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St. James's Auctions (Knightsbridge Coins)
Lot 3

ANCIENT COINS, GREEK COINS, Attica, Athens (449-413 BC), silver tetradrachm, head of Athena r., in wreathed crested helmet, rev. ???, owl r., olive-spray and crescent in upper-left field, all within an incuse square, wt. 17.10gms. (Sear.2521), well modelled and in high relief, very fine

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St. James's Auctions (Knightsbridge Coins)
Lot 404

COMMEMORATIVE MEDALS, FOREIGN MEDALS, Peru, Charles III, silver Proclamation medal, 1760, for Lima, laureate and armoured bust r., rev. crowned double-headed eagle with coat of arms between pillars, 37.5mm. (Medina 79; Fonrobert 8920), pierced, toned very fine

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St. James's Auctions (Knightsbridge Coins)
Lot 605

FOREIGN COINS, South Africa, ZAR, Burgers pond (1874), copper test splash for the reverse hub die (unlisted), made at the Heaton Mint, a complete, deep impression of the reverse die, surrounded by the massive copper splash, virtually as struck, unknown in any other collection - a museum piece and probably unique *ex Künker, Auction 206, March 13-15, 2012, ex BIM Collection. Colonial South Africa provides numismatists with a fascinating glimpse at how a system of money, and the need for a native coinage, develop. The colony evolved as a disconnected group of immigrant settlements which initially used coins of their home countries as well as local tokens for money. Some of the early tokens were made of silver but in the main they were exchanged in good faith only. When gold was discovered in the Transvaal in 1869, a new era began for the area's inhabitants. The first gold coin was minted in 1874 in extremely limited numbers but was never put to any commercial use. Thomas François Burgers, second president of the republic, had been urged repeatedly to create a gold coinage that could be traded outside the country and trusted, based on its intrinsic value. No design for it had ever been advanced, however, so Burgers decided to approach the Birmingham, England, firm of Ralph Heaton & Sons to create a coin that would change the situation. Unfortunately he made the decision on his own, lacking any approval from his fellow legislators, and it was to prove to be such a fatal error that the initial gold coinage for South Africa was delayed yet again. The Heaton Mint engaged the services of Leonard C. Wyon, the Royal Mint's engraver, to prepare dies showing a portrait of Burgers, possibly because Burgers himself supplied the gold specie for the coinage. On the coin’s reverse appeared an artistically balanced, elaborate design showing the coat of arms of the fledgling republic. During the process of designing and advancing the stages of die development, Heaton tested the dies, and it is their test of the reverse ‘coat of arms’ die which we see in this lot. The gold specie used to make sample coins had been mined in the Transvaal, meeting Burgers' intention of making use of native gold ore. Mint records (see National Archives reference below) indicate that 837 pieces were made using up the amount of gold ore supplied to the mint by Burgers. When the Heaton Mint’s samples reached South Africa, Burgers proudly displayed his gleaming new gold coins to members of the Volksraad, but the legislators objected vehemently to Burgers' use of his own image and they rejected the coin design which was to become the forerunner of the famed golden Pond. The new republic would therefore need to wait almost two more decades until its first golden Ponds appeared for commerce in 1892. Although only 837 gold coins were struck by Heaton, a surprisingly high number of 16 working dies were needed, evidently because of the high rate of die breakage. These dies and punches (matrices) remain in the collections of the National Cultural and Open Air Museum in Pretoria, the Transvaal Museum, and the South African Mint Museum. It is rumored that a working die is in private possession. Off-metal completed patterns exist in limited numbers, as listed by Hern, but no other physical samples of the coinage’s preparation exists other than this trial splash for the reverse die. Research reveals that L.C. Wyon prepared two matrices, or die punches, that were used by the Heaton Mint to create working dies. The present splash, or hub trial, was made by pressing the die into molten copper alloy to test its design. Once tested, die trials and hub trials are normally destroyed, but this one survived. Primary sources: South Africa's First Gold Coin: Research on the Burgers Dies and Burgerspond 1874, by Esterhuysen, Matthys van As (1976). Correspondence concerning the execution of a gold coinage for the Republic of South Africa by Messrs. Heaton and Sons of Birmingham, June 1874. The National Archives, London

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St. James's Auctions (Knightsbridge Coins)
Lot 58

BRITISH COINS, Charles II, pattern farthing in silver, 1665, cuir. laur. bust l., date below, rev. Britannia seated, holding spear and olive branch, grained edge (P.407), toned, extremely fine or better, scarce

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St. James's Auctions (Knightsbridge Coins)
Lot 69

BRITISH COINS, William III, five guineas, 1701, D. TERTIO, ‘fine work’, second laur. bust r., rev. crowned cruciform shields, sceptres in angles (S.3456; Schneider 480, plain sceptres), in plastic holder, graded by PCGS as Mint State 62, an evenly bold strike on both sides, just a touch of wear on the king’s hair, only tiny abrasions in the open golden fields, choice mint state, very rare On the death of Queen Mary at the very end of December 1694, King William ruled alone for the first time. Silver coinage and small gold in his name commenced in 1695, but his first large gold pieces were minted in 1699. While much of the energy of the Royal Mint’s workers and administrators was devoted to the Great Recoinage of the silver, and the temporary establishment and furnishing of branch mints around the kingdom during this reign, no little attention was given to the standard gold which was the backbone of the nation’s financial strength. The need was indeed great to recall worn, clipped, and difficult-to-value older silver. Tons of it came into these smelting and minting facilities beginning late in 1696 and concluding in 1698 but the year 1697 saw the heaviest exchange. By 1699, almost all old silver in circulation had been exchanged, and melted, and the country saw a deluge of bright, freshly minted sixpence, shilling and halfcrown coins. At just the same time, Isaac Newton’s work at the Mint changed from that of Warden to Master-worker, or Mint-master. As a man of science, Newton brought both more control and a more scientific approach to the operations of the Mint. Beginning in 1699, Newton watched and weighed the Mint’s suppliers of gold especially and soon learned that a few grains of gold was a standard variance for the Mint that was being used to certain merchants’ advantage when they returned slightly heavy coins to the Mint for a profit. Newton began testing all newly minted gold to assure that it would be of precise weight and fineness, and also required exact measures of all worn and foreign gold brought to the Mint in exchange for new money. By treating foreign money as mere bullion rather than accepting it at a set exchange value, he caused an influx of worn gold to come into the Mint during 1701-02, most of which was coined into guinea denominations. In this way he caused British gold coins to be consistently pure and of precise value. The Royal Mint had been modernized. The first 5 guineas issued for William III varied greatly on the reverse from the coins issued by him with Mary, reverting to the cruciform style seen on the gold of Charles II. The king's portrait was shallowly engraved. But Newton had not finished making changes at the Mint: next he attempted to complete the transition begun during the Renaissance, of departing from the shallow style of portraiture of the monarch to one that suggested lifelike qualities. In 1701 he caused a portrait to be engraved that would not be equalled until the 1760s’ patterns of George III. As Mint-master, Newton’s finest artistic achievement is, without argument, the deeply engraved 5 guineas of 1701, now known as the ‘fine work’ issue, and it has become one of the classics of British numismatics. Its conception has never been documented in detail but its appearance arose from another propitious change at the Royal Mint. For about a third of a century, the job of engraving coin dies had been dominated by the Roettiers family of Brussels. The elder of the family, John, had found favour with Charles II when Thomas Simon, as the former engraver of Cromwell’s coins and seals, saw his tenure decline. John and his brothers, Joseph and Philip, in the words of Challis, exercised the ‘controlling influence over English engraving’ during the last years of the seventeenth century (New History of the Royal Mint, page 363) along with John’s sons James and Norbert, who under his guidance completed much of the die-work during the reigns of James II and of William & Mary and then of William alone. Slowly, the Roettiers faded from the scene: John the master engraver suffered injury, Joseph moved to the Paris Mint, Philip returned to Brussels to work, Norbert left for France in 1695, and James came under suspicion of counterfeiting in 1697 and was dismissed. No one capable was left, save for a young assistant named James Bull. Then suddenly a German jeweller from Dresden named John Croker was brought to the Mint. He soon tired of re-engraving dies made by the Roettiers during 1698-99, and he produced the now-famous ‘flaming hair’ shillings. Newton and others took note and promoted him. His mark on English coinage and medals became indelible, and among his medals may be found exquisite images in high relief, but his greatest achievement was certainly the ‘fine work’ engraving of the king’s portrait used in only one year, 1701, on the gold 2 guineas and 5 guineas. These are the ultimate numismatic images of the reign, magnificent money created three centuries ago and rarely equalled as works of art in all the years that have followed.

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St. James's Auctions (Knightsbridge Coins)
Lot 60

BRITISH COINS, Charles II, pattern farthing in silver, 1665, laur. bust l., rev. Britannia std. l., with shield and spear (P.431), about very fine, rare

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St. James's Auctions (Knightsbridge Coins)
Lot 73

BRITISH COINS, Anne, five guineas, 1703, SECVNDO, VIGO below bust, dr. bust l., rev. crowned cruciform shields with rose at centre, sceptres in angles (S.3561; Schneider 523 but here the VIGO is higher and close to the queen’s shoulder), in plastic holder, graded by PCGS as About Uncirculated 55, with delightful reddish gold toning and a bold, even strike, very rare The commercial focus of the Royal Mint at the turn of the eighteenth century was upon silver coins, those being most in demand both at home and for trade abroad. Various monetary indentures mainly concerned silver, but any shortage normally encountered had just been addressed during the previous decade by way of the temporary establishment of mints scattered about the kingdom for the purpose of melting old silver and striking fresh coins of good and consistent weight and fineness. Those ‘branch’ mints were now closed, and silver was being produced in modest quantity when Anne ascended the throne. In truth, at the time there was a dearth of silver mined within the realm. The output of fresh silver coins had again become ‘dependent on special circumstances such as the fortuitous arrival of foreign booty’ (Challis, A New History of the Royal Mint, page 433) ‘The most spectacular of these windfalls’, Challis continues, occurred almost by happenstance just as Anne became queen. The year 1702 marked the beginning of the War of Spanish Succession, which was a contest for dominance between two sets of allies, England and the Dutch Republic against France and Bourbon Spain. Old allies and old enemies they surely were. A fleet of Anglo-Dutch warships attempted to seize Cadiz but the attempt failed in mid-September. The commander of the fleet, Admiral Sir George Rooke, had begun his homeward journey and most certainly was dejected at the idea of returning to home port without success when he was informed by spies that a Spanish treasure fleet had recently anchored at Vigo Bay on the northwest shore of Spain What was at hand, he had learned, was an armada of Spanish ships carrying specie mined in Spanish Mexico. The fleet had sailed from Veracruz protected by a French squadron of fifteen warships. Three galleons were loaded with silver and gold. Frigates and attending ships added up to a fleet of 56 vessels, many carrying merchandise intended for sale in Spain, and all were moored in Vigo Bay. A furious naval battle was fought on 23 October and the victory was England’s despite a boom consisting of heavy chain and timber that stretched across the entrance to the bay, and a battery of cannons, meant to block and defeat any attack. The Dutch and English men o’ war crashed through the boom. The Spanish set a fireship alongside the Dutch admiral’s flagship, intending to burn it, but the Spanish ship was loaded with snuff from the Indies and it blew up! The Spanish guns were quickly silenced, the boom was gone, and the Anglo-Dutch warships sailed right into the heart of the harbour, destroying most of the enemy’s ships and capturing the others. In a day and a half, the Battle of Vigo Bay had been won, and the booty was up for grabs. At first, jubilation reigned, but then the English discovered that most of the treasure from the New World mines had been unloaded before they arrived at Vigo. Winning the battle was of great moment in the war. What remained of the specie was taken and delivered to the Royal Mint. It did not consist of Mexican silver but rather it amounted to 4,500 pounds of silver that had been ornaments and ‘plate’ belonging to the Spanish and French officers, as well as 7 pounds 8 ounces of gold (Challis, page 433). The Spanish king, Philip V, issued a decree claiming ownership of the precious metals. In response, Queen Anne caused to be issued a royal warrant, dated 10 February 1703, instructing Mint-master Isaac Newton to mark all coins made from captured specie to ‘Continue to Posterity the Remembrance of that Glorious Action’ at Vigo Bay. Today’s collectors often encounter silver sixpence, shillings, halfcrowns and crowns made from this treasure, but the gold produced few coins and today all are extremely rare. Least minted were the 5 guineas of 1703. Only a handful are known. Of them, the rarest variety (perhaps as few as two others known) is that showing the VIGO placed higher toward the queen’s shoulder, as seen on this wonderfully historic coin

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St. James's Auctions (Knightsbridge Coins)
Lot 181

G BRITISH COINS, Elizabeth II, two-coin proof set, 1996, comprising sovereign and silver pound; proof sovereign, 1996; proof half sovereign, 1996, all issued by the Royal Mint, in fitted cases of issue, FDC (4 coins)

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Kivells
Lot 265

Silver Nutmeg grater - Thomas Phipps & Edward Robinson, London 1797

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Kivells
Lot 256

Silver & Mother of Pearl handle paper knife in scabbard

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Kivells
Lot 212

Silver brooch with enamel bird decor, buttons, thimble etc.

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Kivells
Lot 193

2 Silver/Mother of Pearl hat pins - Pearce & Thompson, Birmingham 1912

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Kivells
Lot 203

Large etched silver oval brooch + silver bird in bough etched locket

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Kivells
Lot 293

Foreign silver cigarette case & another + table jar

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Kivells
Lot 287

Chinese silver 3 piece tea service with Dragon decoration

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Kivells
Lot 286

Silver back hairbrush + 2 silver handle button hooks

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Kivells
Lot 201

Heavy silver Gents identify bracelet - Edwin 66g

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Kivells
Lot 244

Cased amber/ivory & silver cigarette holder

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Kivells
Lot 222

Art Deco Marcasite set necklace with silver clasp

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Kivells
Lot 270

Silver banded table jars (3) & Caithness salt cellar

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Kivells
Lot 250

Silver gilt knopend set of 6 coffee spoons

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Kivells
Lot 309

Derby silver Company etched trinket box USA

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Kivells
Lot 248

Silver 3 Piece tea service (approx. 958g)

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Kivells
Lot 200

Silver Betima presentation Ladies wristwatch + Lorus wristwatch

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