News from Spink

The John Kenney Coin Sale 30 March 2006

A small personal collection formed by the late John Kenney is offered on the 30th March.
John’s main interest was in portraiture, and the history behind them, and to this end he formed a collection of coins with good portraits in attractive condition. Not necessarily rare, the coins are however uniformly pleasing and have something for every pocket.

The highlight of the sale is an Elizabeth I (1558-1601) gold Pound in extremely fine condition, lot 19 estimated at £8,000-£9,000. Shortly after there is a silver Crown of Oliver Cromwell struck in 1658, almost extremely fine, with the usual die flaw in an early and unobtrusive stage, estimated at £4,000-£5,000 (lot 24). This is immediately followed by a similar Halfcrown of Cromwell, 1658, extremely fine or better at £3,500-£4,000 (lot 25); this is succeeded by a Charles II crown, dated 1677, an excellent example with a pleasing attractive tone, extremely fine or better at £4,000-£4,500 (lot 26).

This illustrates the flavour of the collection. A James II halfcrown, 1685, with an attractive tone, extremely fine or better, is offered at £2,000-£2,500 (lot 30); a William III Crown, 1696, described as “very attractive tone, good extremely fine, pleasing”, and with a good provenance, should exceed its estimate of £1,300-£1,600 (lot 35).

A really exceptional portrait is offered earlier in the sale at lot 9. A silver Penny of Edward the Confessor (1042-66) of the hammer cross type is offered with a very different bust to that normally encountered. The king on this issue is normally depicted with a well defined beard, but the portrait on the coin offered here has no beard, but instead a very pronounced chin. Only one other example of this portrait has been traced for this issue (SCBI 20, Mack collection, no.1256).

A selection of nineteenth century coins, usually common types but always in attractive condition, is extended to a small group of German coins of the same period and slightly later. The highlight of this section is a ‘Gothic’ Crown of 1847, lettered edge, with an attractive tone, good extremely fine, at £2,000-£2,500 (lot 75), and in the German section a pleasing run of proof coins of the Weimar Republic (1923-32).