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Auction: 21064 - The Horace Hird Collection of Tudor, Stuart and Commonwealth Coins and Patterns
Lot: 52

AU58 | Charles I (1625-1649), 'High Relief' Pattern Unite [of 20-Shillings], 1630, by Abraham van der Doort [?], Tower, (m.m.) CAROLVS • D .' G .' MAG .' BRI .' FR .' ET • HIB .' REX •:•, uncrowned and draped bust left, with falling lace collar, rev. • FLORENT • CONCORDIA • REGNA • (m.m.) • crowned oval garnished shield dividing uncrowned cyphers, 9.08g [140.4grns], 1h, m.m. plume (HCN 284; Montagu III, 354; Murdoch II, 285; Lockett 4137 = Brooker 1241 same dies; North 2656; Allen iv), a truly captivating example of this shortlived pattern, nearly extremely fine with wondrous underlying brilliance, and an equally illustrious pedigree, extremely rare and a magnificent contemporary of the unique 'Juxon' Medal acquired by Spink for the British Museum in 1897, in NGC 'Horace Hird' holder, graded AU58 (Cert. #6135299-052)

Provenance
A Lost Parcel from the Celebrated Horace Hird Collection
J Pierpont-Morgan, collection dispersed, c. 1915
"Bought from Spinks, 6 June 1895" - £35.0.0
Spink, Piccadilly Monthly List, June and July 1893, P44 and Plate 1, no. 2 - £27.10.0
A D Clarke, Christie's, 15 June 1891, lot 248 - £20.0.0



This remarkable coin is accompanied by an equally prestigious reported provenance trail but few coin tickets. Hird himself notes this coin as having been ‘bought from Spinks by Pierpont-Morgan on June 6th 1895’ and having previously been in Arthur Doveton Clarke’s sale held at Christie’s in 1891 (lot 248).

Whilst the world-famous financier is well-known to have invested his fortune on a creative whim across a broad spectrum of the art and antiquities market, it is generally considered that his interest in coins was confined to the bloc purchase of Sir John Evans magnificent collection in 1909, and a further series of classical coins offered by Wayte-Raymond in 1953. With an earlier enigmatic clipped ticket the only apparent evidence from which to work, one would be forgiven therefore for being incredulous at Hird’s assertions, not only as to his attribution of the purchaser, but also the accuracy of date and location of sale.

However, quite extraordinarily, significant independent supporting documentation for Hird’s claim can be found not just in the Spink archive, but equally in the newspapers of the day, neither of which he could possibly have had access.

The Cork Constitution confirms on Thursday 30 May 1895 that: “Mr Pierpont-Morgan is about to leave New York for London for the purpose of directing a movement ‘calculated to inspire greater confidence in Americans’ “. He is listed as a first-class passenger aboard the White-Star Liner SS Germanic, a ship conducting only its second voyage since a major reconstruction and engine refit earlier that year. The ship’s log confirms docking at Cork, Ireland at 7:13pm on Wednesday 5 June, before proceeding on to Liverpool at 7:40pm that evening.

Unfortunately for Pierpont-Morgan, and in the long-established practice of British rail infrastructure, the planned interconnecting London North West Railway Service from Liverpool Riverside to London Euston was closed, and would not make its inaugural journey for another week (12 June 1895). However with the recorded 193.5 mile journey time for Prince Albert (later King Edward VII) to return to London from Liverpool upon news of the death of the Duke of Albany in March 1884 at 234 minutes, it is entirely conceivable that Pierpont-Morgan could even have woken up in his London townhouse on the morning of Thursday 6 June 1895. Perhaps he would even have time to glance at the morning edition of the St James and Pall Mall Gazette in which Spink advertising featured heavily. The Sketch provides further confirmation as to the end of his trip on 12 June 1895, by stating: “Mr. Pierpont-Morgan who has been on a visit to London, has just started for New York again, and as soon as he arrives he will take the Northern Pacific [Railroad] matter in hand”.

Completing this astonishing 19th Century pedigree is a distressed and otherwise unassuming grey dealer’s ticket that confirms only a Clark (lot 248) connection. It also unusually mentions a Duchess of Beaufort coin (a sale conducted anonymously in May 1890), at which that coin fetched £95.0.0, but that it was ‘no rarer’ than the coin here. A search of the Spink archives reveals a little known supplement to the Numismatic Circular that ran briefly alongside its monthly distribution in the Summer of 1893. Termed the ‘Piccadilly List’, it contains as we believe the earliest known photographs of coins on a fixed price list in existence, being distributed a full three years before the Montagu catalogue plates were illustrated from wax moulds. Most importantly it includes a listing of a similar coin, also appended with an allusion to the Duchess of Beaufort example, as well as a subsequent illustration of the S. R. Bolan & Co. collotype plate. If more conclusive evidence were still required, it is to be found in the mere fact that both ticket and plate reference ‘no. 2’ for their coin.

Consequently not only does Hird’s bold assertion now stand up to the most rigorous of modern scientific scrutiny, but rather poetically even 50 years after his death, he still has the ability to ‘school’ us with research 'breadcrumbs’ that have lead to a major discovery. Even if the Pierpont-Morgan connection remains debatd, we are still presented with incontrovertible evidence of one of the earliest certifiable Spink tickets in existence conclusively dated to June 1893 (cf. Eaglen, Mitchell & Pagan, 2001, D24A); a mere six months after the birth of this celebrated numismatic company’s most famous fixed priced periodical.

Sadly the only thing remaining lost to the midsts of time is the reason behind Pierpont-Morgan starting his unofficial diplomatic trade mission to win over the ‘hearts and minds’ of the British people at Spink!


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Sold for
£150,000

Starting price
£10000