Rare Charles I gold leads auction

Among the numerous world coin rarities on offer in Heritage Auctions’ ANA world and ancient coin sales held Aug. 12-17 in Chicago was one of the nicer Triple Unites to appear on the market in recent years.

The legendary coin of Charles I was struck between 1642 and 1644 mainly at his Oxford Mint during the English Civil War. It weighed in at 421 grains or 27.28 g or 0.877 oz. Given the circumstances of its striking it is hardly surprising that it comes in at least nine major varieties. The present example catalogs as S-2729, KM-338.

The Heritage catalog noted that some 60 examples have been sold publicly in the past 10 years. The present coin came in choice condition, grading as Numismatic Guaranty Corporation AU-58. However, the cataloger qualifies this, noting … “hammered coins often have nuances that a single number alone fails to entirely address.”

As might be expected the bidders were out in force. When the dust finally settled a new owner had been found for $249,998.88.

This is the second highest price ever paid for a Triple Unite. The record is also claimed by Heritage. It dates from 2005 when $431,250 was paid for an example of the extremely rare short olive branch variety, S-2725A, graded NGC MS-63.

In 2011 St. James Auctions sold a choice example of S-2729, the same as offered by Heritage in August, for £150,000 [$233,173].

More Collecting Resources
• Come on down to the Chicago International Coin Fair in Rosemont, Ill. on April 14 to 17, 2016 to see impressive world coins, meet new collectors and participate in Heritage Auction’s fantastic coin auction.
• Hunter? Naturalist? Purchase the 2014 World of Hunting – Red Deer silver coin to add a majestic coin to your collection.