x The Jean-Marie Vanmeerbeeck Collection of Numismatic Portraits from Medieval Flanders and Tudor England | Elizabeth I (1558-1603), Milled Issue, Large Issue, Shilling, 8 November 1561 - 24 October 1561, * ELIZABETH • D • G • ANG • FRA • ET • HIB • REGINA, crowned bust A left, wearing elaborately decorated dress, rev. * POSVI | DEVM • AD | IVTORE | M • MEVM, square-topped shield ovr long cross fourchée, edge plain, 6.26g [96.6grns], 6h, m.m. star (Borden & Brown [1983], 15, dies O1/R1; Montagu II, 112 = Murdoch II, 641 this coin; Comber I, 79; North 2023; Spink 2590), some scant marks under magnification, otherwise rich and attractive cabinet tone overlying lustrous original surfaces; a scintillating Elizabethan gem and triumphal canon of Mestrelles mill-press silver specie, the long-regarded finest known specimen with a scarcely-quantifiable and truly monumental 220-year old unbroken pedigree through at least a dozen of the greatest English cabinets ever formed, being illustrated no fewer than six times and the inspiration for Rudings Annals plate illustration; the undoubted highlight of the Vanmeerbeeck Portrait collection, not to be overlooked by even the most discerning of collectors beyond whose grasp this coin has remained since last offered in 1983 Provenance R S James (Agricola), Spink 31, 12 October 1983, lot 168 - very light surface marks on obverse, otherwise practically as struck with brilliant fields, evenly toned and a most attractive piece - £3,000 [Vanmeerbeeck] C F Gilboy, Spink 6, 10-11 October 1979, lot 608 - £3,400 [James] Dr Edward Burstal, Glendining, 15-16 May 1968, lot 205* - slight nicks and scratches on obverse, otherwise in mint state, rare - £280.0.0 Dr Ernest Christison Carter, collection purchased en bloc by Baldwin, 1950 Bernard Roth, Sothebys, 19 July 1917, lot 288* - very rare and in superb condition, believed to be the finest specimen known - £12.10.0 [Spink for Carter] J G Murdoch, Second Portion, 31 March 1903, lot 641* - very rare of this type and in superb preservation, "believed to be the finest specimen known" - £12.10.0 [Ready] H Montagu, Second Portion, 13 November 1896, lot 112* - very rare, and believed to be the finest known - £15.10.0 Brice, collection purchased en bloc by Montagu, 1883 Bergne, Sothebys, 20 May 1873, lot 583 - in beautiful preservation - £10.5.0 [Webster for Brice] Lt. Col Durrant, Sothebys, 19-27 April 1847, lot 488 - "This Shilling is from the Tyssen and Trattle Collections. It is in most beautiful preservation, and is probably the finest extant. W.D." - £2.18.0 [Cureton for Bergne] Marmaduke Trattle, Sothebys, 30 May - 8 June 1832, lot 304 - very fine and rare - £9.0.0 [Young] Samuel Tyssen, Sothebys, 12 April - 31 May 1802, lot 1820 [part] - £3.13.6
