DonnaML's Top 10 World Silver Coins for 2022, plus Top 7 (the only 7!) World Gold Coins

[DonnaML]

This is going to be the first of a number of lists I plan to post before the end of the year: World Coins, World Medals, Roman Provincials, Roman Imperials, and -- if I ever get around to writing up the four I've bought in the last few months, some or all of which deserve to be on the list! -- Roman Republicans. 

This is the first year in quite some time that I've bought enough non-ancient World coins and medals to make a list worthwhile.

I don't want to take the time to remind myself how to create a poll, but if there are one or more in each category that you particularly like, and would like to say so, please do.  

The coins are In chronological order, not in any order of preference:

Silver:

1. Henry VIII, Second coinage, AR Halfgroat, Canterbury, Abp Warham, mm. cross patonce, WA by shield, 1.29 g., 10h (Whitton iii; N. 1802; Spink 2343). Edge slightly ragged at 11 o'clock, otherwise nearly very fine, dark tone. Purchased from Dix Noonan Webb [now Noonans], Auction 251, 8 March 2022, Lot 190.

2. Edward VI AR Sixpence, Third Period, Fine Issue,  mm. “y.” 2.41 g., 10 h.  Spink 2483. Purchased from Dix Noonan Webb [now Noonans], Auction 251, 8 March 2022, Lot 193.

3. England, Elizabeth I, AR Sixpence 1562 (Milled), by Eloye Mestrelle.* Obv. Crowned and mantled bust left [large broad bust, frosted crown], with elaborately decorated dress, small Tudor Rose behind, ELIZABETH.D.G.ANG.FRA.ET.HIB.REGINA [Elizabeth by the Grace of God Queen of England France and Ireland; curly “Z” in Elizabeth] around; after legend, mm. Star  / Rev. Quartered shield over long cross pattée with divided date 15-62 above shield; POSVI-DEVM.AD-IVTORE-M·MEVM [I have made God my helper] around; before legend, mm. Star. 26 mm., 3.43 g. Spink 2597 [Spink, Standard Catalogue of British Coins, Coins of England & the United Kingdom, Pre-Decimal Issues, 57th Edition, 2022]. Purchased at St. James’s Auctions No. 62, 14 Jun 2022, Lot 600; ex Spink 1976 (from Spink Numismatic Circular[?], Jan. 1976, with two old coin tickets.

*See Spink p. 261: “Coins of exceedingly fine workmanship were produced in a screw press introduced by Eloye Mestrelle, a French moneyer, in 1561. With parts of the machinery powered by a horse-drawn mill, the coins produced came to be known as ‘mill money.” Despite the superior quality of the coins produced, the machinery was slow and inefficient compared to striking by hand. Mestrelle’s dismissal was engineered in 1572 and six years later he was hanged for counterfeiting.” After 1571, milled coinage was not reintroduced until the reign of Charles I in 1631, by Nicholas Briot (see Spink p. 288)), and did not entirely supercede the minting of hammered coinage until 1663, under Charles II, after Peter Blondeau’s machinery was introduced (see id. p. 344). 

4. Charles I, AR Shilling, Second Milled issue, by Nicholas Briot, 1638-1639, mm. anchor, dies unsigned. 5.91 g., 6 h.  SCBI Brooker 728 (same dies) [North, J.J. and Preston-Morley. P.J., Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles 33, The John G. Brooker Collection, Coins of Charles I, 1625-1649 (London 1984)]; Spink 2859 (ill. p. 299). Purchased from Dix Noonan Webb (now Noonans), Auction 251, 8 Mar. 2022, Lot 219.

5. Charles II AR Crown, 1668, 2nd bust.  Obv. Laureate and draped bust right (smaller than 1st bust, with curving tie to wreath), CAROLUS • II • - DEI • GRATIA / Rev. Crowned cruciform shields, interlinked C’s in angles, • MAG – BR • FRA – ET • HIB – REX • 16-68 (separations in form of the crowns atop each shield) / Edge • DECVS • ET • TVTAMEN [An ornament and a safeguard] • ANNO • REGNI • VICESIMO • + . 38.5 mm., 29.5 g.  Spink 3357 (ill. p. 353 of 2022 ed.), old ESC 36 [H.A. Seaby & P.A. Rayner, English Silver Coinage from 1649 (Seaby, 4th ed. 1974)]. Purchased Sep. 2022 from KB Coins, Stevenage, Herts., UK.

6. George III AR impaired (circulated) proof Bank of England Dollar [value 5 shillings], 1804, Soho Mint, struck over a Spanish Empire Eight Reales. Obv. Type “D”: First bust right, laureate and draped, GEORGIUS III DEI GRATIA REX. [stop after REX], C.H.K on truncation (for engraver C. H. Kuchler), first leaf in wreath points to end of letter E in DEI / Rev. Type “2a”: Britannia seated left, in her left hand a spear, her left arm resting on a shield above an overflowing cornucopia, in her upraised right hand an olive branch, beehive of industry to left, inverted letter K in relief under shield, all within a castellated oval garter with the words FIVE SHILLINGS at top and DOLLAR at bottom; surrounding garter inside toothed border, BANK OF - ENGLAND, date 1804 below. Spink 3768, ESC 1946 at p. 280, Type D/2a [Maurice Bull, English Silver Coinage since 1649 (Spink, 7th ed. 2020)], old ESC 160 at p. 54, Type D/2a [H.A. Seaby & P.A. Rayner, English Silver Coinage from 1649 (Seaby, 4th ed. 1974)]. 41 mm., 25.99 g.  Purchased from Sovereign Rarities Ltd., Auction 7, 21 Sep 2022, Lot 184 (described as “An impaired proof, moderately circulated and with some edge flaws, retaining faint brilliance in fields, toned, good very fine”), ex Spink (with old Spink tag).

7. George III AR Crown 1818, edge LIX, Spink 3787, old ESC 214. Purchased from Dix Noonan Webb [now Noonans], Auction 251, 8 March 2022, Lot 334.

8. Victoria AR Crown 1845, Young Head, edge VIII, Spink 3882, old ESC 282. Purchased from Dix Noonan Webb [now Noonans], Auction 251, 8 March 2022, Lot 413.

9. Edward VII AR Crown 1902 (sole year of issue). Obv. Bare head right, EDWARDVS VII DEI GRA: BRITT: OMN: REX FID: DEF: IND: IMP:; beneath truncation, DES [for designer of obverse, George William de Saulles] / Rev. Pistrucci’s St. George on horseback right slaying the dragon; in exergue, date 1902  / Edge  DECVS ET  TVTAMEN [An ornament and a safeguard] ⁎ ANNO REGNI II ⁎.  Spink 3978, Davenport 109, old ESC 361 [H.A. Seaby & P.A. Rayner, English Silver Coinage from 1649 (4th ed. 1974)]. 38 mm, 28.27 g, 12 h. Nicely toned. Extremely fine. Purchased from Leu Numismatik AG, Web Auction 22, 21 Aug. 2022, Lot 781; ex Collection of Dr. Max Blaschegg (1930-2021) (see https://coinsweekly.com/whoswho-sammler/blaschegg-dr-med-max-1930-2021), with collector's ticket; privately acquired by Max Blaschegg from Münzhandlung Erwin Dietrich AG, Zürich, on 15 February 1988, for price of 180 CHF.

10. George V AR “Wreath” Crown 1931 (milled edge, .500 silver, mintage 4,056). Obv. Bare head left, BM raised on truncation (for obverse engraver Bertram Mackennal), Latin legend and toothed border surrounding, GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: BRITT: OMN: REX / Rev. Imperial Crown, date 19-31 above, emblematic wreath surrounding with roses, thistles and shamrocks, small K.G. to right of lowest rose (for reverse engraver Kruger Gray), denomination CR-OWN at bottom separated by rose, Latin legend and toothed border surrounding, .FID. .DEF. .IND. .IMP. [Obv. & Rev. legends together = "George the Fifth by the grace of God, King of all the Britains, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India."] 39 mm., 28.26 g.  Spink 4036, old ESC 371 [H.A. Seaby & P.A. Rayner, English Silver Coinage from 1649 (4th ed. 1974)]. Purchased from Sovereign Rarities Ltd., London, UK, Aug. 2022.*

*From dealer’s description: “The Wreath Crown design by Kruger Gray [introduced in 1927] was much admired and the type design continued in succeeding years at the request of the Bank of England who liked to stock them at Christmas time to present to good clients, hence why the mintages were always quite small for the normal currency pieces. Bertram Mackennal (later knighted) was the Australian engraver responsible for the obverse design.”

Top World Gold Coins to follow soon.

 

Edited December 10, 2022 by DonnaML

[robinjojo]

Those are wonderful British numismatic acquisitions, Donna!  The Elizabeth I six pence is a standout for me, with the Edward VI six pence a close second, the George III 1818 crown third and his bank dollar fourth.

As usual my acquisitions have been a hodgepodge of ancient coins, primarily, with a few world coins mixed in for 2022.  I hope to put together a list with photos later this month.

Again, Congrats! 

[DonnaML]

And here are my top (and only) seven World gold coins purchased this year. I also bought three ancient gold coins this year, which does make ten, but I'll be posting those in my top Roman Imperial coins list.

Again, these coins are in chronological order, not any order of preference. And, again, if any of you particularly likes any of them and would like to point them out, please feel free to do so. I should probably mention that in each case I bought or bid upon the least expensive example of a particular type of gold coin that I could find that was still reasonably decent-looking, so none of these is in what I'd call "outstanding" condition. But they're plenty nice enough for my tastes!

1. William III AV Half-Guinea 1695, Obv. Bare head right, GVILIELMVS• – III• DEI• GRA• / Rev. Crowned shields in cruciform, sceptres at angles, MAG - BR • FRA - ET • HIB • - REX 16 – 95. 4.175 g.  Spink 3466, KM 487.1. Purchased at Morton & Eden Ltd. Auction 119, 6 Dec. 2022, Lot 204. 

2. George II AV Half-Guinea 1756, Spink 3685, KM 587, Bull 658. By John Croker. Obv. Old laureate head left, GEORGIUS·II· DEI·GRATIA· / Rev. Ornate crowned quartered shield of arms, divided date above, legend around, ·M·B·F·ET·H·REX·F·D·B·ET·L·D·S·R·I·A·T·ET·E·17 – 59 [King of Great Britain France and Ireland Defender of the Faith Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg Arch-Treasurer and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire]. 20 mm., 4.2 g. Purchased from Dix Noonan Webb Auction (now Noonans) 252, 12 April 2022, Lot 175.

3. George III AV Spade Guinea 1793, Spink 3729, KM 609 [Standard Catalog of World Gold Coins (6th ed 2009) at p. 693], Bull 723 (ill. p. 554) [Maurice Bull, English Gold Coinage 1649-1816 (Spink 2020)]. Obv. Laureate bust right (5th bust “H”), GEORGIVS • I I I • DEI • GRATIA • / Rev. Crowned spade-shaped shield, quartered; around, M•B•F•ET•H•REX•F•D•B•ET•L•D•S•R•I•A•T•ET•E• [King of Great Britain France and Ireland Defender of the Faith Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg Arch-Treasurer and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire], 1793 beneath shield (date var. with Italic “1”, high “7” linked to shield,  “9” not touching shield; see Bull p. 554). 24 mm., 8.40 g. Purchased from Noonans Auction 260, 28 Sep 2022, Lot 1437.*

*See Bull p. 549, explaining the rather unusual appearance of the spade guineas (somewhat resembling an ancient clipped siliqua!): “To discourage the illegal practice of clipping the legends were intended to be very close to the edge of the flan. As a result, due to the slight variations in the diameter of the blank flans and the occasional subtle miss-alignment in striking, tops of some of the lettering are often missing.”

4. George III AV Third Guinea 1810 Spink 3740, Friedberg 367, KM 650, Bull 879 (Rev. Crown). Purchased March 2022 from Auktionen & Münzenhandel Dr. Christoph Stadler e. K, Bremen, Germany.

5. George IV AV Sovereign 1826 Spink 3801 (Rev. Crowned shield). Purchased from Dix Noonan Webb [now Noonans], Auction 251, 8 March 2022, Lot 359.

6. William IV AV Sovereign 1832. Obv. Second bust*, bare head right, GULIELMUS IIII D : G: -BRITANNIAR: REX F: D : / Rev. Crowned quartered shield of arms in frame, ANNO - 1832 below, edge milled. 7.81 g.  Spink 3829B, KM 717 [Standard Catalog of World Gold Coins (6th ed 2009) at p. 699]. Purchased from Sovereign Rarities Ltd., Auction 7, 21 Sep 2022, Lot 165.

*Top of ear flat, nose points to second “I” in BRITANNIAR; see S. 3829B. 

7. GERMAN EMPIRE, Preußen. Wilhelm II, AV 10 Marks 1912, Berlin Mint. Obv. Bare head of Wilhelm II right, WILHELM II DEUTSCHER KAISER KÖNIG V. PREUSSEN; Mintmark A below / Rev. Crowned Imperial Eagle, head left, DEUTSCHES REICH 1912; beneath, 10 MARK. 19 mm, 4.00 g, 12 h. Jaeger 251 [Jaeger, Kurt, Die deutschen Münzen seit 1871 (22nd ed., Regenstauf 2011)]; KM 520 [George S. Cuhaj & Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Gold Coins (6th ed. 2009), at p. 572]; Yeoman 123a [see Chester R. Krause & Clifford Mishler, Standard Catalog of World Gold Coins (2nd ed. 1988), at p. 255]; Friedberg 87 [Robert Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World (5th ed. 1980)]. Purchased from Leu Numismatik AG, Winterthur, Switzerland, Web Auction 22, 21 Aug. 2022, Lot 1367; ex collection of Dr. Max Blaschegg (1930-2021) (see https://coinsweekly.com/whoswho-sammler/blaschegg-dr-med-max-1930-2021/ ), with collector's ticket. [Final year of issue for this type.]

[robinjojo]

That's a nice gold haul for 2022!

I used to have a George III guinea that I had to sell several years ago, along with a Victoria I gold 5 pounds.  I even had, for a year or two, an Edward III gold noble.  All are now just memories.  

So, because of what I used to own (the past informing the present), I do like your William III, George II, and George III half guineas!  The George IV gold sovereign is also very nice.

[DonnaML]

1 hour ago, robinjojo said:

That's a nice gold haul for 2022!

I used to have a George III guinea that I had to sell several years ago, along with a Victoria I gold 5 pounds.  I even had, for a year or two, an Edward III gold noble.  All are now just memories.  

So, because of what I used to own (the past informing the present), I do like your William III, George II, and George III half guineas!  The George IV gold sovereign is also very nice.

Thanks. I know the feeling. From the mid-1980s to around 2000, I built up a collection of British gold including at least one example per ruler (except for Cromwell!) going all the way back to Elizabeth I. I had to sell almost all of them up through William IV about 8 years ago, for financial reasons. From Victoria on they weren't worth much more than bullion value so I kept them, except for a George VI half-sovereign that I also sold. (His gold coins are impossibly expensive these days, and I wish I'd kept it, because I didn't get that much for it.) But I remember every one that I sold fondly, including 2-pound gold coins of George IV, Victoria, and Edward VII. I never had a 5-pound coin, let alone a gold noble! Anyway, short of winning the lottery, I'll never be able to buy back examples of those two-pound coins, or of the hammered gold pieces I used to have, or of coins like my Victoria Gothic crown, which probably would cost a minimum of several thousand pounds these days.

Edited December 10, 2022 by DonnaML

[ambr0zie]

I like all the silver coins (being totally out of my area, it was the first time I have seen any of them). Especially 2. Edward VI AR Sixpence (very pleasant facing portrait) and 7. George III AR Crown 1818 (one of the most beautiful coins I have ever seen).

Not much to be said about the gold coinage - except applause and well done. The most curious one, for me, is 4. George III AV Third Guinea 1810. Intriguing portrait. For a moment I thought I was looking at a Trajan coin but not design by a very talented engraver.

 

[John Conduitt]

These are great coins. It's difficult to find many of these (1 and 2 especially) in as good condition. The George IIIs are beautiful. I like that you have Mestrelle and Briot covered.

[Spaniard]

@DonnaML..

Lovely selection!

For some reason my eye always falls on the Elisabeth I....Nice example!

As for the gold...The Williiam III portrait ...Wow!...Nice coin.

[Di Nomos]

Awesome coins. My favourite British monarch is Charles I, so his shilling is my favourite coin. 

I'm very interested in that period of English history, both historically and numismatically. 

Another great show of coins.

[thenickelguy]

3 hours ago, DonnaML said:

England, Elizabeth I, AR Sixpence 1562 

Amazing coin. my favorite of the bunch! That Henry VIII is something else of course, but she was a nicer person.

[Qcumbor]

Since I'm trying to build a decent collection of british coins, I will have to go for the whole lot @DonnaML, silver and gold all the same...

Thanks for sharing them.
I wish I could add as many coins as you did this year ; impressive !!!

Q

[DonnaML]

I must say that comparing it to the original, the photo (from the dealer) of the George III third-guinea is over-saturated, so that the color doesn't look very much at all like that of the coin in hand. I think this is a little closer to reality:

Edited December 12, 2022 by DonnaML

[ChrisB]

I have a thing for anything by Pistrucci so your George III crown is stunning to me. I have a far inferior one. 

[happy_collector]

Wonderful additions, Donna. Your Edward IV and Elizabeth I are my favorites. Nice gold coins also. 🙂

[antwerpen2306]

fantastic, show more please, this are not the coins I collect, but : a thing of beauty is a joy for ever

[panzerman]

Donna/ those  are outstanding  British gold coins/ the Kaiser was related too/ since after Queen Anne died, the British ruled Family became  a Hannoverian Dynasty. Queen Victoria got some Coburg-Gotha bloodlines mixed in due to her marriage with Prince Albert.  Those are really awesome/ thanks for posting them.

[DonnaML]

25 minutes ago, panzerman said:

Donna/ those  are outstanding  British gold coins/ the Kaiser was related too/ since after Queen Anne died, the British ruled Family became  a Hannoverian Dynasty. Queen Victoria got some Coburg-Gotha bloodlines mixed in due to her marriage with Prince Albert.  Those are really awesome/ thanks for posting them.

Correct! Kaiser Wilhelm II's mother was Queen Victoria's oldest daughter, also named Victoria ("Vicky"), so he was famously George V's first cousin. There's a book called "Nicky, Willy and George,"  about those two and Tsar Nicholas II, who was George's first cousin through their mothers, who were sisters from the Danish royal house. Nicholas and Wilhelm were also distant cousins.

[panzerman]

Donna/ I love the British/ English AR coins/ esp. the Edward VI AR six pence/ Charles I AR Shilling. These have great portraits. Congrats on your fine additions!  All ten are beautifull.

John