England (1361) 1/2 noble Fr-93
This specimen was lot 1506 in Sincona sale 82 (Zürich, May 2023), where it sold for 4,250 CHF (about US$5,688 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted, "Edward III. 1327-1377. 1/2 Noble n. d. (1361), Tower Mint. Fourth coinage, transitional treaty period. Mintmark "cross". Selten (Rare). NGC MS64. Second finest certified by NGC." The noble (and its fractions, the half and quarter noble) was introduced by Edward III as part of a monetary reform and was tariffed at eighty pence (6 shillings 8 pence) and was the first gold coin to circulate in England for several centuries.
Recorded mintage: unknown but rare.
Specification: gold, 60 grains (3.9 g); this specimen 3.83 g.
Catalog reference: Spink 1500. Schneider coll. 64. Fr-93.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Lobel, Richard, Mark Davidson, Allan Hailstone and Eleni Calligas, Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK Coins, 1066 to Date, London: Coincraft, 1995.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 46th edition, London: Spink & Son, 2011.
- [1]Richter, Jürg, SINCONA Auction 82, British Collection, Part 4, Zürich: SINCONA AG, 2023.
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