Elizabeth I Sovereign, sixth issue, mm crescent (1587-89), AU53

Elizabeth I (1558-1603), fine gold Sovereign of Thirty Shillings, sixth issue (1583-1600), full facing robed figure of Queen seated on large throne, lis headed pillar either side, throne back of pellets in hatching, portcullis below Queen, tressure and beaded border surrounding, Latin legend and outer beaded border on both sides, initial mark crescent (1587-89), +ELIZABETH. D; G; ANG; FRA; ET. HIB; REGINA. rev. quartered shield at centre of ornate rose, beaded circle surrounding, initial mark crescent struck over escallop, A. DNO; FACTV; EST. ISTVD. ET. EST. MIRAB; IN. OCVLIS; NRS;, weight 15.31g (Brown and Comber A22; Schneider -; Hill H58 R4; Holloway 17A-22A-004; N.2003; S.2529). Struck on a broad flan, a little double or triple struck on reverse, one small edge split with some light hairlines, has been slabbed and graded by NGC as AU53 and very rare, the second rarest Sovereign of Elizabeth after mint mark hand.

NGC certification 8537476-002 - currently the second finest graded of four at this service for this mintmark. PCGS have yet to grade a coin of this mark.

The abbreviated Latin legend translates as on obverse "Elizabeth by the Grace of God, Queen of England, France and Ireland," and on the reverse "This is the Lord's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes," a Psalm from the Bible.

The fine gold Sovereign of Elizabeth I was a highly respected coin at the time, and was famed in the acting world of the time of William Shakespeare, as the coin of choice to be honoured with should the Queen attend a performance personally. Traditionally the Queen would honour the playwright and the star of the show with her favour reflected in the presenting of a fine gold Sovereign. We have such evidence of this in the will of the Gentleman Actor Augustine Phillips of Mortlake Surrey who was one of the first to rise to such a social status in his profession. From his will dated 13th May 1605 we can see fine gold Sovereign presented described thus "I give and bequeath to my fellow William Shakespeare a XXXs piece in gould, To my fellow Henry Condell one other xxxs piece in gould." Such a coin of honour being highly revered and not to be spent in the lifetime of the recipient.

This the mint mark that was current on the fine gold coinage at the time of the Spanish Armada in May of 1588. There was no crown gold coinage issued at this time.

The usage of mint mark crescent for fine gold is known to have started production on the 1st June 1587 and is thought to have lasted until the 31st January 1590. Just under £47,000 worth of fine gold coins were struck for this mark in this issue which includes the gold Angel and its fractions of which the majority struck would have been such smaller denominations. It was estimated by Brown and Comber in their 1989 British Numismatic Journal article that perhaps £7,000 worth of fine Sovereigns of Thirty Shillings, or Double Nobles as they were officially known were struck. This estimate of face value equates as a physical mintage of approximately 4,667 pieces only of which only a tiny proportion survives today at only 12 or 13 pieces.

George Holloway (reference to his auction cited above) spent the majority of his collecting life researching and recording appearances of Elizabeth I fine Sovereigns for sale and recorded 12 pieces with mint mark crescent in total. This maybe a thirteenth example to add to that, as the only older provenance known for this coin (A. E. Bagnall) was written on a ticket which accompanied it at the Spink sale below, but not mentioned in the cataloguing, and is a ticket now since lost as the coin has been straight graded and slabbed since. As the Bagnall collection was a private purchase at Spink it does not seem to have appeared in a catalogue for sale until the 2023 auction appearance.

Provenance:

Ex Albert Edward Bagnall (1877-1966) Collection, sold portions to Spink in 1952 and 1964 - as per ticket present with coin at sale below but now subsequently lost.

Ex Spink Coin Auction, 3^rd April 2023, lot 496.