Five Guineas 1693 S.3422 Obverse conjoined busts of joint monarchs right. GVLIELMVS ET MARIA DEI GRATIA. Reverse, crowned garnished square topped arms, lion of Nassau in centre. Edge year QVINTO in raised letters on edge, in a PCGS holder and graded MS62, with Prooflike and brilliant fields, a piece with remarkable eye appeal, the bust and reverse design lightly frosted, retaining much mint lustre, must surely be one of the finest known examples of this short series. At the time of writing, the PCGS Population report shows one example graded MS62+ and another at MS63 being the only finer examples. Across the entire William and Mary series combining all Five Guinea dates and varieties, only 4 examples have been graded higher by PCGS. and in August 2020 an example dated 1692 and graded MS63 by PCGS realised $384,000 in Heritage, and is now being offered for private treaty sale at $499,000, and we can tell you that that the difference in grade between MS62 and 63 is negligible. William and Mary were spouses who reigned over the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland. They began their joint reign in February 1689 after they were offered the throne by the Convention Parliament. James II (Mary’s father) had fled the country and William and Mary occupied what was in effect a vacant throne. They were the first joint rulers in England for over 800 years, although Philip II and Mary I had appeared on English coinage together. Mary was to reign until her death from smallpox in December 1694 and William continued his rule alone, until his death in March 1702. The reign of William and Mary was brief and their coins are relatively scarce.
Five Guineas 1694 S.3422 SEXTO edge, in an NGC holder AU Details, Reverse Spot removed, Cleaned. The coin displays much detail and eye appeal, EF, the reverse with minor scratches between the base of the shield and the commencement of REX. A high grade example with excellent portraits, indeed the obverse is a bold even strike with the only significant wear being on the highest hair curl. With low grade and/or damaged Five Guineas now realising £5000-£6000, this being several grades above represents very good value in today's market at the low estimate, or in our opinion at several bids above
Five Guineas 1694 SEXTO S3422 nVF/Fine bright with a very minor edge bruise and some metal faults or haymarking obverse lower bust, a collectable example
Five Guineas 1693 Obverse conjoined busts of joint monarchs right. GVLIELMVS ET MARIA DEI GRATIA. Reverse, crowned garnished square topped arms, lion of Nassau in centre Elephant and Castle below the bust S3423. Edge year QVINTO in raised letters on edge, GEF rare thus, not far off in grade to our lot 857 in LCA 155 Dec 2016 which realised £71,500 hammer. But this piece, the Elephant and Castle variety, is usually more sought after. The famous Samuel King Five Guineas sale by Spink included their well researched analysis of Five Guineas offered for sale in a 40 year period and the 1693 E & C offered here had a frequency of 19 compared to 91 of the S3422 type (1693 without E & C below). Last year a William and Mary 5 Guineas of this same type S3423 Elephant and Castle below in MS63 realised $258,000 in the USA. William and Mary were spouses who reigned over the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland. They began their joint reign in February 1689 after they were offered the throne by the Convention Parliament. James II (Mary’s father) had fled the country and William and Mary occupied what was in effect a vacant throne. They were the first joint rulers in England for over 800 years, although Philip II and Mary I had appeared on English coinage together. Mary was to reign until her death from smallpox in December 1694 and William continued his rule alone, until his death in March 1702. The reign of William and Mary was brief and their coins are relatively scarce, the piece offered here has a very competitive starting price and would truly be a bargain in todays market at the low estimate or in our opinion at several bids above.
Five Guineas 1693 Obverse conjoined busts of joint monarchs right. GVLIELMVS ET MARIA DEI GRATIA. Reverse, crowned garnished square topped arms, lion of Nassau in centre. Edge year QVINTO in raised letters on edge, GEF reverse better and crisply struck rare thus, prooflike and brilliant fields a piece with remarkable eye appeal, the bust and reverse design lightly frosted, retaining much mint lustre, must surely be one of the finest known examples of this short series. Earlier this year a William and Mary 5 Guineas in MS63 realised $258,000 and in our opinion this coin would be at least MS62 on the US grading scale. William and Mary were spouses who reigned over the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland. They began their joint reign in February 1689 after they were offered the throne by the Convention Parliament. James II (Mary’s father) had fled the country and William and Mary occupied what was in effect a vacant throne. They were the first joint rulers in England for over 800 years, although Philip II and Mary I had appeared on English coinage together. Mary was to reign until her death from smallpox in December 1694 and William continued his rule alone, until his death in March 1702. The reign of William and Mary was brief and their coins are relatively scarce.
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