Charles II 1682 Half-Guinea Elephant & Castle VF30, extremely rare

Charles II (1660-85), gold Half-Guinea, 1682, second laureate head right, elephant and castle below, Latin legend and toothed border surrounding, CAROLVS. II. DEI. GRATIA,rev. crowned cruciform shields, sceptres in angles, four interlinked Cs at centre, date either side of top crown, Latin legend and toothed border surrounding, MAG. BR. FRA. ET. HIB REX., edge inscribed in Latin raised letters, weight 4.14g (Schneider -; Bull EGC 305 R2; MCE 111; S.3349).Toned with surface marks and blotches and some wear, has been slabbed and graded by NGC as VF30 and extremely rare, more so than indicated in Bull.

NGC certification 2130713-014 The finest currently certified.

The Latin legends translate as on the obverse "Charles the second by the Grace of God," and abbreviated on the reverse as "King of Great Britain, France and Ireland."

We note the gold output was only £183,535 worth struck in the calendar year 1682 which is the 8^th largest output of the reign. Though of course we do not know how the output would be broken down between the gold denominations nor how long a date on a coin die would have lasted into a following calendar year. In the appendices of the Guide to the Guinea by Roderick Farey, he reproduces a table published by Thomas Snelling in 1763 taken from the Gazetteer and London Advertiser of 23^rd January 1755, listing a year by year account of the number of guineas coins from gold imported by the Royal African company. The total for 1682 being only 23,235 guineas and issued at the time it was known as the Royal African Company of England. It is unknown if this total means the actual number of one guinea pieces or the total face value of guineas cumulative of whether Five, Two, One or Half-Guinea.

Provenance:

Ex Seaby Coin and Medal Bulletin, December 1979, item A1314.