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Auction: 3017 - Ancient, English & Foreign Coins & Commemorative Medals
Lot: 23

†Charles II, Pattern Crown, 32.89g., 1663, the "Reddite" Crown, by Thomas Simon, large laureate and draped bust of fine style facing right, struck in high relief, Simon in script below, carolvs ii.dei.gra toothed border both sides, rev.struck en medaille, crowned cruciform shields, twelve strings to Irish harp, Order of the Garter at centre, pair of interlinked C's in each angle, date either side of crown above English shield, .mag bri.fr et.hib rex.Edge, inscribed in raised letters of an inverted axis, reddite. qvÆ . cÆsaris . cÆsari & ct. post followed by clouds with sun emerging (Nublia Phoebus), (ESC 73 R5; L&S 7; Bergne, Numismatic Chronicle 1854, p.142, no.1, this coin listed), a few light digs in obverse field, two deep die striking flaws on reverse field on top two pairs of interlinked C's ,light rim bruise, otherwise toned and frosted, good very fine and extremely rare, contained in a circular silver box with all the previous owner's names inscribed on the lid, including La Riviere. The Comferth provenance recorded incorrectly on the lid as "Cornforth" Estimate £ 12,000-15,000 provenance As given by that on the silver box, Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford, Christopher Cock, 18 March 1742, Thomas Barrett, Prestage and Hobbs, 21 February 1758 Samuel Tyssen, Leigh and Sotheby, 12 April 1802, Marmaduke Trattle, private transaction upon upgrading Charles Barre Roberts, who sold duplicates to Thomas Dummer Leigh and Sotheby, 1 June 1805, collection purchased by British Museum en bloc. British Museum Duplicates John Henderson, private transaction Rev. W Comferth, private transaction Abraham Rhodes, Sotheby, 31 March 1851, lot 115 William Brice, private transaction Capt. R M Murchison, Sotheby, 27 June 1864, lot 419 Samuel Addington, purchased by Hyman Montagu 1883 H Montagu, Sotheby, 7 May 1888, lot 452 J E Moon, Sotheby, 9 May 1901, lot 320 F B Nightingale, Glendining, 24 October 1951, lot 89 F Willis, part II, Glendining, 7 October 1991, lot 57, front cover coin, Dr Richard Ariagno, Goldberg, 2 June 1999, lot 1810 However, the early part of this provenance is in doubt, as Bergne's provenances for specimens 1 and 5 when compared suggest that this specimen was in the British Museum collection as of 1853 when the article was written. Therefore it is much more likely that the coin offered here is specimen number 5 which begins in the possession of Sir Hans Sloane, Bart. whereupon it ended up in the British Museum. It was then sold in their duplicates sale of 1811 where it was bought by the dealer Matthew Young who sold it to John Henderson. The provenance then continues the same as shown above. This theory therefore suggests that the engraving on the lid of the box is therefore partly incorrect in addition to the Comferth spelling error.

Sold for
£11,000