LONDON.- It is not often that a collection comes on the market that contains some of the most exquisite English coins ranging from Edward III to Charles II and each monarch in between is represented by some of the finest pieces that will be seen this year. The collection of English hammered gold coins formed by Dr Paul Broughton is the best collection of its type to be offered in London for some years. The auction will take place on the 22nd March 2016 in Spink’s London auction room.

It is always pleasing to see a family re-united, and this sale offers a splendid trio of Tudor sovereigns from Henry VIII, Mary I and Elizabeth I (even Edward VI makes an appearance); this is one of the rare instances where all three reign harmoniously. Many of Henry VIII’s sovereigns have gone under the gavel at Spink, many of them of the utmost quality, and this is no different, it appears early on in the sale as lot 429. Lot 429, estimated: £25,000 – 30,000

For such wildly different monarchs Mary and Elizabeth have surprisingly similar portraits on their sovereigns! Mary, appropriately, comes before Elizabeth in the sale as lot 436: Lot 436, estimated: £20,000 – 25,000. Elizabeth comes racing in at lot 441: Lot 441, estimated: £20,000 – 25,000

Interestingly the sale contains two of the rarest coins issued by Charles I; two Triple-Unites, one from 1642 and one from 1643. They both bear the royal profile holding a sword and olive branch and both bear the intriguing declaration on the reverse: ‘RELIG: PROT LEG: ANG LIBER: PAR’ (The religion of the Protestants, the laws of England and the liberty of Parliament). A controversial slogan to have minted as it was argued by his parliament that he was not upholding the liberty of Parliament by any means. This hyppocratic political stance is then muddied further by being surrounded by the legend EXURGAT DEUS DISSIPENTUR INIMICI ("Let God arise and His enemies be scattered"), from Psalm 67. These two coins will make up lots 464 and 465: Lot 464, estimated: £50,000 – 70,000. Lot 465, estimated: £80,000 – 100,000

The last of these has a British Royal provenance, having been a gift from Edward VII, which is quite exceptional, if not unique in the numismatic world.

This is a series that has seen considerable price increases each year for many years now and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find good quality examples on the market, and when they do appear the prices are very strong.