Charles II 1684 Guinea Elephant & Castle NGC XF45 extremely rare

Charles II (1660-85), gold Guinea, 1684, elephant and castle provenance mark below fourth laureate head right, Latin legend and toothed border surrounding, CAROLVS. II. DEI. GRATIA, rev. crowned cruciform shields, sceptres in angles, four interlinked Cs at centre, date either side of top crown, Latin legend and toothed border surrounding, MAG. BR. FRA. ET. HIB REX., edge inscribed in Latin raised letters (Schneider -; Bull EGC 283 R2; Farey 0255 ER; MCE 91; S.3345). Toned with wear and surface marks, has been slabbed and graded by NGC as XF45 extremely rare final date of reign with the elephant and castle mark, the first example we have stocked in ten years.

NGC Certification 2138671-004 - one of only two pieces graded at both services - the other is graded at the 50 level.

The Latin legends translate as on the obverse "Charles the second by the Grace of God," and abbreviated on the reverse as "King of Great Britain, France and Ireland."

We note that the total calendar year output of gold for 1684 = £284,488 which would have been used to produce Five Guineas, Two Guineas, Guineas and Half-Guineas and covers those with and without the elephant and castle mark.

In Thomas Snelling's 1763 publication "A view of the Gold Coin and Coinage of England from Henry the Third to the Present Time" a table of guineas coined with the elephant and castle mark by date is reproduced from the London Daily Advertiser of 23^rd January 1755. The figure for the Guineas dated 1684 totals 20,684 pieces.

The elephant and castle provenance mark is indicative of being issued by the "Royal African Company of England" as it had been so reconstructed by the Duke of York from 1672. The "R.A.C." was quite a success trading with Africa and the New World through the 1670s and 1680s. For further reading see the new publication by Graham Birch "The Metal in Britain's Coins" Chapter Three - The Royal African Company and the Golden Guineas p.33-57.