Bentley Has The Midas Touch The Great British sping may have been a wash out so far but the sale of The Bentley Collection raised more than a few smiles (as well as hands) as part one of the collection got off to a flying start.
faulty letter punches with corner serifs broken off being employed. The lot sold for £27,600 but carried an estimate of £15,000 – 20,000.
Finally, lot 33, an extremely rare Victoria small bust pattern Sovereign of 1837 sold for £28,800. The coin is considered to be the first proposed pattern Sovereign for the young Queen Victoria for which she granted engraver, William Wyon, multiple portrait sittings. The head is of a small stature, the rear hair fillet lightly ruled with horizontal lines and the legend closely spaced; the reverse by Jean Baptiste Merlen being very similar to that adopted for currency. The piece is very light in weight so that it would not go very far should it escape into circulation. The coin sold well over its initial estimate of £15,000 – 20,000.
Parts two and three of the Bentley Collection are due to be sold on the 27th September 2012 and the beginning of May 2013. The collection, in its entirety, is estimated to achieve around £3,000,000 and the decision to divide the collection in to three parts has been carefully considered to allow Sovereign collectors time to plan their proposed purchases properly.
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For more information about the Bentley Collection visit www.baldwin.co.uk/bentley
For all enquires about The Bentley Collection or to request a copy of the collection brochure please contact Steve Hill at steve@baldwin.co.uk or on +44 (0)20 7930 6879.
For all press enquiries please contact Caroline Newton at carolinenewton@baldwin.co.uk or on +44 (0)20 7930 6879.
Top Ten Selling Lots From Part One
2 George III, Pattern Sovereign 1816, engraved by Thomas Wyon Jnr after Pistrucci’s cameo, larger laureate head right, with ties at rear, four distinct leaves at top of laurel wreath that consists of 14 leaves, toothed border both sides, obverse struck slightly off-centre, legend in small letters both sides, GEORGIUS III D: G: BRITT: REX F: D:, rev struck en medaille, die flaw into crown and another in legend, crowned square shield of arms quartered with the arms of Hanover as an escutcheon, 5 strings to Irish harp, crown with 12 jewels on each arch, central crown upright with parallel vertical lines of 6 jewels, taller cross on crown with horizontal line separating it from orb below, date 18 16 below arms lightly double struck, legend BRITTANIARUM REX FID: DEF:, edge plain, 9.53g, 22.1mm (WR 185 R6; Murdoch 185; Nobleman 43; DM 126). Red tone spot by chin and smaller one below truncation, some light raised die flaws on the reverse, some hairlines, otherwise mint state and extremely rare.
ex R E Plumbridge collection, sold privately to A H Baldwin & Sons Ltd, c.1980
ex A H Baldwin & Sons Ltd, 125 Anniversary Sale, Baldwin’s Auction 15, 13 October 1997, lot 43
The key features of this proposed pattern engraved by Wyon are the portrait with 14 leaf wreath, five strings to the Irish harp, and the crown arranged with pearls on the arches evenly balanced at 12 per side and 6 on each side of
