Beautifully Toned Unite of 1656

312, Lot: 40. Estimate $15000. Sold for $20000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

COMMONWEALTH. 1649-1660. AV Unite (33mm, 9.03 g, 4h). Tower mint; im: sun/-. Dated 1656. (sun) · THE · COMMONWEALTH · OF · ENGLAND ·, coat-of-arms within wreath / · GOD · WITH · VS · 1656 ·, coats-of-arms bearing St. George's Cross and Irish harp; ·XX· (mark of value) above. Schneider 344 (same dies); North 2715; SCBC 3208. EF, attractive orange-red tone. Well centered on a broad, round flan.

From the Clearwater Collection. Ex Spink 208 (22 June 2011), lot 755; Davissons 10 (30 April 1998), lot 19; Spink Numismatic Circular LXXII.11 (November 1964), no. 8870; Dr. E.C. Carter Collection (purchased en bloc by Baldwin’s, 1950).

The 1656 Commonwealth unite is rare, possibly because supplies of gold in this year were used to coin Cromwell broads.