LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 Sept. Long Beach Sig. World Coin #441  / 

51309

Great Britain Queen Anne pattern Halfpenny,

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:3,375.00 USD Estimated At:4,000.00 - 5,000.00 USD
Great Britain Queen Anne pattern Halfpenny,
<B>Queen Anne pattern copper Halfpenny,</B></I> Peck-730, no date but struck 1701-14 (likely at the very end of the reign), or possibly posthumously shortly thereafter, MS65 RD NGC, a simply glorious, fully red glowing copper! Tiny patches of faint die rust appear here and there. Our photos illustrate the exquisite engraving quality of the queen's portrait as well as the rose-and-thistle reverse. No copper was struck during this reign, in reality (there having been "an excessive issue" of coppers at the end of the previous reign, 1695-1701), albeit the famed farthing appeared in 1714, the year of Anne's death (from complications of gout -- she weighed some 350 pounds!), and is eagerly sought by collectors worldwide; in fact, the farthing was rarer in its own day than it is today, as it enjoyed a special fame among the coffee houses and newspaper readers back then, as an ultra rarity and a sort of "jewel" of the then-passing reign. In truth, the pattern halfpennies are much rarer as a class, but not being listed in the Spink reference they are not so broadly sought by collectors. Peck-730 is listed as "very rare" but that estimation of its availability to collectors belies such a coin as this special piece, which is the only fully red example this cataloguer can recall ever seeing. Its surfaces are somewhat prooflike, and Anne is so realistically portrayed that she appears to live again. What a coin! Truly a treasure of an age of luxury and abundance in England, the beginning of the 18th century. Marlborough and all that! This coin should be eagerly sought and deserves to exceed our estimate -- both for its rarity and for its sheer beauty, not to elaborate on its historical place.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Coins & Currency (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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