Charles II, 1660-1685.

AV Five Guineas, 1678/7. Elephant and castle below first laureate head right, rev. crowned cruciform shields, sceptres in angles, interlocking Cs in centre, edge: TRICESIMO. MCE 18; S.3330.
Toned and very rare with elephant and castle.
NGC AU 58 (2169794-004)

Ex Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge 3 March 1903, C. E. Simpson, 204; Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge 27 November 1918, H. W. Thorburn, 301 and Glendining, 24 May 1937, T. B. Clarke-Thornhill, 198 sales.
The English word ‘guinea’ derives from the Spanish ‘guinea’ which in turn comes from the Portugese ‘guiné’ a word that was used from the mid fifteenth century to refer to an area of West Africa and its peoples south of the Senegal river, later colloquially known as the Guinea or Gold Coast. In the late seventeenth century England was a growing maritime power. New trade routes were exploited by companies licensed by the Crown and often with direct investment by members of the royal family. It was decided that the coins struck from gold mined in the Guinea Coast and traded by the Royal African Company, would bear the company’s badge: an elephant, later an elephant and castle, below the king’s bust. The first issue of Five Guineas in 1668 was overwhelming produced from Royal African Company gold. The elephant or elephant and castle mark appears periodically on all four gold denominations though its use dwindles after the reign of William and Mary and the last coin to bear it is the very rare 1726 Guinea of George I.