Great Britain 1651 crown Fr-271
This specimen was lot 24099 in Heritage sale 3030 (New York, January 2014), where it sold for $16,450. The catalog description[1] noted, "Commonwealth gold Crown 1651, of 5 Shillings, Sun mm, MS65 NGC, a coin of staggering quality, struck on a broad flan, gleaming with reflective luster, the reverse (dated side) doubled from a smashing strike, the obverse fabulous and singly struck in bold detail, the sun face's eyes and nose showing (!), and the legend crisp. Beautiful gold color, too. The finest example this cataloguer has seen." By 1650, king Charles was dead and his son fled into exile but Cromwell was unable to bring unity to England. The gold coins of his rule (unite, double crown and crown) are all rare.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 2.25 g, 0.917 fine gold.
Catalog reference: KM 393.1, S-3212, North-2719 (rare), Fr-271.
- 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.
- [1]Bierrenbach, Cristiano, Warren Tucker and David Michaels, Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3030, featuring the RLM Collection, the Isaac Rudman Collection, the Hans Cook Collection and the Collection of Donald E. Bently, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2013.
- 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.
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