Great Britain (1607) unite Fr-234
This specimen was lot 41316 in Stack's Bowers Summer 2026 Global Showcase Auction (Pittsburgh, August 2026), where it sold for $7,930. The catalog description[1] noted, "GREAT BRITAIN. Unite, ND (1607). London Mint; mm: Grapes. James I. NGC MS-62. Second coinage. Though displaying some scattered striking weakness and a few marks, this example otherwise remains without any real evidence of wear and retains solid mint brilliance." This gold unite of James' second issue was accompanied by a rose ryal (Fr-230), angel (Fr-232), half angel (Fr-233), spur ryal (Fr-231), crown (Fr-236), double crown (Fr-235) and half crown (Fr-237). The unite was twenty shillings and was the largest denomination struck by the Stuarts before the Civil War. It was last struck in 1660 under the Commonwealth. It was superseded by the milled guinea. With the accession of James I we drop "England" as the country name and adopt the current "Great Britain."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 9 g, 0.917 fine gold, this specimen 10.08 g.
Catalog reference: S-2619; Fr-234; N-2084; KM-45.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- 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]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, Summer 2026 Global Showcase Auction, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2026.
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