Great Britain 1893 5 pounds

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Heritage sale 3096, lot 30329
H3096-30329r.jpg

This specimen was lot 30329 in Heritage auction 3096 (Dallas, TX, March 2021), where it sold for $168,000. The catalog description[1] noted,

"Superb "Ultra Cameo" Gem. Great Britain: Victoria gold Proof 5 Pounds 1893 PR66 Ultra Cameo NGC. By Thomas Brock. Struck in a Proof mintage of only 773 examples, the 5 Pounds of 1893 embodies all that collectors love about the higher-mintage circulation series. Representing the long-reigning monarch Victoria in her later years and the British Empire within just a few short decades of its largest territorial extent, its presentation in Proof brings a vastly amplified aesthetic experience, combining the appeal of low production figures with the visual excellence achieved by exacting production standards. If all this is true, then the present offering ranks in an even higher class of its own, preserving such a degree of its original appeal that it truly borders closely to an as-struck state. The fields, flashy yellow-gold mirrors that appear nearly jet-black head-on, carry marvelous reflectivity unencumbered by any easily traceable signs of contact. The frost over the devices is nothing less than complete, resulting in an exquisite cameo contrast that heightens the collectibility of this offering, simultaneously engendering a sense of top-notch preservation that other examples would be hard-pressed to match, much less exceed. This observation is confirmed by NGC's census, which, to date, shows only a single more highly certified example. Given the inclusion of this extremely popular type in the world-class Paramount Collection, we can think of no more fitting conditional state than that seen here, nearly without equal, and spectacular to say the least. From the Paramount Collection."

This type was struck only in 1893, the year the new "old head" was introduced. It has always been expensive tho it is not rare as many were saved.

Recorded mintage: 20,000 plus 773 proofs.

Specification: 39.94 g, 0.917 fine gold.

Catalog reference: KM 787, Fr-394a, S-3872, W&R-287.

Source:

  • Bressett, Kenneth E., A Guide Book of English Coins, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, 2nd Ed., Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing, 1962.
  • Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
  • 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.
  • 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 and Warren Tucker, Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3096, featuring the Paramount Collection of World & Ancient Coins, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2021.

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