News Archive

The Marshall Collection - at auction on the 31 March 2004

A fascinating collection from the north of England formed mainly in the 1940s

The Marshall Collection is, like Slaney, a collection cloaked in mystery. Marshall's dealings are lost to history, apart from a journal of purchases that was started when this gentleman began seriously collecting sometime in the thirties. Did he buy from auction? Not really, only once it would seem, when he bought a few lots in the Lord Grantley sale in December 1944. He obviously preferred the more private personal contact that is built up between astute dealer and knowledgeable collector. It is interesting to plot the purchasing prowess of this gentleman, as the collection started small and grew bigger and bigger, culminating in a massive monthly spend in February 1946 of £1,704 worth of coins from that month’s Numismatic Circular.

The collection encompasses English hammered from the Anglo Saxon period onward, into the modern milled period right through to George V, as well as Colonial coins with an interesting emphasis on countermarks and siege and emergency money. This was fuelled with the purchase - possibly en bloc - of the B G Claus collection. This appears to be as intact as ever, according to Claus’s journal that was acquired with these coins. This is the journal that was continued by Marshall through to the Forties.

The collection was then built up with regular acquisitions from the Spink Numismatic Circular, which escalated into a crescendo of purchases during World War II from 1942-46. It was clients like these that kept the businesses of Spink, Baldwin and Seaby alive during the war years. Baldwin had Slaney and Spink had Marshall, maybe these gentlemen thought their money was better served invested in coins at a time when the economy was unstable. With regular bombings of British cities, there was uncertainty that banks and business would survive, so it seems big buyers like these emerge in times of economic crisis to put their wealth into items that will remain highly prized.

In the war years, it seems that superb coins were certainly available, so let us examine what we have in this collection from the British point of view.The hammered coinage seems to have been the main initial focus of the collection and it is this area that stands out as the most impressive with many important coins present. There are to start with thirty good quality hammered gold pieces including an exceptional Elizabeth I Pound of the fifth issue and a rare James I third bust Half-Laurel. These are accompanied by an extremely rare Philip and Mary Angel that was purchased from Spink in 1942 for the sum of £37/10/- .

Looking at the hammered silver, there is a very impressive run of Saxon and Norman pennies as well as later English hammered. The highlights include not one, but two Alfred the Great portrait pennies, one being a Viking imitation, both of superb quality. There is an extremely rare Edward the Elder flower type penny that was purchased from Spink in 1942 for £50 and once belonged to Montagu. This compares nicely with the very rare tower issue penny of the same monarch bought from Spink in 1943 for £45, which has what must be the earliest depiction of a stone building on a British coin.

Lot 46: Perhaps the earliest depiction of a stone building on a British coin? Edward the Elder Tower type penny

Moving on to the Norman Kings, there is an interesting William I PAXS (peace) Penny from the rare mint of Marlborough, a Warwick Mint Penny of William Rufus (II) and an exceptionally nice Stephen, Midland Group Penny of the Derby Mint for which we have traced the pedigree back to 1831.

The later hammered includes a wonderful Testoon of Henry VIII with his full face portrait, an extremely fine Elizabeth I Pattern Shilling with mint mark key, a superb Charles I Pattern Threepence by Briot and a magnificent Commonwealth Pattern Halfcrown by Blondeau. There are many fine pedigrees with these coins, most of which were bought from the Spink Circular, and also include famous prior owners like Sir Kenyon Vaughan Morgan, P W P Carlyon Britton, Hyman Montagu, G C Drabble, Reginald Huth, Thomas Bliss, Lord Grantley, Thomas Dymock, J D Cuff, and J G Murdoch amongst many others.

Lot 92: A superb Testoon of Henry VIII with full facing portrait

The milled also is very impressive but seems to be only partially complete. All the types are there but the quality is mixed, and it would seem that Marshall was of the school of thought to fill the gaps first and upgrade the coins later in this area. Items of merit that stand out from the rest are some superb milled gold coins at the beginning of the milled section, including a nice gold Broad of Charles II, a beautiful two-guineas of William and Mary, a super Queen Anne Half Guinea, the rare Prince Elector Guinea of George I and other general gold milled coins. There is also a rare proof Half-Sovereign dated 1817 and an extremely rare plain edge proof sovereign of 1825. This is a very special coin as it carries the first laureate head of George IV rather than the more familiar second bare head. This coin was listed by Wilson and Rasmussen in their tome on the gold patterns and proofs as rarity factor seven, but is not illustrated as none were available in any of the collections they consulted when preparing their book. The only reference found to such a coin was our listing in the Spink Numismatic Circular of July 1943 for £10/10/-; and this would almost certainly seem to be one and the same specimen!

Lot 177 – The extremely rare George IV plain edge proof Sovereign of 1825 with first laureate head

As for the milled silver, the key coin in the sale has to be undoubtedly the Charles II Halfcrown of 1681 with the elephant and castle provenance mark below the bust. This is a major rarity in any condition and the best one seen in living memory was the piece that is pictured in our current Standard Catalogue 2004 in almost very fine condition. In the catalogue the coin is only priced in fine condition, as a very fine one or better has never been seen. It is a type coin as it is the only date for this bust of Charles II where such a mark below the bust appears. This coin which was purchased from our Numismatic Circular in July 1942 for £18 is preserved in nearly extremely fine condition and has a provenance traced back to 1884 when it appeared in the Wakeford collection followed by Montagu and Murdoch and finally Mackerall. This piece is perhaps conservatively estimated at £6,000 – 8,000 and it will be interesting to see how much of an increase on £18 there is today! There is a nice run of Oliver Cromwell coinage including a superb Shilling of 1658 as well as a Crown and Halfcrown. The group also includes the Dutch Pattern Shilling which is much larger than the regular piece and was once thought to be possibly a Florin, as well as two Sixpences that were once thought to be Patterns for a Ninepence, one being thick flan the other milled. Other silver highlights are a superb James II Halfcrown in more or less mint state condition, a Three Graces silver pattern Crown of George III. An 1820 Whiteaves pattern crown of George IV and a 1910 George V pattern Crown with date in Roman numerals and beautifully toned. There are some generally nice currency pieces and a mixed run of copper and bronze with a few patterns in silver.

Lot 191: The finest known specimen of the extremely rare elephant and castle Halfcrown issue of 1681 in the reign of Charles II

There are also a number of Scottish and Irish coins in the collection which includes in the Scottish a virtually mint state, and probably the finest known, Sixteen Shillings of James VI. The Sixteen Shillings is a rare denomination in any condition, and to see one as good as this is phenomenal. There are also a few Ormonde emergency pieces in the Irish section.

Moving on to the foreign part of the collection, most of this is, of course, the en bloc purchase of the B G Claus collection which was formed from 1921 and secured by Marshall in the Thirties. The collections' theme is British Colonial and World Countermarked and emergency issue coins. The first part is a group of West Indian cut and countermarked pieces, perhaps one of the most important groups offered in many years and includes a super Tobago plug or “Moco” amongst others. The second part consists of the European obsidional and emergency issues, many extremely rare. Of special note is a piece of Landau plate money from the Grantley sale and a 1633 Regensburg Taler, plus there is a generally good run of Dutch emergency pieces.

Lot 469: The Tobago Plug or “Moco”

The catalogue for the sale will be available by the end of this month and will, I am sure, prove to be an invaluable reference in years to come as a good sale of quality coins, formed principally from one of the most endearing numismatic dealing lists in the world – the Numismatic Circular. It just goes to show how important a subscription to our catalogues and circulars really is!

I hope you enjoy previewing the pictures of the highlights mentioned.

Steve Hill
Associate Director
Coins

N.B. Additional images are available here

Click here for an in-depth look at the wartime Circulars