinea, was introduced in this year, 1817, and was coined using the steam-powered minting presses devised by Boulton and Watt for their Soho Mint, and sold to the Crown for use in its new Tower Hill Mint shortly after the turn of the century. The "Great Recoining" introduced new, more technically profound versions of all denominations beginning in the year 1816 for silver and 1817 for gold. The gold sovereign was the largest and most precious circulating coin of the realm, and here is an ideal coin to represent that monumental development in monetary standards, design, and minting efficiency.
Estimated Value $9,000 - 10,000.
Ex Dr Jacob Y. Terner Collection.
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| Realized $16,800 |
