Medallic 1551 Crown – Ex Archbishop Sharp
TUDOR. Edward VI. 1547-1553. AR Crown (42mm, 30.87 g, 9h). Third period, fine silver issue. Tower (London) mint; im: У. Dated 1551. У : ЄDWΛRD’: VI : D’: G’: ΛGL’: FRΛnC’: Z : hIBЄR’: RЄX ·, Edward on horseback riding right / : POSVI · DЄVm’: Λ DIVTOR Є’: mЄV’· У :, coat-of-arms over long cross fourchée. Woodbridge dies A/7; North 1933; SCBC 2478. A few minor marks under rich cabinet tone. Near EF. The obverse unusually well and evenly struck up with a medallic quality. One of the finest we have handled. Very rarely encountered in this state.
Ex Archbishop Sharp (Morton & Eden 91, 7 December 2017), lot 196.
Dr. John Sharp (1644-1714) was a clergyman who rose through the offices of the Church of England to become Archbishop of York in 1691. Sharp started collecting coins in 1687 and focused his energies primarily on the issues of the British Isles, acquiring many highly important rarities. Sharp was in contact with several other leading numismatists of his age, including Ralph Thoresby, to whom he addressed his manuscript, ‘Observations on the Coinage of England’, published in 1785. The great 19th Century numismatist, Roger Ruding, regarded this work as, "the first systematic treatise ever composed on the subject." On Sharp's death, the collection was left to his son and was kept together for some 250 years by his descendants. In the words of the late Harry Manville, 'Sharp pedigrees are among the oldest available in British numismatics.'
