£40,000 - £60,000
George II (1727-60), Five-Guineas, 1729 TERTIO, East India Company issue, large lettering, laureate head left, E. I. C. below truncation, rev. crowned garnished shield, 11 strings to harp. (MCE 279; EGC 553; S.3664). Choice good Extremely Fine, fields proof like. Conservatively graded by PCGS as MS61 This Five Guinea piece is marked with the initials of the East India Company, founded in London in 1600, and was struck from gold obtained in India and the Far East through trading conducted by the Company at the height of its power –accounting for nearly half of the world’s trade at the time this coin was issued. Winning concessions from local rulers in India, the Company had established trading posts aimed at obtaining silk, cotton, indigo and tea in Madras, Bombay, Calcutta, and elsewhere along both coasts of the sub continent and later from China and the Far East. At the end of the first quarter of the 18th. century, when this coin was struck, some 15% of Britain’s imports came from India, supplied through the EIC. The company was immensely rich and supplied the Royal Mint with the gold to strike these large impressive coins – making sure it was obvious where the gold had come from. So important had the company become, its presence in India required an ever larger British military obligation to safeguard its operations and personnel. This coin is a reflection of the great wealth of the EIC and the zenith of Britain as a world trading nation.
Fees apply to the hammer price:
Free Registration
27.6% inc VAT*
Flat Fee Registration
24.00% inc VAT*
