FarthingPattern or medaletWilliam and Mary, undated, (1688-1694), Obverse: Bust of the King undraped, to right GVLIELMVS . III. DEI. GRA, Reverse: Bust of the Queen to right undraped MARIA. DEI. GRA, Montagu 15, 3.39 grammes, GEF with old toning, a most attractive example
Guinea 1694 S.3426 Good Fine/Near VF, the rim shows some signs of having been in jewellery at the top of the obverse, the portraits with a slightly dull appearance, overall the surfaces way superior to most ex-jewellery pieces that we encounter, all William and Mary Guineas very sought after in all grades
Crown 1692 QVARTO edge ESC 83, Bull 822 VF with a small edge nick and minor haymarking, once lightly cleaned, now with gold, blue and magenta tone, William and Mary Crowns seldom seen in any grade above Fine
Guinea 1694 S.3430 VG or better with bold legend, slight weakness of strike in the centre as often found on this series, William and Mary Guineas becoming increasingly hard to find in all grades
Shilling 1693 ESC 1076, Bull 868 GVF with touches of attractive blue/grey toning, a very attractive piece, William and Mary Shillings rare in all grades above Fine, those graded VF and upwards particularly desirable
Guinea 1691 Elephant and CastleS.3427, 7 Harp strings, NVF/VF with touches of red toning, and some haymarking and adjustment lines, William and Mary Guineas very seldom found in grades above Fine, many having the characteristic weak strike on the reverse. This example a superior piece with a full strike with only very minor weakness just above the Irish shield. A desirable example, Guineas of this reign always keenly sought after
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.
Sixpence 1693 ESC 1529, Bull 869 the E's on the reverse in REX, ET and REGINA have badly formed top bars thus resembling inverted and reversed F's, Fine, all William and Mary Sixpences scarce or rare
Two Guineas 1694 4 over 3 S.3424 Near VF/VF the reverse ex-brooch mount, the mount marks skilfully removed and the legends at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock re-engraved in good style, thus still retaining much of the beauty of the original designs, William and Mary Two Guineas, with only 5 date/type combinations in the series are seldom offered in any grade
Halfcrown 1689 First Shield, the caul with frosting on the left side bold as normal, the caul on the right side shows only a minimal amount of frosting near the top of the upper crown arch. The interior with full frosting. Crown band with pearls. We note that the inner arch of the crown is only faintly struck on the right side, although the two pearls that attach to the arch are bold and clear. The fleur-de-lis attaching to the crown band is clear and bold with an absence of any frosting around it. In this grade of preservation this type could not possibly be caused by wear. EF with original grey and gold toning, minor haymarks barely detract. This piece a choice and beautiful example of the William and Mary first type, so will appeal to type and variety collectors alike
FarthingPattern or medaletWilliam and Maryundated, Montagu 11 Obverse busts right conjoined, draped GVLIELMVS. ET. MARIA. D.G. Reverse: Three pillars, crowned bearing the words RELIGIO, LEX.ET and LIBERTAS respectively HISCE. SVFFVLTA, struck on a larger 25.5mm diameter flan NEF attractively toned, the obverse with some thin scratches in the fields, the first example we have seen of this type
Medalet or PatternHalfpennyWilliam and MaryPeck 636, undated, Peck lists these under 'uncertain pieces', 29mm diameter in copper, GVF with traces of lustre, both sides showing signs of flan stress, seldom seen and almost never in grades above Fine
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.
Halfcrown 1692 ESC 517 Fine with some haymarking, William and Mary Second Bust Third Shields type (1691-1693) VG with the last digit of the date illegible
Halfpenny or medalet in copper William and Mary, undated, Peck 636 Obv: Small bust of the King right GVLIELMVS III DEI GRATIA, Rev: Small bust of the Queen right, Fine with some flan flaws on either side, (listed under uncertain pieces by Peck), along with a William and Mary Tin Halfpenny in Poor grade
Farthing 1691 About Fine for wear with some pitting, Peck 581/582/583 exact attribution not possible as the edge punctuation unclear in places, along with HalfpennyWilliam and Mary in Tin only Poor and with insufficient detail remaining to determine date or type
Medalet or PatternHalfpennyWilliam and MaryPeck 631, listed by Peck under 'uncertain pieces', 29mm diameter in copper, VG with some weak areas, as mentioned by Peck, struck off-centre on a large crude flan of 33mm, the edge with a with 'hand cut' appearance, Very Rare
FarthingPattern or medaletWilliam and Mary in silver Montagu 21 legend GVLIELMVS.III.DEI.GRA. Reverse a ship on fire IGNNIBVS IMPAR GEF toned, the reverse with a rim cud at 3 o'clock, scarce in this high grade, Ex-H.Pegg, comes with old collectors ticket, Ex-Farthing Specialist
Farthings Tin issues (2) 1690 edge with some lettering visible, but punctuation not visible About Fine for wear with some surface blistering, William and Mary date not visible Fair with much of the legend visible, but not the date or edge inscription
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