Great Britain: Oliver Cromwell gold Proof Pattern Broad of 20 Shillings 1656 PR63 PCGS, ...

Description

Well-Provenanced Rarity with Historic Significance

Oliver Cromwell gold Proof Pattern Broad of 20 Shillings 1656 PR63 PCGS, KM-Pn25, S-3225, N-2744, W&R-39 (R2). Reeded edge. By Thomas Simon. One of the most sought-after British gold types, not only due to its sheer rarity, but its historical implications from one of the most tumultuous eras in English history. This is certainly the most attractive representative this cataloger has handled, exhibiting a poignant scarlet tone at the peripheries that overlays a discernable flash. This incredible eye-appeal, paired with a lengthy provenance and tied "top-pop" position with just three others at PCGS, should catapult this piece to one of the more contested English lots in this auction.

After the English Civil War terminated in 1649 with the execution of King Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, the leader of the anti-monarchist Parliamentarians, became Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England. Seven years later, through the combination Thomas Simon's masterful engraving and the engineering know-how of Pierre Blondeau, the Cromwell portrait series was created. A step towards hypocritically representing Cromwell as King, this milled coinage featured the Lord Protector wearing a laureate wreath and the reverse shield featuring a crown, its overall quality a significant improvement over previous issues. Produced entirely in Blondeau's own private Drury House (as the Tower Mint moneyers loathed Blondeau and refused to let him work alongside them), the coinage was designed as a statement of Cromwell's power and to serve as an example of the dramatic improvements in coin production under the Commonwealth.

Ex. Chalaza Collection (Spink Auction 20005, The Stratos Sale of Spectacular English Gold Coins, September 2020, Lot 72); Selig Collection, Part I (Spink Auction 70, May 1989, Lot 241 [third color plate]), Privately Purchased from Spink in 1971

From the Cara Collection of highly provenanced British Rarities

Metal: Gold
Diameter: 29mm

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



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