Commonwealth 1658 gold Crown mintmark anchor, finest graded MS63

Commonwealth (1649-60),gold Crown, 1658, English shield within laurel and palm branch, legends in English language, initial mark anchor with stop either side, THE COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAN, no stops in wording of legend,no D in ENGLAND, rev.English and Irish shields, small value .V. above, beaded circle and legend surrounding, date at top, GOD. WITH. VS., weight 2.22g (Schneider 366; EGC Bull 73 R7; N.2720; S.3213).Toned with a light red hue, some light marks, very well preserved, has been slabbed and graded by NGC as MS63, one of the rarest hammered gold coins with only three known in private ownership.

NGC Certification 6062243-011.

The Commonwealth coinage produced from 1649-60 are the first British coins to carry English language legends.

We note the Mint output of gold coin for the two year and ten-month period of 1st December 1657 until 30th September 1659 with the anchor initial mark (under Richard Cromwell) totalled a mere £790 worth of gold, the lowest of the Commonwealth period. In fact, this output of 22 carat gold is the lowest of any hammered god accounting period and considering this is a longer accounting period than usual adds to the fact that this is one of the rarest hammered gold initial marks to obtain with no more than three examples traceable in private ownership. The silver issue was also the lowest at just £12,989 worth which consisted of Halfcrowns, Shillings and Sixpences.

Online resource for Commonwealth coins www.sunandanchor.com list this coin as GC-50 on the site with the R7 rating.

Provenance:

Ex William Brice (c.1812-87), solicitor of Bristol, Collection bought en bloc by Hyman Montagu 1887.

Ex Hyman Montagu (1844-95), solicitor, English third portion, 13^th November 1896, Sotheby lot 677 for £4/17/6d to Spink.

Ex John Gloag Murdoch (1830-1902), publisher and pianoforte manufacturer, second portion, Sotheby, 8-13^th June 1903, lot 384 sold for £5.

Ex Frederick George Hilton-Price (1842-1909), banker, Sotheby, 17-19^th May 1909, lot 237 for £4/2/6d.

Ex Richard Cyril Lockett, English part II, Glendining, 11-17^th October 1956, lot 2602, plate LXXVI, sold for £52.

Ex R. Duncan Beresford-Jones, Spink Coin auction 29, 2^nd June 1983, lot 132 and colour plate 2.

Ex Long Island Collection, Heritage New York Signature Sale, 10^th January 2022, lot 30213 sold for $34,000 hammer.

The other two examples in private ownership are the one sold in the Horace Hird "Lost Parcel" sale with provenance back to the mid-18^th Century sold at Spink in the same numerical grade for £35,000 hammer on 28^th September 2021; and the one in the Schneider collection referenced in cataloguing above as 366 which was purchased by Herbert Schneider in 1964.

We also note the British Museum list one online without illustration as collection number E.1448.