Important British and World Coins

Edward VIII (1936), Trial for the reverse of the Shilling, 1937, by K. Gray, in silver, obv. model, rev. crowned lion seated facing, flanked by two small Scottish shields, edge grained, 5.30g/12h (Dyer pl.E; cf. ESC 1449b; cf. Davies 2003; cf. KM. Pn128). Obverse extremely fine and matt, reverse brilliant and practically as struck, extremely rare (£1,000-1,500)

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Joanna Tansley Collection of Patterns, Proofs and Coining Trials.

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Provenance:
Bt Spink June 1991.

Following a protracted correspondence with the St Andrew Society about the perceived lack of Scottish heraldic devices on the coinage, Robert Johnson, the Deputy Master of the Mint, instructed Kruger Gray in February 1936 to model the Scottish crest as the reverse design for a distinctly Scottish shilling. In the event, no ‘English’ shillings of Edward VIII were struck and it was not until after the King’s abdication that modifications to the old design were made in order to facilitate an ‘English’ issue under George VI (Dyer, pp.13-14). A similar trial is included in Goldberg Auction 32 (Beverly Hills), 21 September 2005, lot 3527