Great Britain 1656 50 shillings
This specimen was lot 40411 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Oklahoma City, OK, August 2025), where it sold for $396,000. The catalog description[1] noted, "Extremely Rare and Hefty Gold 50 Shillings of the Lord Protector. GREAT BRITAIN. Commonwealth. Gold Broad of 50 Shillings Pattern, 1656. London (Blondeau) Mint. Oliver Cromwell (as Lord Protector). PCGS PROOF-62 Cameo. By T. Simon. Believed to be one of just 12 or so examples known, this IMMENSELY RARE, thicker pattern issue in gold is undoubtedly within the pantheon of gold strikings, not just within the English series, but within world gold coins more broadly. Highly enchanting and shimmering, this lustrous specimen presents a liquid golden-yellow hue touched by subtle hints of magenta and fuchsia, enveloping the bust of the Lord Protector with firework-like fanfare. Displaying the skillful engraving of Thomas Simon and the refined minting of Peter Blondeau, this majestic specimen features a strike that is crisp and robust, with the stippled shadow-like nature on Cromwell's bust acting as the calling card for the series, and the well-engraved letter forms serving as an allusion to the minting techniques that await in the near-distant future. An incredible opportunity for the most advanced of specialists in the series, or for those seeking gold coinage often relegated merely to observation behind a velvet rope. These issues were likely minted as presentation pieces-hence the apparently paltry output-and it goes without saying that the present example provides one of very few opportunities to acquire a Broad in this weight. From the Hough Family Collection."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 22.5 g, gold.
Catalog reference: S-3224; Fr-272; KM-Pn24; N-2743; WR-38.
- 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, August 2025 Global Showcase Auction, World & Ancient Coins, featuring The Richard August Collection and the Richard Margolis Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.
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