Article
13 September 2021
A large attractive gold coin from the reign of Charles I is expected to fetch £50,000 when it is sold as part of the Micheal Gietzelt Collection of British and Irish Coins on Wednesday, September 22, 2021 at international coins, medals, banknotes and jewellery specialists Dix Noonan Webb. The collection, which is expected to fetch more than £420,000, comprises 220 coins, with the main emphasis being on Charles I (1625-1649) (203 lots) and then 12 lots of Commonwealth Coins (1649-1660) and 5 from the era of Oliver Cromwell.
The impressive and very rare coin, which weighs 26.57g and dates from 1643 and comes from the Mint in Oxford. Known as a Triple Unite (the value of 60 shillings or three pounds), this popular coin among collectors, was issued during the Civil War and depicts Charles I holding a sword and an olive branch, possibly signifying his desire for peace,
As Christopher Webb, Client Liaison (Numismatics) at Dix, Noonan, Webb explains “Far exceeding the size and value of any previous denomination struck in the British Isles, the triple unite was as much a propaganda piece for the King as it was a means of meeting the enormous expenditure of the war. Despite his Catholic origins, the reverse proclaims his defence of the Protestant religion, English law and the liberty of Parliament. Furthermore, having been forced to leave the vast resources of London behind, it proved he still had the authority and financial wherewithal to produce a numismatic masterpiece, made by one of the country’s finest engravers, at his new war headquarters in Oxford.”
Among the Cromwell coins is an extremely fine broad coin (worth 20 shillings) from 1656, which carries an estimate of £15,000-20,000, and among the Commonwealth Coins is a very rare silver pattern halfcrown, otherwise known as a prototype from 1651, with the motto around the edge the third yeare of freedome by gods blessing restored. It is estimated at £2,000-3,000.
Other interesting Charles I coins include a very rare Irish crown referred to as Confederate Catholics, ‘Rebel Money’, Crown from the time when Charles I’s supporters were fighting in Ireland, which is expected to fetch £3,000-4,000.
Two unusually shaped, crude-shaped shillings or siege pieces from Carlisle and Pontefract, dating from the time when it was difficult to find silver are estimated £10,000-12,000 and £5,000-6,000 respectively. The Carlisle shilling dates from 1645, and Mr Webb commented: “Carlisle was defended by the Royalist forces under Sir Thomas Glemham from October, 1644 until the following June, when it was surrendered to the commander of the investing Scottish army, David Leslie, later Lord Newark. The city was never assaulted, the siege being rather in the nature of a blockade, and the surrender was brought about in part by the scarcity of food, and in part by the hopelessness of relief. For after the defeat of the King's forces at Naseby on 14 June 1645, the garrison, realising that further resistance was vain, opened negotiations for the surrender of the city, and the defenders, who numbered some seven hundred, were permitted to march out with all the honours of war on 25 June.”
Michael Gietzelt was born in Berlin in 1954, the son of a doctor. Educated at Berlin Secondary School, he performed his military service in the DGR Medical Corps, attaining the rank of Sergeant, before entering Berlin University to study medicine in 1975. Within two years he had decided that medicine was not the career choice for him and he opened his antique shop on the Frankfurter-Alle in Berlin in 1977.
Encouraged by his Mother, who made him a present of some worn Victorian pennies, and his great-grandfather, who gave him his first serious coin, an 1887 five-pound piece, Michael’s collection has expanded – not just into British coins, but also into all other spheres of British numismatics, including orders, decorations, medals and paper money. From the outset Michael’s aim has been to form a type collection of British coins from Edward III to the present day, but with the dispersal of his milled coins in these rooms on 14 November 2018, and now his hammered and AngloGallic coins in this auction, his coin collecting focus will now be on Scottish and Irish issues, while maintaining his collections of coins and tokens of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
FORTHCOMING SALES AT DNW
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 - JEWELLERY, WATCHES & OBJECTS OF VERTU
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 - ORDERS, DECORATIONS, MEDALS AND MILITARIA
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 - THE MICHAEL GIETZELT COLLECTION OF COINS OF CHARLES I AND THE COMMONWEALTH (1625-1660)
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 – WILTSHIRE COINS & PARANUMISMATICA, BRITISH TOKENS, TICKETS & PASSES
MONDAY & TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11 & 12 – COINS, HISTORICAL MEDALS AND NUMISMATIC BOOKS
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12 - BRITISH COINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF IAN SAWDEN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13 - ORDERS, DECORATIONS, MEDALS AND MILITARIA
Free online bidding is available is www.dnw.co.uk
For more information, please call 020 7016 1700
DNW are on Social Media
Instagram @dixnoonanwebb
Facebook: dixnoonanwebb
Twitter @dixnoonanwebb
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Dix Noonan Webb – a brief history
In 1991, its first year of trading, the company held three medal auctions and sold 1,200 lots for a total hammer price of £553,000, however 30 years later, DNW is established as the premier medal auctioneer worldwide. Two years later, in 1993, it opened a coin department which also auctions commemorative medals and tokens. In 2015 DNW added jewellery to its sales calendar as well as setting up a stand alone banknotes department and expanding into premises next door. In 2020 DNW achieved a total hammer price of £14,256,060 and the total number of lots sold across all departments was 24,400. To date the company has sold in excess of 350,000 lots totalling over £200 million.
For further press information and images please contact:
Rachel Aked - Tel: 07790732448/ Email: Rachel@rachelaked.co.uk
September 2021
Share This Page