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Auction: 22107 - Spink Numismatic e-Circular 17: Part I - A Gentleman's Collection of Crowns, Halfcrowns and Florins - e-Auction
Lot: 1012

William III (1694-1702), Shilling, 1699, fifth laureate, cuirassed and draped bust right, the 'high hair' variety, rev. four crowned shields cruciform, roses in angles, five strings to harp, seven billets, milled edge, 6.00g, 6h (Bull 1148-R3; ESC 1120; S.3518), light grey toning, extremely fine, very rare and with an illustrious provenance

PROVENANCE
Archbishop Sharp, Glendining, 5 October 1977, lot 232 (illustrated)

The 1699 'roses' Shilling is indeed a very rare coin, and this is certainly one of the best available. To find another in extremely fine condition at auction it is necessary to go back to October 2003, when the F.G. Lawrence example (his collection was sold at Sotheby, 2-4 May 1900) was offered by DNW (7 October 2003, lot 119). The coin was then estimated at 500-600 GBP. This was in line with the Standard Catalogue price at the time, which was 650. The buyers clearly disagreed with this estimation (as they did with most of the estimates in this sale), and the hammer came down at 2,500. By the time of the sale the annual revision of prices for the 2004 Standard Catalogue had already been finalised, and the 2004 edition gives the value higher than the year before, at 850. This was a time when rarity and quality were driving prices at the top end (it was, after all, the year of Slaney part 1), but perhaps this rare Shilling was a coin that had 'slipped under the radar'. The next year however it would seem the compilers of the Standard Catalogue had not been impressed by the 2003 auction price (perhaps they regarded this sale with its very high prices for top quality coins as an anomaly), for there was merely a further 'in line with the market' increase, to 1,000, still only a third of the price paid two years earlier. Since then the price has stuttered along, even being revised downwards on occasion, and finally, in the 2021 Standard Catalogue, the value has at last reached 3,000, matching the 2003 realisation eighteen years late. It will be interesting to see if the 2003 realisation was a maverick, or will a much higher price now be obtained for this example, and if it is, will it take another eighteen years for the Standard Catalogue to 'catch up'?

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