Scotland (1609-25) 1/2 crown Fr-51

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Stack's Bowers 2021 ANA sale, lot 41527
photo courtesy Stack's Bowers LLC

This specimen was lot 41527 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Costa Mesa, CA, August 2021), where it sold for $3,120. The catalog description[1] noted,

"Historic James VI 1/2 Crown, The Spink Plate Coin, Ex Murray and LaRiviere Collections, SCOTLAND. 1/2 Crown, ND (1609-25). Edinburgh Mint; mm: thistle. James VI. NGC AU-55. Ninth Coinage, After Accession to the English Throne. Brilliant pale-yellow surfaces with strong luster and scattered green encrustations. Well centered on the obverse and drawn slightly to 7 o'clock on the reverse. Boldly struck on a somewhat irregular flan. A VERY RARE example with tremendous eye appeal.

The James VI half crown from the ninth coinage is an historic rarity among Scottish gold and just three distinct examples have been sold since 2003, including the present specimen. Struck during a small window after accession from 1604 through 1609, these small coins were overlooked in favor of the larger gold pieces emerging from Edinburgh. Burns explains that "out of every twenty pounds weight of crown gold" struck it was ordered that at least one pound of minor gold coins were struck including these "threttie schilling pieces." Burns goes on to note that this is "a very rare piece, and is not yet represented in [the Coats] cabinet." With exceptional preservation, and provenance to the Murray and LaRiviere collection, this offering is an important opportunity for advanced specialists. From the Loch Ness Collection. Ex: Lucien LaRiviere Collection (Spink - 4/2006) Lot # 157. Ex: L.K.R. Murray Collection (Spink - 4/1987) Lot # 24."

This series of gold coins, issued after James was made king of England, comprised a unit (Fr-48), double crown (Fr-49), Britain crown (Fr-50), half crown (Fr-51, shown here) and a thistle crown (Fr-52). Altho none are common, they appear more frequently than gold coins of the sixteenth century, suggesting that the restoration of peace brought gold out of hiding.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 1.13 g, 0.917 fine gold, this specimen 1.23 g.

Catalog reference: S-5469; Fr-51; Burns-pg. 433.

Source:

  • 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.
  • Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
  • 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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