William III (1694-1702), 'Second Bust' Pattern Half-Guinea, 1696, struck in silver, in February or March 1696/7, Tower, by Henry Harris [?], GVLIELMVS • III • DEI • GRA, laureate bust 2 right, lock of hair across truncation, rev. MAG BR • FRA • ET • HIB • REX • 1696 • small crowned shields cruciform, emblem-adorned sceptres in angles, five strings to shapely harp, obliquely milled edge, 2.95g, 5h (cf. SCMB Sept. 1954, pp. 367 and COVER COIN; W&R -; Bull -), old scuff through the mouth and a tiny scratch to right of French shield, otherwise lightly toned, a pleasing very fine, the highest denomination extant for the short-lived 'Second Bust' of the Great Recoinage of 1696-97, not just in private hands but in institutions also, unknown prior to Rayner's discovery in 1954, UNIQUE, and of the greatest numismatic intrigue Provenance Baumhauer, Part 2, Sincona 75, 16 May 2022, lot 169 H E Manville, Spink 140, 16 November 1999, lot 616 Baldwin, by private treaty, May 1981 SCMB, September 1954, wherein illustrated on the cover: THE SECOND BUST COINS OF WILLIAM III WITH REFERENCE TO AN UNPUBLISHED PATTERN HALF-GUINEA IN SILVER DATED 1696 By P. A. Rayner There has been much controversy in the past concerning the coins of William III showing his portrait with the hair across the breast - the so-called second bust. Many numismatists believe them to be patterns, which, indeed, may be so in most cases. There exist two distinct series of these pieces ; one with a broad head and thick curls, which I shall refer to as bust 2, and the other with a much narrower bust with very 'wiry' hair, and in higher relief, which I shall call bust 2a. The coins with bust 2 consist of the following pieces:- Crown, 1696 - National Collection (British Museum) : unique Shilling, 1696 - Lord Hamilton of Dalzell (Spink 3, 21 February 1979, lot ???; Private Collection Sixpence, 1696 - Extremely Rare [ESC, R5] Sixpence, 1697 - Only Moderately Rare In addition to the above, there has recently come to light a pattern half-guinea in silver, dated 1696, with an undraped bust of similar style to the other coins of this series. We have this piece for sale. The coins with bust 2a comprise the following : Crown, 1696, National Collection (British Museum) : unique Halfcrown, 1696, Ditto (British Museum) Sixpence, 1696, Ditto (British Museum) There is also a punch and an obverse die for a half guinea in the Royal Mint Museum (cf. Hocking, pp. 15, no. 197a), which show a bust remarkably similar to the coins listed above : no coin is known from this die. Considering first the sixpences of this reign, this denomination being the commonest on which the second bust is found, some tentative suggestion regarding the sequence in which the various types were struck may be made, and thus it may be possible to date the second bust coins to within a month or so. It should be remembered here that the old style calendar was in use at this time, and any coins struck up to March 25th would bear the date 1696. Of the sixpences of this reign, the obverse and reverse types are listed below: Obverses: A - First Bust B - Second Bust [Bust 2] C - Second Bust [Bust 2a] D - Third Bust Reverses: i - Large Crowns, early harp ii - Large Crowns, late harp iii - Small crowns, late harp The following combinations are found: 1695 - A/i 1696 - A/i [common] ; A/ii [rare] ; A/iii [very rare] ; B/iii [extremely rare] ; C/iii [unique] 1697 - A/iii [very common] ; A/ii [rare and only exists at provincial mints: Bristol, Chester and Exeter] ; B/iii [rare] ; D/ii [very common for Tower, scarce provincially] ; D/iii [common for Tower, rare provincially] There also exists a 1696 Sixpence of York (Y) with obverse D and reverse i ; this is obviously a mule struck in 1697 when an old reverse die of 1696 was used in error. The comparative rarity of these types after A/i, based on the numbers which have passed through my hands, or are shown in my records over a period of some eight years, raises some interesting points.
William III (1694-1702), 'Second Bust' Pattern Half-Guinea, 1696, struck in silver, in February or March 1696/7, Tower, by Henry Harris [?], GVLIELMVS • III • DEI • GRA, laureate bust 2 right, lock of hair across truncation, rev. MAG BR • FRA • ET • HIB • REX • 1696 • small crowned shields cruciform, emblem-adorned sceptres in angles, five strings to shapely harp, obliquely milled edge, 2.95g, 5h (cf. SCMB Sept. 1954, pp. 367 and COVER COIN; W&R -; Bull -), old scuff through the mouth and a tiny scratch to right of French shield, otherwise lightly toned, a pleasing very fine, the highest denomination extant for the short-lived 'Second Bust' of the Great Recoinage of 1696-97, not just in private hands but in institutions also, unknown prior to Rayner's discovery in 1954, UNIQUE, and of the greatest numismatic intrigue Provenance Baumhauer, Part 2, Sincona 75, 16 May 2022, lot 169 H E Manville, Spink 140, 16 November 1999, lot 616 Baldwin, by private treaty, May 1981 SCMB, September 1954, wherein illustrated on the cover: THE SECOND BUST COINS OF WILLIAM III WITH REFERENCE TO AN UNPUBLISHED PATTERN HALF-GUINEA IN SILVER DATED 1696 By P. A. Rayner There has been much controversy in the past concerning the coins of William III showing his portrait with the hair across the breast - the so-called second bust. Many numismatists believe them to be patterns, which, indeed, may be so in most cases. There exist two distinct series of these pieces ; one with a broad head and thick curls, which I shall refer to as bust 2, and the other with a much narrower bust with very 'wiry' hair, and in higher relief, which I shall call bust 2a. The coins with bust 2 consist of the following pieces:- Crown, 1696 - National Collection (British Museum) : unique Shilling, 1696 - Lord Hamilton of Dalzell (Spink 3, 21 February 1979, lot ???; Private Collection Sixpence, 1696 - Extremely Rare [ESC, R5] Sixpence, 1697 - Only Moderately Rare In addition to the above, there has recently come to light a pattern half-guinea in silver, dated 1696, with an undraped bust of similar style to the other coins of this series. We have this piece for sale. The coins with bust 2a comprise the following : Crown, 1696, National Collection (British Museum) : unique Halfcrown, 1696, Ditto (British Museum) Sixpence, 1696, Ditto (British Museum) There is also a punch and an obverse die for a half guinea in the Royal Mint Museum (cf. Hocking, pp. 15, no. 197a), which show a bust remarkably similar to the coins listed above : no coin is known from this die. Considering first the sixpences of this reign, this denomination being the commonest on which the second bust is found, some tentative suggestion regarding the sequence in which the various types were struck may be made, and thus it may be possible to date the second bust coins to within a month or so. It should be remembered here that the old style calendar was in use at this time, and any coins struck up to March 25th would bear the date 1696. Of the sixpences of this reign, the obverse and reverse types are listed below: Obverses: A - First Bust B - Second Bust [Bust 2] C - Second Bust [Bust 2a] D - Third Bust Reverses: i - Large Crowns, early harp ii - Large Crowns, late harp iii - Small crowns, late harp The following combinations are found: 1695 - A/i 1696 - A/i [common] ; A/ii [rare] ; A/iii [very rare] ; B/iii [extremely rare] ; C/iii [unique] 1697 - A/iii [very common] ; A/ii [rare and only exists at provincial mints: Bristol, Chester and Exeter] ; B/iii [rare] ; D/ii [very common for Tower, scarce provincially] ; D/iii [common for Tower, rare provincially] There also exists a 1696 Sixpence of York (Y) with obverse D and reverse i ; this is obviously a mule struck in 1697 when an old reverse die of 1696 was used in error. The comparative rarity of these types after A/i, based on the numbers which have passed through my hands, or are shown in my records over a period of some eight years, raises some interesting points.
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