Charles I 1642 Triple Unite, Oxford, dies III/S2, MS61

Charles I (1625-49),gold Triple-Unite of Three Pounds, 1642, Oxford Mint, half-length crowned armoured figure of King left, holding sword and palm branch, Oxford plume in field behind, all within beaded circle, Latin legend and outer toothed border surrounding, initial mark Oxford plumes, CAROLVS: D: G: MAG: BRIT: FRAN: ET: HI: REX,reverse,abbreviated Latin Declaration inscription in three wavy lines, RELIG: PROT / LEG: ANG / LIBER: PAR, date below, three Oxford plumes over .III. value above, Latin legend commences upper left within beaded and toothed border surrounding, initial mark five pellets, :EXVRGAT: DEVS: DISSIPENTVR: INIMICI: weight 26.89g (Beresford-Jones dies III / S2; Schneider 286; N.2381; Brooker 832; S.2724).Toned, well centred on a full broadly struck flan, some of the usual weakness at reverse plumes and sword hilt, excellent portraiture with the bust showing up the intricacies of the armour and hair, some light double striking in parts of legend, has been slabbed and graded by NGC as MS61 with a superb provenance.

NGC certification 2113107-001 - in large "supersize" slab. We note that this coin ties for the third finest graded of this type at NGC out of a total of 32 pieces graded of S.2724. This coin is also much higher grade than all six of those slabbed by PCGS which are all below MS levels.

The abbreviated obverse legend translates as "Charles, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland. The abbreviated reverse Declaration translates as "The religion of the Protestants, the Laws of England, the Liberty of Parliament". The outer reverse legend translates as "Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered."

The gold Triple Unite represents the largest hammered gold denomination ever produced in the English series of coinage at a face value of Three Pounds. Such coins were produced at a time of duress, when the King had moved his Capital from London after the Battle of Edgehill, to the Royalist Universities of the City of Oxford, where he made a state entrance on 29th October 1642. The King lived at Christ Church, with the Queen installed at Merton; the Royalist Parliament met in the Upper Schools and Great Convocation House; the Privy Council at Oriel; and the Mint worked at New Inn Hall from the 3rd January 1642/3. These magnificent gold coins were struck for only three dates, 1642, 1643 and 1644 with some variation as there are 24 different varieties of obverse and reverse across these three dates, plus an extremely rare 1642 piece struck in Shrewsbury. Today, it is estimated the 25 different combinations exist in a mere surviving sample of some 250 pieces. It is a shame that neither NGC or PCGS have categorised the slab population by die variety yet as it would make for a much more interesting population census report.

When the Triple Unite was introduced as currency it was more than double the value of any previous English coin produced and would have been seen as a magnificent piece of propaganda against the Puritan cause, to show that though the King had moved from London, Oxford was a rich alternative City. Perhaps the King was inspired by similar large extremely rare Scottish coins produced some 70 years earlier by his Father, King James VI of Scotland in 1575-6. The King had introduced the first regular newspaper printed in Oxford the "Mercurius Aulicus" from the 1st January 1642/3 (1642 old calendar style), and the introduction of the new Triple Unite as currency is featured in the edition produced around the 18th February 1642/3, and features a woodcut illustration of the new denomination (dies 1/S1 combination). This is thought to be the first ever illustration of a current coin of the realm in contemporary print. As the new year in the old calendar style commenced on the 25th March this means all the 1642 dated coins were produced in only a very limited time from mid-February to probably April at latest when 1643 dated pieces were no doubt produced. It seems the issue of this great coin ceased with the great fire of Oxford as reported in the same newspaper of 6th October 1644, as there are only three reverse types known of 1644.

Provenance:

Ex Lady Duveen, Glendining, 29^th September 1964, lot 48, sold for £1,650 hammer.

Ex Spink Coin Auction 9, 4^th June 1980, lot 378, sold for £15,500 hammer.

Ex Spink Coin Auction 81, 19^th November 1990, lot 52 sold for £5,500 hammer.

Ex Lucien La Riviere, Spink Coin Auction 124, 18^th November 1997, lot 1757.

Ex Roderick Richardson, Spring List 2005, item 9 - listed as "SOLD"

Ex Roderick Richardson, Winter list, January 2011, item 4 and front cover illustration offered at £87,500.

Ex A. H. Baldwin, Fixed Price List, Winter 2012, item BH059, offered at £115,000.

Ex Royal Gold Set, NGSA, Masterpieces, 9^th December 2024, lot 1568.

Biographical note of former named owners:

Sir Geoffrey Edgar Duveen (1883-1975) was a London based barrister who formed a comprehensive collection of English gold coins which he commenced in 1919. His interest included co-authoring "The History of the Gold Sovereign" with retired Master of the Mint H. G. Stride in 1962 and within two years his collection was sold under his wife's name at Glendining totalling 630 lots, which sold for amazing prices at that time marking a new high in the market-place for hammered gold and Five Guinea coins (the senior milled gold denomination of which he amassed an impressive 61 pieces).

Lucien La Riviere of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA owned a bridal shop and was a keen collector of the British series over many decades, concentrating on one theme or section of the series and then, after a few years, selling them on to move into another area whether English, Irish or Scottish. Spink handled a number of his collections over the 1990s to 2010 period.