Printed Auction 44

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Closed March 12, 2025
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  1. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    Exceptionally full and complete portrait
    A44, Lot 194:

    Elizabeth I. 1558-1603. AR crown. 30.21 gm. 44 mm. Seventh Issue (May 15, 1602—March 24, 1603). Tower mint. 1602. Her crowned half-length bust, wearing a decorated dress with ruff, holding a scepter in her right hand and an orb in front of her left shoulder, facing left; :2: +ELIZABETH: D: G: ANG: FRA: ET: HIBER: REGINA: around / Shield divided by long cross fourchée over a square-topped shield; :2: POSV—DEVM: AD—IVTORE—M: MEVM: around. S. 2582A. N. 2012. BCW 2-1:2-a. Near Extremely Fine; fresh metal with subdued iridescence; an exceptional portrait with full detail and a well struck profile. Evenly centered, overall well struck though the upper right quadrant of the shield on the reverse is weak. This section of the reverse corresponds to the profile of Elizabeth on the obverse and the metal filled the die for the obverse leaving a bit less fabric than needed for the reverse. Some annealing (softening the hardness) flaws—typical of this 1602 issue; no wear or damage that came after the piece was struck. A small area of scratches — barely visible in hand — and a slight void around the front of the crown were in the flan before the coin was struck. The line of the front edge of the crown is on top of the scratch line indicating that the scratch was shallow enough to not affect the line when the coin was struck. Very rare; the 1602 issue was struck from just a single pair of dies, vs. the 6 obverse and reverse dies used to strike the 1601.

    Ex Spink (tag in May Sinclair's hand included).

    This is a superb example of the rare "2" mintmark crown issued in very small numbers in 1602 in the last year of Elizabeth's reign.

  2. Winning Losing Won Lost Watching Available in aftersale  
    A44, Lot 248:

    Cornwall 2. County. Low Hall. Copper halfpenny. 14.03 gm. 28.5 mm. Engraved by Rambert Dumarest (attributed to Droz by both D&H and Waters). Manufactured by Boulton. 1791. A druid's head left, oak wreath around / Shield of arms, a coronet above; CORNISH COPPER HALF AN OUNCE 1791 around. FDC; original color, tiny rim flaw at 11' reverse.

    Ex Salyards Collection.

     

    Cornwall 2 is a beautifully designed high-quality product of Boulton’s Soho Mint. Dalton and Hamer, as well as the detailed supplement published by Waters in 1954, both note that the piece is from Boulton but they credit Droz with the dies. Yet, the initials “R D” (Rambert Dumarest) are plain underneath the image.

    In many respects, this particular piece merits a place in any specialized collection of the development of the Soho Mint and the work of Matthew Boulton. 

    By 1792, Jeanne-Pierre Droz was long gone from Birmingham and Matthew Boulton’s mint. Initially hired to bring his expertise to help the Soho Mint thrive, by 1790 Boulton had become exasperated with Droz and Droz went back to France in March 1791. After investing both large sums of money and his and his staff’s time and energy in trying to bring the mint to a viable level for the production of half pence, 1789 found Boulton frustrated and a major source of his frustration was Droz. Richard Doty describes it well. 

    “Monsieur Droz symbolized all of Boulton’s difficulties. He was being paid a handsome salary (which represented a dead loss for the time being); and he was not even performing the labour for which he had been engaged. He complained about everything….“ (The Soho Mint and the Industrialization of Money. BNS 2. London. 1998. P 37.)

    The account of the break between Boulton and Droz takes several long pages of text describing a bitter and drawn-out break. But Droz finally left and Boulton hired a French engraver, Rambert Dumarest, to fill in as the engraver for the Cornish halfpenny which finally came out in 1792.

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