30166: Oliver Cromwell Crown 1658/7 MS64 NGC, KM393.2

Oliver Cromwell Crown 1658/7 MS64 NGC, KM393.2, S-3226, ESC-240. By Thomas Simon. A singular crown in many respects, and in many ways a testament to the advantages posed by the early adoption of milled coinage in England, this piece representing the first crown produced in England using the screw press. Very much an emblem to the confliction that plagued the English Commonwealth, Cromwell's coinage is often remembered both as the first English currency to portray a commoner, and by the fact that despite his claims to have done away with the monarchy, the arms on the reverse continued to display a crown. Tying all of these historical threads together, the present example further puts forth an incredible eye appeal, the graphite of the fields meeting with iridescence glints in the legends and charcoal toning highlights along the devices. An early die state that is just beginning to show evidence of the transverse die crack along Cromwell's neckline, it is presently outranked by only a single MS65--the Eric P. Newman example, an MS61 and the last specimen we offered in Mint State, bringing, by comparison, $14,687 in August 2017. HID03101062020 © 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved