William & Mary 1692 Five-Guineas conjoined busts AU58

William and Mary (1688-94), gold Five Guineas, 1692, conjoined busts right, legend surrounding, GVLIELMVS. ET. MARIA. DEI. GRATIA, toothed border around rim both sides, rev. crowned quartered shield of arms with scalloped frame, Lion of Nassau as an escutcheon at centre, date either side of crown, MAG. BR. FR. ET. HIB . REX. ET. REGINA., edge inscribed in raised letters, inverted orientation to obverse, +DECVS. ET. TVTAMEN. ANNO. REGNI. QVARTO. +., weight 41.75g (Schneider 462; MCE 138; S.3422). Toned with some nice red colour, some light surface marks and hairlines, short scratch in upper obverse field near forehead of Queen, a few black flecks, otherwise has been slabbed and graded by NGC as AU58.

NGC Certification 2124443-047.

According to "The Rarity of Five Guinea Pieces - An Analysis" that appeared in the preface of the Samuel King Collection of Highly Important English Gold Coins sold at Spink on 5^thMay 2005 co-written by the present cataloguer, showed that over a 45-year period preceding 2005, since 1960 that 95 examples of the Five Guineas dated 1692 plain below busts had been bought or sold in numismatic commerce, the second most often encountered of the four dates of the reign.

We additionally note that the gold output for the calendar year for 1692 totalled £114,499 which was by far the highest output of the joint reign being more than double each of the other calendar years. This shows that the survival rate of this date is perhaps not as good as the preceding year which featured a larger figure of survivors in the King analysis. It is increasingly difficult to find these large gold coins in higher levels of preservation.

Provenance:

Ex Giessener Munzenhandlung, Auction 25, Munich, June 1983, lot 443.