The Rarest William III Gold Five Guinea of 1699 With the Elephant and Castle Provenance Mark

William III (1694-1702), gold Five Guineas, 1699, elephant and castle below first laureate head right, legend and toothed border surrounding, GVLIELMVS. III. DEI. GRA., rev. crowned cruciform shields, sceptres in angles, Lion of Nassau at centre, date either side of top crown, legend and toothed border surrounding, .MAG BR.FRA ET.HIB. REX., edge inscribed in raised letters, upright orientation to obverse, +DECVS. ET. TVTAMEN. ANNO. REGNI. UNDECIMO., weight 41.67g (Schneider 479; MCE 170; S.3455). Two short hairline scratches in obverse field, one other short hairline mark in reverse field, lightly toned with underlying brilliance, good very fine.

There are only three years that are possible to collect for the Five Guineas of William III and four varieties in total, 1699 is the earliest with two varieties, either with or without the elephant and castle below. This is the provenance mark of the Royal African Company of England as it had been named since refinancing in 1672, and the issue of the largest denomination of the Five Guinea was a rare occurrence by this time there not being any since the reign of William and Mary. This is in fact the final Five Guineas to have ever been minted with this provenance mark and sporadic issues afterward are of the Guinea or smaller. “The Rarity of Five Guinea Pieces – An Analysis” appeared in the preface of the Samuel King Collection of Highly Important English Gold Coins sold at Spink on 5th May 2005 co-written by the present cataloguer. The analysis showed that over a 45-year period preceding 2005, since 1960 that only 29 examples of the Five Guineas dated 1699 with elephant and castle below bust had been bought or sold in numismatic commerce, making it the rarest and most seldom seen of the four varieties of these large coins. £141,377 worth of gold for calendar year 1699 which is the third lowest for gold production in the seven years of dates in this reign, though of course we do not know how the output would be broken down between the gold denominations nor how long a date on a coin die would have lasted into a following calendar year.

Provenance:
Ex Noble Investments plc, purchased 2004.