Lot 2604
Great Britain. 5 Guineas, 1711. S-3568; Fr-317; KM-535. Queen Qnne, 1702-1714. Second draped bust left. Reverse: Post-Union coinage, fourth type, with wider crowned shields similar to second type but with larger lettering, lettered edge reads +. DECVS. ET. TVTAMEN. ANNO. REGNI. DECIMO. Sharply struck with reflective and lustrous fields.
Historical note: Although the portraiture change here is subtle, it shows an aging queen nearing the end of her life. The triumphs of Anne's reign were now largely behind her, and the deaths of her seventeen offspring surely weighed upon her heavily. There is a huge statute of her in Blenheim Palace, a magnificent thing finely wrought, but few of her followers ever saw such emblems of their majesty. The ordinary citizen saw only her poorer coins, of base metals. Large heavy gold coins such as this one were the property of aristocrats and the enlarging merchant class, but they were no longer playthings for Court, as earlier pieces often had been. No, now they were used to finance the coming colonial expeditions, the emerging foreign trade, and the literal spread of the empire across the seas into virtually every corner of the globe. Anne's was a time of expanding English expression in many formats, certainly not the least of which was the budding intellectual curiosity and creative expression which took many forms - the literary writing of Swift and Pope, the birth of the coffeehouse culture along with stinging political insight from the pens of Addison and Steele, the inventions and theoretical genius of Locke and Newton (who among his other accomplishments was master of the mint), and magnificent, enduring emblems of the nation such as Wren's St Paul's Cathedral. All was astir across the land during these last days of Queen Anne's reign and life. The mark of these people was left on the face of the country and impressed on the English soul. No numismatic emblem captures the age better than a finely preserved 5 Guineas such as this specimen - sharp and gleaming and rich with gold! In a new NGC 4 prong holder. NGC graded AU-58, Our grade is Original Borderline Uncirculated.
Estimated Value $20,000 - 25,000.
Ex: Eli Wallit Coll. lot 387. Morton & Eden 12/11/2003; The "Sylvia" Collection, through Mark Rasmussen by private treaty.
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| Realized $26,450 |
