Three rare British coins sell for a staggering £1.14 million
Three rare British coins including a Henry VII fine gold Sovereign sell for a staggering £1.14 million at auction
- Heritage Auctions, in Texas, said coins were ‘veritable holy grail’ for collectors
- The coins from the 15th, 17th and 19th centuries were tipped to sell for £935,000
Three rare British coins have sold for a staggering £1.14million between them.
The historic pieces included a Henry VII fine gold Sovereign of 20 shillings. The 1492 coin displays the monarch seated on a throne on one side.
There is a large royal shield set atop a Tudor rose within floral treasure on the reverse.
An undisclosed bidder paid £623,000 ($795,000) for it at Heritage Auctions, of Dallas, Texas, US – far above its £390,000 estimate.
There was also fierce competition over a 1839 gold ‘Victoria Una and the Lion’ five pounds coin.
The Henry VII fine gold Sovereign of 20 shillings coin went under the hammer and was sold for a staggering £623,000
The 1839 gold ‘Victoria Una and the Lion’ five pounds coin (left) fetched £329,000, while the English Civil War Charles I gold Triple Unite (right) was sold for £188,000
It shows the 20-year-old monarch, who ascended to the throne two years earlier, leading a lion which represents the British Empire. The reverse of the coin, of which only 400 were struck, carries a portrait of Victoria’s head.
READ MORE: The rarest coins unveiled as King Charles’ coronation 50p enters circulation today
It was created by coin maker William Wyon, who was official chief engraver at the Royal Mint from 1828 until his death in 1851.
He depicted Queen Victoria as Una, the protagonist in the first volume of the Elizabethan poem The Faerie Queen by Edmund Spencer.
In the 1590 poem, Una saves her parents’ castle from a dragon and is the embodiment of ‘truth’. It proved so popular with one of Victoria’s ancestors, Queen Elizabeth I, that she granted him a pension for life amounting to £50 a year (£8,600 today). The coin achieved £329,000 ($420,000).
The final coin offered was an English Civil War Charles I gold Triple Unite. The 1643 coin depicts the King holding a sword and an olive branch.
On the reverse is the inscription ‘let God rise and let his enemies be scattered’. The coin, considered one of the finest of its type and struck six years before Charles I was executed, went for £188,000 ($240,000).
A Heritage spokesman said: ‘This was a veritable holy grail for collectors of early British numismatics.’
The coins, which were estimated to make a combined £935,000, were consigned by private collectors.
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