Previous Lot Next Lot

Auction: 4026 - Ancient, English and Foreign Coins and Commemorative Medals
Lot: 226

Henry VIII (1509-47), second coinage, Half-George-noble, 2.25g., ship bearing rose and cross, h k (Henry and Katherine of Aragon) at sides, henric d g r agl z fra dns hi, rev., St. George on horseback right, slaying the dragon, tali dica sig mes flvctvari neqt, lombardic/Roman lettering, single saltire stops, m.m. rose (Schneider 577 (same obv. die); N.1786; S.2271), very fine in terms of wear, and of almost full weight, but has been extensively dented and spademarked on both sides, leading to a central crack along St. George's leg, and a tiny crack by dragon's head, excessively rare, three known Estimate £ 5,000-6,000 provenance: Found near Winchester, 2004 The Henry VIII Half-George-noble is one of the rarest and most distinctive coins in the English series. For many years it was known from a single example, obtained in Paris in the early nineteenth century by the Rev. E J Shepherd (lot 211), which passed through the famous Montagu (lot 719 £275) and Murdoch (lot 418 £495) collections before it was purchased by Spink in 1950 for £1200, a world record price for any British coin up to that date, at the Ryan sale (lot 152) for the British Museum. It was nearly fifty years until another Half-George-noble appeared. In 1994 a single metal-detector find was purchased by Spink on behalf of the Schneider collection (SCBI47 no.577). This second coin was remarkable not only for having lombardic lettering (with the exception of Roman N's) on the obverse, the British Museum specimen has Roman lettering on both sides, but for the muled mintmark lis/rose, the Museum coin having mintmark rose on both sides. This third example provides a third significant variety. The obverse has mintmark rose, like the British Museum piece, but with lombardic lettering. This lettering is from the larger George-noble fount, the Schneider coin has smaller lettering, and is fully lombardic with lombardic n's. The reverse is from the same die as Schneider 577. It appears that the Half-George-noble, though excessively rare, is a substantive denomination, and that its type evolved over time in line with the other denominations of Henry VIII.

Sold for
£5,500