Scotland (1475-83) 1/2 rider Fr-14
This specimen was lot 41496 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Costa Mesa, CA, August 2021), where it sold for $14,400. The catalog description[1] noted,
"Superb James III Gold Half Rider, Among the Finest Known. SCOTLAND. Half Rider, ND (1475-83). James III. NGC EF-45. Type II, King Left, Lis Below Arm. Impeccably executed with ideal centering and superior sharpness. Struck from rusted dies with a small striking split at 1 o'clock on the obverse. The beaded borders are virtually complete on both sides and the legends are fully intact. Pleasing warm apricot tone with considerable luster in the protected areas. An IMPORTANT RARITY among Scottish gold.
The gold rider represented an entirely new denomination issued by James III, though it was short lived and was replaced by the Unicorn circa 1484. Burns associated these half riders with the issue of five-pointed mullet groats introduced circa 1482, indicating a very short window of production of perhaps three or four years. This could explain the great rarity of this issue, of which only four distinct specimens can be traced over the past two decades. This example is surely one the finest extant, comparing favorably to both the Murray coin (Very Fine) and the LaRiviere coin (Good Fine). From the Loch Ness Collection."
The only gold coins listed for this ruler are Fr-13 (gold rider), Fr-14 (half rider, shown here), Fr-15 (quarter rider) and, late in the reign, Fr-16 (unicorn) and Fr-17 (half unicorn). All are even rarer than those of James' ancestors, suggesting the impoverishment of the kingdom.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: gold, this specimen 2.41 g.
Catalog reference: S-5260; Fr-14; Burns-2. (fig. 620).
- 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.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of Scotland, Ireland and the Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Man & Lundy), Pre-Decimal Issues, 2nd edition, London: Spink & Son, 2003.
- Lobel, Richard, Mark Davidson, Allan Hailstone and Eleni Calligas, Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of the Coins of Scotland, Ireland, Channel Islands & Isle of Man, London: Coincraft, 1999.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The August 2021 ANA sale: World and Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
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