Great Britain 1668 guinea
This specimen was lot 2369 in Sincona sale 77 (Zürich, May 2022), where it sold for 2,000 CHF (about US$2,428 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"GREAT BRITAIN | Königreich. Charles II. 1660-1685. Guinea 1668, London. NGC VF Details. Leicht verbogen. (kingdom of Great Britain, Charles II, 1660-85, guinea of 1668, London mint. Third laureate bust, with stop after HIB. Slightly bent.)"
Oliver Cromwell's death in September 1658 left a leadership vacuum which was quickly filled by inviting prince Charles back from exile to become Charles II. The first series of gold coins of his regime reverted to the old practice of not dating them and come in denominations of unite, double crown and crown. When milled coinage was introduced in 1663, these denominations were retired in favor of the guinea and multiples. The guinea would be the basis for all gold issues until the reform of 1817 and took its name from the source of the original gold, the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa. This bust was used 1664-73.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 8.35 g, 0.917 fine gold, this specimen 8.21 g.
Catalog reference: KM 424.1, Spink 3342, Bull 238, Fr-287.
- 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]Richter, Jürg, SINCONA Auction 77, World Coins and Medals, Bullion Auction, Coins and Medals of Switzerland, Zürich: SINCONA AG, 2022.
Link to: