The Queen's collection

[Zebo]

Interesting new book:

Monarcy, Money and Medals: Coins, Banknotes and Medals from the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen.

just ordered it. I've seen the Crown Jewels, but not the coins in the collection. This is just a sampling of the rarer pieces. 184 pages, illustrated hardcover.

[Numismatic, A.A.S.]

Interesting, I also have seen the Family Jewels but never coins...do they have one of everything ever struck for her and her mom or anybody else locked away dark in some subterranean EMP Proof Vault somewhere? I've always wondered that with all the coins which bear her liking...what do others think??

[Zebo]

6

The

With foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales | Published by Spink in association with Royal Collection Trust

Hardback, jacketed  
With colour illustrations throughout
184 pages | 297 x 210mm

ISBN: 978-1-907427-91-6

The Royal Collection is famous as one of the finest art collections in the world, but less well known are its coins, medals and banknotes, which include many extremely rare pieces. This book, published by Spink in association with Royal Collection Trust, describes and illustrates the most important items in the collection, giving their historical background, how they came to be in the collection, and their importance. 

The development and dispersal of the early collections under the great royal collectors Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, Charles I and George III are described. No monarch since then has been a devoted collector of coins or medals, but occasional important additions have been made to the Royal Collection, particularly by King George V and Queen Mary. Other major items have been received as gifts from visiting Heads of State; coin finds on Duchy of Lancaster land (e.g. the Cuerdale Hoard of 1840) have also contributed to the Collection, as well as items presented by the Royal Mint – a set of pattern coins of King Edward VIII, and gold coins for the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II not issued to the public. 

Most of the items have never been exhibited before, and several are supported by descriptions and images of other relevant important objects from the Royal Collection. 

Jeremy Cheek, Honorary Numismatic Consultant to Royal Collection Trust since 2008, presents the fascinating background to the objects featured in the book, with the wealth of illustrations included helping to shine a spotlight on this little known but highly important part of the Royal Collection. 

Royal Collection is famous as one of the finest art collections in the world, but less well known are its coins, medals and banknotes, which include many extremely rare pieces. This book, published by Spink in association with Royal Collection Trust, describes and illustrates the most important items in the collection, giving their historical background, how they came to be in the collection, and their importance. 

The development and dispersal of the early collections under the great royal collectors Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, Charles I and George III are described. No monarch since then has been a devoted collector of coins or medals, but occasional important additions have been made to the Royal Collection, particularly by King George V and Queen Mary. Other major items have been received as gifts from visiting Heads of State; coin finds on Duchy of Lancaster land (e.g. the Cuerdale Hoard of 1840) have also contributed to the Collection, as well as items presented by the Royal Mint – a set of pattern coins of King Edward VIII, and gold coins for the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II not issued to the public. 

Most of the items have never been exhibited before, and several are supported by descriptions and images of other relevant important objects from the Royal Collection. 

Jeremy Cheek, Honorary Numismatic Consultant to Royal Collection Trust since 2008, presents the fascinating background to the objects featured in the book, with the wealth of illustrations included helping to shine a spotlight on this little known but highly important part of the Royal Collection. 
 

[World Colonial]

 

This is a book I am interested in owning.  I'd be curious to know the extent of colonial and commonwealth coinage, especially South Africa.  I could also see this collection including the 1934 New Zealand proof set where the recorded mintage is 20 (according to Krause) but only one set is believed to be privately owned.

[Zebo]

I'll let you know once I receive mine. It should of shipped today.

[World Colonial]

49 minutes ago, Zebo said:

I'll let you know once I receive mine. It should of shipped today.

Thanks.  One coin you might want to look for is the 1950 proof pattern sovereign, as it isn't a widely known coin.  It is listed in the South Africa catalogs but not Krause.  Other South Africa coins this coin collection could include that are essentially impossible to buy are the 1931 circulation strike silver and 1926 proof set.

[Zebo]

Interesting - Spinks is selling the book for 40£ and have them in stock ready for dispatch after 28 November. Amazon is selling them for 36£ and stated they will have them on 30 Novemeber for dispatch. Looking at the Amazon site today - Amazon states that the book will usually dispatch in one to two months. Go figure.

I'll probably cancel my Amazon order, disappointed in them - again, and purchase directly from Spink.

[Zebo]

On November 30, 2018 at 6:13 PM, World Colonial said:

 

This is a book I am interested in owning.  I'd be curious to know the extent of colonial and commonwealth coinage, especially South Africa.  I could also see this collection including the 1934 New Zealand proof set where the recorded mintage is 20 (according to Krause) but only one set is believed to be privately owned.

Received the book today and did a quick scan. I didn't see mention of the items that you are interested in, but will take a closer look later. 

[World Colonial]

On ‎1‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 5:45 PM, Zebo said:

Received the book today and did a quick scan. I didn't see mention of the items that you are interested in, but will take a closer look later. 

Thanks for the follow-up.

[Conder101]

So is the book any kind of a decent reference of is it just a "coffee table" book with glossy paper and pictures of some random pretty and/or rare coins?

[Zebo]

4 hours ago, Conder101 said:

So is the book any kind of a decent reference of is it just a "coffee table" book with glossy paper and pictures of some random pretty and/or rare coins?

It has a very nice historical background of some of the Monarchs that collected and then dispersed/lost their collections and some good information on several coins. A decent amount of medals and bills. I was hoping for more coins, but because I'm not that familiar with medals and bills - it is interesting and not a coffe table book. If you are mainly interested in coins - I would probably pass on it. That said - I haven't read the book yet and may change my mind, but that is my first impression. 

[World Colonial]

56 minutes ago, Zebo said:

It has a very nice historical background of some of the Monarchs that collected and then dispersed/lost their collections and some good information on several coins. A decent amount of medals and bills. I was hoping for more coins, but because I'm not that familiar with medals and bills - it is interesting and not a coffe table book. If you are mainly interested in coins - I would probably pass on it. That said - I haven't read the book yet and may change my mind, but that is my first impression. 

Too bad.  Someone with their influence and deep pockets was in a unique position to assemble a comprehensive quality collection at mostly cheap prices for the time.  And by this, I am excluding the quality standards in recent use which would have been of no interest to any collector a long time ago and which they would have had no reason to believe would ever matter.

As an example, somewhere in the NGC news archives, there is an article covering the Baldwin collection of South African "patterns" when they graded it.  The article didn't state it but since this firm was founded in 1872 and this coinage was issued later, I infer this family was able to use their network to acquire it shortly after it was issued though it may have been from another collector or dealer.

In the case of the British royal family, they could have assembled the best British and commonwealth collection of all time had they wanted to do so.

[Zebo]

Agree - George III and Prince Henry and Charles I had a pretty extensive collection - but no one, except Elizabeth II was a devoted collector after them. Don't get me wrong - there are many important pieces. I think the entire collection is a fraction of what it once was and may now contain some 5,000 items including medals and bills. George III's collection was over 15,000 before it was dispersed. The collection now stands at over 5,000. The book only highlights a sample of the more important items in the collection. So the book is worth it if you want to see some of the more important issues, but if you are looking for a breakdown of all 5,000 or so. - they are not all listed. It has a nice breakdown for the bills.

I did see a mention of presentation coins that may interest you:

South Africa uniface silver farthing, 1923; Cap sparrows. Plain rimless smooth reverse. There are also some South Africa bills.

The items in the book have never been exhibited.

A lot of interesting medals along with their history.  A few hoards of coins - descriptions that is in the collection.

 

 

 

 

[World Colonial]

Thanks.

Not familiar with that 1923 SA farthing.  It isn't listed in any price guide I know, including Kaplan from 1950.  Old SA currency is both rare and expensive, at least in decent or high quality.

Is the "Three Graces" crown in the collection?  I believe Heritage auctioned one at NYINC.  The Metropolitan Museum of Art had one (in gold) displayed by the cafeteria in the late 90's or early 2000's when I visited.

[7.jaguars]

Can't decide if I will pop for it. There is a story I read that Elizabeth and sister (Margaret?) visited the Royal Mint in 1937 and were presented with specimens that depicted animals on the reverse. They were reverse only and were struck in silver. I wonder if there was any mention of that in the book?

I can't remember now but got the 1937 silver farthing struck in proof and not sure of the provenance. Possibly Spink 20 or so years ago.

[Zebo]

you are talking about the 1937 Royal Visit coins. Queen Mary, Elizabeth and Margaret toured the Royal Mint as part of an educational program. They saw coins being minted and were later given some of the coins. The coins they received all had animal designs. The coins, 18 of them, were struck in silver and were unifaced - only the reverse. Some were undated and one was datesd other than 1937. Five sets were presented in special cases. Queen Mary, Elizabeth, Margaret, the Mint Director were all given a set. The last set went to the Royal Mint Museum. The Royal Mint set is no longer in their possession and the Mint Director's set was sold and split up. 

There is a bit more information on them and there is a full page of the 18 images.