Great Britain: England. George III Guinea 1775. Script JB monogram for John Burger....

Description

Well-Pedigreed Burger Regulated Guinea Ex Ten Eyck (1922) - Garrett (1984)

England. George III Guinea 1775. Script JB monogram for John Burger. KM604. Fine. Clipped. Plugged and marked by John Burger, New York, with his script JB in monogram. Weight of 5 dwt, 6 grains (126.3 grains) precisely matches the 1784 Bank of New York standard for British Guineas. Well worn, clipped down to the tops of the legends and affecting the tops of most but not all letters. Stamped in the usual Burger location, near the portrait's eye, perhaps a little lower than usual. Light yellow gold with rich ruddy toning within the punch. The plug is small, so deftly accomplished as to be nearly invisible. The present mark is the scarcer of Burger's two marks, oval rather than round. A very pleasing example of a Burger regulated Guinea, one that boasts one of the finest provenances available for an American regulated gold coin.

The main Garrett U.S. sales, held by Bowers and Ruddy, included the Garrett Collection of EB-marked regulations by Ephraim Brasher. Long collected alongside American colonials, they were easy to recognize as relevant. The Burger marked pieces, of which Garrett had collected four, were not recognized as being of American interest. They were placed in the NFA/Bank Leu sales of world coins, therein described as unattributed West Indies marks. Two of those four pieces earlier came from the Col. James Ellsworth Collection, acquired in 1923, the source of many of Garrett's best colonials. A Thomas Pons-marked 6400 Reis was also acquired with the Ellsworth Collection. The other two Burger regulated coins, this piece included, came from Mehl's famous sale of the James Ten Eyck Collection in 1922. A 1751-R 6400 Reis marked with Burger's stamp cost John Work Garrett $27.50 in that 1922 auction. Given Ten Eyck's centuries-old family legacy in New York, one must wonder if this Burger piece left that state for the first time when Garrett took it home.

Provenance: From B. Max Mehl's sale of the Ten Eyck Collection, 1922, Lot 377 (at $13.75); NFA/Bank Leu's sale of the Garrett Collection, Part I, May 1984, Lot 1230.
From the Edward Roehrs Collection of U.S. Regulated Gold.

More information about Great Britain Coins. See also: Great Britain World Coin Nationality.