Commonwealth 1650 Unite of Twenty Shillings AU58, 16 leaf obverse

Commonwealth (1649-60), gold Unite of Twenty Shillings, 1650, variety with 16 leaves in laurel branch, English shield within laurel and palm branch, legends in English language, initial mark sun, .THE. COMMONWEALTH. OF. ENGLAND., rev. English and Irish shields, value .XX. above, beaded circle and legend surrounding, date at top, .GOD. WITH. VS. (cf.Schneider 338; Bull EGC -; N.2715; S.3208). Lightly toned, a few light surface marks and striations, has been slabbed and graded by NGC as AU58, this is the first time we have encountered an obverse die with 16 leaves which can only occur for the date 1650, extremely rare.

NGC certification 3743674-003.

We note 1650 is the only date where the obverse die can feature either 14, 15 or 16 leaf obverses and is a rare date in its own right anyway before we consider the leaf varieties. No publication currently features the 16 leaf obverse but it is recorded and illustrated with this actual coin (U-45) on the online resource for Commonwealth coins www.sunandanchor.com

This is the largest denomination gold coin of the Commonwealth, with all hammered coins of this period being the first British coins to have legends in plain English. It is interesting that at the start of the Commonwealth a new indenture had to be drawn up as Sir Robert Harley the master-worker refused to be involved with this coinage. A pyx trial was held at Harley's expense and a new indenture drawn up with Dr Aaron Guerdain MD which also allowed for fine gold denominations from the Sovereign down, as well as the 22 carat crown gold like we see with the Unites, Double Crowns and Crowns like we have offered herewith. It is thought that fine gold denominations were never struck! The total gold output from 16th May 1649 until 25th December 1651 was £34,505 which would have covered coins dated from 1649-51 with no further breakdown available.

Provenance:

Ex Heritage, New York Signature Sale, 6^th January 2014, lot 24101 - the variety not highlighted.

Ex St James Auction 28, 28^th June 2014, lot 141 - the variety not highlighted.