Coins, Numismatic Books, Tokens and Historical Medals

Elizabeth I (1558-1603), Milled coinage, Pattern Threepence, 1575, probably by D. Anthony, mm. mullet, large ornate bust, medium-sized rose, rev. cross pattée on shield, 1.50g/6h (Borden/Brown 52; N 2048). Face smoothed, otherwise very fine with attractive light grey tone, exceptionally rare; only four other specimens believed known £2,000-3,000

Derek Anthony (†1596), goldsmith of London, is thought to have been responsible for the excessively rare series of pattern sixpences of 1574 and 1575, and threepences of 1575. Bearing a more flamboyant portrait of the queen than that used by Eloi Mestrelle, whose career at the Mint was effectively terminated in the summer of 1572, it is thought that Anthony made use of Mestrelle’s machinery. Only one specimen of each date of the pattern sixpences is known (both in the British Museum); four other 1575 threepences are known (one in the British Museum, one in the Fitzwilliam Museum, one formerly in the Lockett collection and one in the Sanders collection). A 1574-dated threepence was illustrated by Ruding but modern scholars doubt its existence. The Lockett 1575 threepence, with a provenance stretching back to the early part of the 19th century and subsequently owned by Montagu, Murdoch and Sir John Evans, realised as much as £150 in October 1956 (over £3,500 in present-day money), at the time the second-highest price that had ever been paid for a silver coin of Elizabeth I at auction. The coin, ‘in lovely condition’, was acquired by the late Geoffrey Hearn and is not thought to have been seen on the market since. It should not be confused with the present piece, which is from an old and previously unstudied collection