The North Yorkshire Moors Collection of British Coins & Tokens formed by Marvin Lessen

James II (1437-1460), Second coinage, Groat, Second issue, Stirling, type II, mm. crown, lis by neck, 3.33g/11h (SCBI 35, 721, same obv. die; B fig. 539; S 5241). Good very fine and toned, very rare, an exceptional specimen £1,500-£2,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The North Yorkshire Moors Collection of British Coins.

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Provenance: J. Wingate Collection, Sotheby Auction, 29 November-1 December 1875, lot 159; R. Carfrae Collection; C.H. Dakers Collection, Glendining Auction, 8-9 October 1946, lot 402; J.L. Dresser Collection, Stack’s Auction (New York), 29 April-1 May 1987, lot 1860.

Correspondence between Edward Burns and Robert Cochran-Patrick, written prior to the dispersal of the highly important Wingate collection and detailed by Lord Stewartby (BNJ 1992), makes it clear that the Glasgow dealer John Gray, whose ‘advice and assistance’ was relied on by Wingate, both when forming his collection and in its cataloguing for sale, was an unpopular figure among those collectors who thought that the Wingate coins should have been offered at auction in Scotland, rather than in London. Besides being Wingate’s agent, Gray acted for many collectors at the auction, including Carfrae