Baldwin's
Lot 3573
BRITISH COINS, Victoria (1837-1901), Proof Set, 1839, consisting of 15 Gold, Silver and Copper coins, all dated 1839, with young head design of Queen: Gold Five Pounds, rev Una & the Lion, Gold Sovereign, rev shield, Gold Half-Sovereign, Silver Crown, rev shield, Silver Halfcrown, rev shield, Silver Shilling, rev crowned value, Silver Sixpence, rev crowned value, Silver Groat, rev Britannia, Silver Maundy Set of Bronzed-copper Penny, Halfpenny and Farthing, rev Britannia (S PS3; Una variety L&S 17, dies 2AW). A superb set and the finest we have ever catalogued, the Five Pounds with a few tone spots on reverse design and just the merest hint of light marks in the fields, surprisingly problem free as are all the other coins in this set, the Sovereign with tone spot on cheek and a pleasing red hue otherwise as struck, the Half-Sovereign with tiny tone spot on truncation otherwise with a matching red hue to the Sovereign; Silver coins faultless and with multi-colour rainbow like toning, the Halfcrown with small tone spot in obverse field, the Shilling with small spot on bust and in obverse field, the Maundy Groat with tone blemish in field behind head; Copper all attractively toned, the Farthing darker, the Halfpenny with streak of tone near truncation and spot on neck. All in NGC holders graded: Five Pounds PF66 Ultra Cameo Maundy 4d PF65+ Sovereign PF66 Cameo Maundy 3d PF67 Cameo Half Sovereign PF66 Ultra Cameo Maundy 2d PF67+* Crown PF66+ Cameo Maundy 1d PF66 Cameo Halfcrown PF66 Ultra Cameo Bronze Penny PF65 Brown Shilling PF67* Cameo Bronze Halfpenny PF64 Brown Sixpence PF68* Ultra Cameo Bronze Farthing PF63 Brown Groat PF66 Cameo With original presentation case displaying the Sotheby auction provenance. Very rare this well preserved. ex The Property of the late Mrs Diamond of Henley-in-Arden, Sotheby, Thursday 10 April 1856, lot 208, sold for £10/10 This set has been family owned for decades and it is possible, though it cannot be definitely proven, that a member of the family bought it at or very soon after the above sale which occurred when this set was a mere 17 years old. Of particular note for the gold and silver denominations is that, according to the NGC world coin census (as of 23 July 2015): The Gold Five Pounds is the finest graded by two points out of 32 examples graded The Gold Sovereign is the finest by one point out of a total of 19 examples graded The Gold Half-Sovereign is tied as the equal finest for one out of 14 examples graded The Silver Crown is the finest graded by one point and the only with a * designation out of a total of 38 examples graded The Silver Halfcrown is the finest graded by one point out of 26 examples graded The Silver Shilling is the finest graded by one point and the only with a * designation out of 17 examples graded The Silver Sixpence is the finest graded by two points and the only with a * designation out of 22 examples graded The Silver Groat is the finest by one point out of 25 examples graded The Maundy Groat is the equal finest, but the only one with a + designation out of a total of 16 proofs graded The Maundy Threepence is the finest graded by a whole point out of a total of 16 proofs graded The Maundy Twopence is the finest by two points and the only with a + and * designation out of a total of 15 proofs graded. The Maundy Penny is the finest graded by a whole point out of a total of 15 proofs graded.
