The Michael Gietzelt Collection of British and Irish Coins (1625-1660)

Charles I (1625-1649), Oxford mint, Triple Unite, 1643, mm. plume (with bands) on obv. only, crowned bust left, wearing collar, armour and Lesser George and holding an olive branch and sword, plume in field behind, mark of value and three plumes above Declaration in scroll, date below, 26.57g/6h (Beresford-Jones VI/S8; SCBI Brooker 838 and SCBI Schneider 295, same dies; N 2384; S 2727). Good very fine with reddish toning, very rare [previously slabbed PCGS XF40] £40,000-£50,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Michael Gietzelt Collection of British and Irish Coins (1625-1660).

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Provenance: D. Mitchell Collection, Glendining Auction, 27 April 1949, lot 20; Künker Auktion 316 (Osnabrück), 31 January 2019, lot 742.

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