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REVIEW: COINS & HISTORICAL MEDALS 15 JUNE

The Richard III (1483-1485), Angel sold at Noonans for £15,000. Other than a few light scuffs, it is in very fine condition, with all distinguishing marks clear 

21 July 2022

FROM BAKING BREAD TO BRINGING A BOAR’S HEAD TO LIGHT

 

Fittingly, it was on Her Majesty The Queen’s birthday, April 21, that metal detectorist Mariusz Ciepluch made a rare discovery with royal connections at an event in Overton, Hampshire. A positive signal from his XP Deus led to him digging down in a ploughed field to a depth of four inches, where he found a gold coin.Mariusz had no idea what it was, but put pictures of it online and found out it was a Richard III Angel. Presented for sale at Noonans on 15 June, it fetched a top-estimate £15,000. As Nigel Mills, Consultant (Artefacts and Antiquities) at Noonans explains: “This was the last Plantagenet king who died in battle at Bosworth Field in 1485 after reigning for only two years, and whose remains were discovered under a car park in Leicester in 2012.” The extremely rare coin which weighs 5 grams and is 2.6 centimetres in diameter has the design of St Michael spearing a dragon, with the boar’s head mint mark at the top of the coin. The white boar was Richard’s personal badge and he distributed 13,000 badges in cloth at his coronation. Such a short reign meant that a relatively small number of these coins were minted, starting in July 1483. Mariusz who is 42 and married with two children came to England 15 years ago from Poland to work, making bread for Jamie Oliver. He now works at the Old Post Office Bakery in Clapham North (London) making organic sourdough bread. He has been detecting for five years and this was his sixth gold coin found detecting. It is the rarest and by far the most valuable. Mariusz will be sharing the proceeds with the landowner.

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