Elizabeth I Sovereign, sixth issue, Tower mint, mm hand, AU55+

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, five small pellets up each side of throne back, portcullis below Queen, tressure and beaded border surrounding, Latin legend and outer beaded border on both sides, initial mark hand (1590-92), struck over crescent over scallop both sides, +ELIZABETH D; G; ANG; FRA; ET. HIB; REGINA. rev. quartered shield at centre of ornate rose, beaded circle surrounding, +A; DNO' FACTV; EST. ISTVD. ET. EST. MIRAB' IN OCVL; NRS; weight 15.32g (Brown and Comber A24; Schneider 782; Hill H59 R5; N.2003; S.2529). Weak in parts as usual for this initial mark, has been slabbed and graded by NGC as AU55+ the second finest graded, the rarest mint mark for the denomination with only 8 examples known, therefore highly desirable.

NGC certification 8534362-010 with "Hird" provenance upon Carrington Collection label on black core. As of October 2025 this coin is the second finest graded behind an MS62 which we previously sold for over £90,000.

The mint mark of hand is one of the rarest for the fine gold sovereign, far eclipsed by the number of mint mark crosslet, A, scallop and tun as well as crescent, and is probably on par with the number available of the earliest mint mark lis pieces of the denomination's earliest striking of which there is only a single digit number available.

The fine gold output of mintmark hand amounts to £40,778 which would have included the Angel coinage too, and was issued from the 1^st February 1590 until31st January 1592. The denomination also named officially as a Double Noble passed for Thirty Shillings and for mint mark hand usually seen with the hand mark struck over the top and changed from the crescent mint mark dies which were in turn changed from scallop marked dies showing remarkable longevity or suggesting low mintages of crescent and hand mint marks. Brown and Comber recorded this coin as A24 in their work on the Elizabethan gold coinage in the British Numismatic Journal of 1989 and referenced only one privately held example in the Ryan Collection which is not this piece. We can only trace two others going through for sale in the last thirty years and cannot see any non-overstruck mint mark hand pieces which seem unlikely to exist (B&C A25 based on sole mention of mint mark hand in the Spink Numismatic Circular article of April 1938 by Sidney Whicher in an article that was only about the throne backs rather than mint marks).

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 13^th May 1605 we can see fine gold Sovereign presented described thus "I give and bequeath to my fellow William Shakespeare a XXX^s piece in gould, To my fellow Henry Condell one other xxx^s piece in gould." Such a coin of honour being highly revered and not to be spent in the lifetime of the recipient.

Provenance:

Ex Alderman Horace Hird, Sotheby, 24^th March 1988, lot 702.

Ex Carrington Collection 666.