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Sale 53
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Lot 2594
Great Britain. 5 Guineas, 1677. S-3330; Fr-283; KM-430.3. Charles II, 1660-1685. First laureate bust of King right with elephant and castle below. Reverse: Crowned cruciform shields with sceptres in angles, interlocking C's in center. No stop after HIB, lettered edge reads *DECVS. ET. TVTAMEN. ANNO. REGNI. VICESIMO. NONO. Reflective surfaces with sparkling luster, this specimen has great eye-appeal.
Historical note: This coin is a tribute to a man who was a great art lover, who in fact founded what is today the National Art Collection. The engraving here is true to life, the coin superbly struck, wonderfully preserved, and the hallmark perhaps the most fitting one in all of English coinage - an African elephant surmounted by an English castle, symbolically proclaiming domination over the source of the gold from which the coin was manufactured. It is fitting that this hallmark appeared on Charles II's gold coins, not only because of the happy coincidence of the source of the metal itself, but also as homage to perhaps the last of the English kings of great heart. Charles was a mere boy of twelve when he witnessed the Battle of Edgehill with his father. For a while, he stayed with his father in exile from the capital, at Oxford, Charles I's stronghold. When the Civil War's end approached, he escaped to France, in July 1646, and lived for a time at the court of Louis, safe from harm and growing into a man. He was in Holland when news reached him of his father's execution. In 1650 he landed in Scotland, where he was proclaimed King of Great Britain, France and Ireland. He formed an army of 10,000 men and marched into England the following year, where he fought Cromwell at Worcester. His Scots army was defeated soundly, and with a large bounty on his head he eluded Cromwell's soldiers again, roaming around the Continent for another eight years, trying to raise another army but without success. Cromwell died a painful death from kidney stones in 1658, and at last the Protectorate's fate seemed sealed. Charles returned to England, landing at Dover, immediately issued a proclamation guaranteeing religious toleration and a free Parliament, and was proclaimed King at Westminster on May 8 in his absence. He entered London to great proclamation from the loyalists on his 30th birthday, May 29, 1660. He was weary of strife and, to the chagrin of many royalists, offered the famous Act of Oblivion and Indemnity, forgiving many of his former opponents and enemies. He wished ardently for stability in England, and was vindictive toward few, executing only the most vicious of his father's opponents. The early years of the Restoration, however, were far from happy. The Great Plague wracked London in 1665 and it was only ended by the Great Fire of 1666, which destroyed the source of the plague, London's rats, along with virtually all of the city's medieval wooden buildings. During the 1670s, at the time this coin was minted, a new London was being built out of stone, under the guidance of such gifted builders and architects as Christopher Wren. NGC graded MS-61.
Estimated Value $18,000 - 20,000.
Ex: Eli Wallit Coll. lot 373. Morton & Eden 12/11/2003; The "Sylvia" Collection, through Mark Rasmussen by private treaty.
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| Realized $34,500 |
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