British Coins

Edward I (1272-1307), Penny, class 1b, London, reads ed rex, full face bust with bushy hair, no drapery, all ns reversed except in hibn, 1.39g/1h (SCBI North 24, same dies; N 1011; S 1381). Extremely fine and attractively toned, very rare and possibly the finest example in private hands £4,000-5,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Late Jim Sazama Collection of Medieval Coins.

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Provenance: M.C. Tutet Collection, John Gerard Auction, 18-21 January 1786, lot not discernable; S. Tyssen Collection, Sotheby Auction, 12 April-31 May 1802, lot 1244 (part); Lt-Col W. Durrant Collection, Sotheby Auction, 19-28 April 1847, lot 224; J.B. Bergne Collection, Sotheby Auction, 20-31 May 1873, lot 363; W. Brice Collection; H. Montagu Collection, Part II, Sotheby Auction, 11-16 May 1896, lot 452; J.G. Murdoch Collection, Part I, Sotheby Auction, 31 March-4 April 1903, lot 298; Lord Grantley Collection, Part V, Glendining Auction, 18-19 May 1944, lot 1876; SCMB November 1958 (5689); J.L. Dresser Collection, Stack’s Auction (New York), 29 April-1 May 1987, lot 1737; Dr G.T. Dunger Collection, DNW Auction 79, 24 September 2008, lot 3855.

The class 1b pence of Edward I, first subdivided as such by H.B. Earle Fox and Shirley Fox (BNJ 1910, pp.107-8), have long been regarded as by far the rarest of all the Edwardian penny series. Considered patterns by early sale cataloguers (cf. Montagu, Murdoch) and even as a pattern of Edward III by the Grantley cataloguer, their exalted status has been questioned in recent years (J.J. North, The Coinages of Edward I & II, London, 1968, p.15; N.J. Mayhew, The Aberdeen Hoards, BNJ 1988, p.43; J.J. North Sylloge, 1989, p.9; P. and B. Withers, The Pennies of Edward I and II, 2006, pp.20-1)