George II 1746 LIMA Five-Guineas XF40, struck from captured gold, ex Baumhauer

George II (1727-60), gold Five Guineas, 1746, LIMA. below older laureate head left, GEORGIVS.II. DEI.GRATIA, rev. crowned quartered shield of arms, date either side of crown, M.B.FE. ET. H. REX. F.D. B.ET. L. D. S. R. I. A. T ET. E., edge inscribed in raised letter and dated, DECVS. ET. TVTAMEN. ANNO. REGNI. DECIMO NONO., weight 41.78g (Schneider 564; Bull EGC 561; Holloway 89; MCE 285; S.3665). Toned, with some hairlines and a few tiny digs, wear to high points, has been slabbed and graded by NGC as XF40.

NGC Certification 2130742-039.

The Lima gold coinage struck in 1746 was seemingly all struck from gold sourced from a Royal Family funded consortium of ships under the command of James Talbot and John Morecock, who captured French treasure ships carrying gold in the North Atlantic in mid-1745. Another French ship that escaped them was later captured at Louisbourg by the English Navy, that was also rich in gold treasure which also contributed towards the LIMA marked gold coinage. A total of £474,492 worth of gold was struck in the calendar year of 1746. A wonderful medallion was produced which shows the capture of the French treasure by Talbot and Morecock on the obverse, with the reverse depicting their busts and the procession of the treasure in wagons below being transported to the Mint for coining. A new book "The Metal in Britain's Coins" by Dr Graham Birch highlights the Lima coinage in Chapter nine, and of the gold total given above for 1746 production a component of £431,800 was struck into LIMA provenanced marked gold. As Dr Birch points out when you hold a Lima gold coin, you are holding gold that started a journey from the mines of Peru and has travelled safely around Cape Horn and across the Atlantic Ocean to be captured and travel on to London for minting into coin.

According to "The Rarity of Five Guinea Pieces - An Analysis" which appeared in the preface of the Samuel King Collection of Highly Important English Gold, a survey of 45 years of dealer sales lists and auction catalogues from 1960-2005, a total of 105 examples of this date of Five Guinea were traced in commerce which is the joint third highest figure across the 8 possible dates of the reign. Herbert Schneider also analysed the gold Five Guinea and Two Guinea coins of George II in his Spink Numismatic Circular article "The Five Guinea and Two Guinea Pieces of George II" in February 1957.This coin is the largest gold coin to carry the LIMA provenance mark.

Provenance:

Ex Dr Rolf Baumhauer Collection, part 4, Sincona, Auction 82, 15^th May 2023, lot 1761.