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Sale 60
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Lot 2420
Great Britain. 5 Guineas, 1726. S.3626; Fr-325. George I, 1714-1727. Obverse: Laureate head of King facing right. Reverse: Crowned cruciform shields with scepters between. Edge reads DUODECIMO TERTIO in raised lettering. Inverted obverse/reverse die axis. The King's titles British titles appear in abbreviated form, accompanied by his Hanoverian titles - 'Duke of Brunswick and Luneberg. Arch-treasurer of the Holy Roman Empire, and Elector.' A superbly well struck coin with much original luster intact under a very light tone. This coin will not have seen circulation.
There were only 4 dates of Five Guineas produced during the King's entire reign, and the Five Guineas pieces of George I are the scarcest currency pieces of any monarch. Seldom seen in grades above Very Fine, the Spink catalogue's highest grade listed for this date is a conservative £16,000 (nearly $25,000) in EF (XF). This coin is far superior to the 1726 5 Guineas in the (1994) Strauss Collection of British coins, superior to the 1726 specimen in the Samuel King (2005) Collection of Important English Gold Coins, and the 1726 Five Guineas in the Glenister Collection sale (Spink, September 2007). There was no George I Five Guineas in the Eliasberg (2205) World Gold Coin sale, nor in the Cheshire Collection (Ira and Larry Goldberg 2005). NGC graded AU-58.
* George I was an enigmatic monarch, who was ironically born in 1660, the year when the monarchy was restored in England. A succession of European wars expanded his German domains during his lifetime and in 1708 he was ratified as Prince Elector of Hanover. At the age of 54, after the death of Queen Anne in 1714. George ascended the British throne as the first monarch of the House of hanover. Although over 50 Catholic claimants bore closer blood ties to Queen Anne, the 1701 Act of Settlement had prohibited Catholics from inheriting the British throne.
George was a pragmatist who kept Britain out of war for his entire reign. During his tenure, the power of the monarchy diminish, and by the end of the reign actual power was held by the first British Prime Minister, Robert Walpole. George died on a visit in 1727 to his native hanover, and his is buried there. 1726 was the year of the birth of Benjamin Harrison V who signed the American Declaration of Independence, and the year of the death of George I's queen, Sophia, Princess of Zelle.
Estimated Value $32,000 - 35,000.
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| Realized $36,800 |
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