Great Britain 1768 2 guineas
This specimen was lot 31201 in Heritage sale 3089 (Dallas, TX, January 2021), where it sold for $228,000. The catalog description[1] noted,
"Great Britain. George III gold Proof Pattern 2 Guineas 1768 PR63+ NGC. Plain edge. By J.S. Tanner. A beautiful coin by all metrics, and certainly among the storied rarities of the George III series and Tanner's masterpieces. Reportedly one of a mere 11-20 specimens known, the rarity of this piece comes by virtue of its peculiar historical circumstances. One of only three dates that 2 Guinea patterns were produced during George's reign, coins such as the present represented an attempt to strike larger gold pieces for circulation at a time when the overvaluation of British gold had left it as virtually the only metal available domestically, while undervalued silver and copper coins were sold abroad. Although the Guinea's half and quarter fractions managed to fill the needs of local smaller scale exchange, such large pieces as the proposed 2 and 5 Guineas simply retained too great of a purchasing power to be of any practical use at home, and thus production was never expanded beyond a handful of trial pieces. Clearly a sample that has experienced long periods off the market, the present specimen stands at a level only very rarely exceeded by the competition; for instance, the Selig example, the finest certified, graded as a PR64+★ Cameo, brought $384,000 in our August 2020 ANA sale. While some minute cabinet wisps exist in the fields and bound the grade, these do genuinely little to mute the offering's even mirrorlike shimmer, with thick die polish lines and mild die rust punctuating the reverse. Ex. Slaney Collection (Spink Auction 3024, May 2003, Lot 1000); Purchased from Baldwin's in 1945."
This type never got past the pattern stage. In fact, no two guineas were struck for circulation after 1753, in the reign of George II.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 16.70 g, 0.917 fine gold, this specimen 16.55 g.
Catalog reference: KM-Pn49, S-3724, W&R-79 (R4), Schneider-Unl.
- 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.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- 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]Cristiano Bierrenbach, Warren Tucker and Sam Spiegel, Heritage Auction 3089: NYINC World & Ancient Coins Platinum & Signature Auction - Dallas, featuring the Cape Coral Collection of European Crowns and the Penn Collection, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2020.
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