James II 1687 gold Five Guineas Elephant & Castle below first bust

James II (1685-88), gold Five Guineas, 1687, elephant and castle mintmark below first laureate head left, Latin legend and toothed border surrounding, IACOBVS. II. DEI. GRATIA, rev. crowned cruciform shields, sceptres in angles, date either side of top crown, Latin legend and toothed border surrounding, .MAG. BR. FRA. ET. HIB REX., edge inscribed in raised letters, +.DECVS. ET. TVTAMEN. ANNO. REGNI. TERTIO.+., weight 41.71g (Schneider 452; Holloway 43; Bull EGC 312 R; MCE 118 VR; S.3398). Toned with light surface marks and nicks, more so on reverse perhaps from a past light cleansing, otherwise pleasing good very fine and rare.

The Latin legend translates as on obverse as "James the Second by the Grace of God," continuing on the reverse as "King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland."

We note the total output of gold for the calendar year of 1687 was £401,301 and only a small proportion would have come from the African gold supply indicated by the elephant and castle provenance mark which occurs for Five Guinea, Guinea and Half-Guinea in this year. The bulk of the gold issued would be without such a provenance mark and would also have made these three denominations plus the Two Guinea piece as well. This cataloguer was directly involved with an attempt to give a guide to the survival rate of the Five Guinea piece back in 2005 in the Samuel King auction as "The Rarity of Five Guinea Pieces - An Analysis" where the elephant and castle issues are the rarest of the reign. For this 1687 dated piece in the survey of catalogued and dealers lists consulted 1960-2005 we noted a total of 38 individual pieces coming through the market place which is in stark contrast to the 127 examples of the regular Five Guinea of 1687, therefore a rare issue.

Provenance:

Ex Dix Noonan and Webb, Auction 62, 30^th June 2004, lot 219, sold for £5,200 hammer.

Ex Dr Patrick Tan Collection, Heritage, Long Beach Sale, Auction 3002, 18^th September 2008, lot 21157, sold for $6,250 hammer.

Ex Baldwin's Fixed Price List, Summer 2009, item BM001 listed at £8,750.

Ex Baldwin's Fixed Price List, Summer 2015, item BM001, listed at £30,000.