George II, 1727-1760.

AV Five Guineas, 1746. LIMA below old laureate bust left, rev. crowned shield of arms, edge: DECIMO NONO. MCE 285; S.3665.
Lightly toned with much lustre. Rare thus.
NGC MS 62 (2169818-012)

Ex Schulman sale 3 June 1935, Feu Goekoop, 41.
The LIMA coinage was first associated with the daring exploits of Admiral Anson on his circumnavigation of the globe by Snelling writing in 1762, a myth that perpetuates to this day. Subsequent studies have demonstrated the issue was the result of the success of English privateering. In 1745 two English ships, The Duke and the Prince Frederick, captained by John Talbot and Joshua Morecock, captured two French treasure ships, the Louis Erasmus and the Marquis d’Antin in the North Atlantic. So great was the treasure that 45 wagons were required to transport it from the port of Bristol to the mint in London. As the vast majority of the 2.5 million 8-reales captured were from Lima it was decided to distinguish the coins struck with LIMA beneath George II’s bust. The gold that was captured had a silver value of 332,693 dollars and was also coined with the LIMA mark.