The portrait of Charles II on the Petition Crown estimated at SFr500,000 (around £440,000) as part of the Cope collection sale.
Image © Stephen Wakeham
The Cope collection will be sold in Zurich in May and October 2024 under a collaboration between a trio of firms: Numismatica Ars Classica, Classical Numismatic Group and Numismatica Genevensis.
Assembled over 50 years by the clothes retailer and numismatist Geoffrey Cope, his holdings comprise 170 ancient Roman bronze coins and over 800 British issues. Condition was paramount: a significant number of the coins are considered the finest of their type.
Leading the line is the highest independently graded of the 16 surviving examples of the Petition Crown. It is estimated SFr500,000 (around £440,000). Struck by celebrated medallist Thomas Simon, it was created in 1663 to ‘petition’ Charles II to rehire Simon to his post as chief engraver at the Royal Mint.
Making use of new mechanical technology, a message engraved around the edge of the coin entreated the king to ‘compare this his tryall piece’ with coins produced by his Dutch rivals for the position, the Roettier brothers. The third highest graded example sold for $800,000 (£631,000) at Heritage Auctions in January this year setting a new auction record for an English silver coin.
The reverse of the Petition Crown estimated at SFr500,000 (around £440,000) as part of the Cope collection sale.
Image © Stephen Wakeham
The Cope sales will also include the finest-known Henry VIII testoon, made c.1544-45 in debased silver with portrait based on the famous painting by Holbein (estimate SFr40,000 / £35,000) and one of only three specimens in private hands of the famous Oxford ‘city view’ Crown struck in 1644 for Charles I by Thomas Rawlins (estimate SFr150,000 / £130,000).
Among the rarest coins in the Civil War series is the Oxford ‘city view’ Crown struck in 1644 by Thomas Rawlins. This example has an estimate of SFr150,000 / £130,000 as part of the Cope collection sale.
Image © Stephen Wakeham
David Guest, director of CNG, said: “The sale of the Cope collection is one of the most significant dispersals of British coins in decades. Every era of coin production in the British Isles is represented in the collection".
Most notable of the Roman bronze coins is the sestertius of Hadrian celebrating his legions stationed in Britain (estimate SFr300,000 / £260,000). On display for several years at the British Museum, the coin presents on one side an accomplished portrait of Hadrian and, on its reverse, the emperor addressing his army. It may mark the completion of Hadrian’s Wall in 130AD.
Giuliano Russo, director of NAC said: “Discerning coin collectors know that bronze is the metal in which Roman engraved art can be best admired thanks to its patina and generously sized denominations. Bronze is also the metal in which it is most unusual to come across specimens in such good condition and this is what really sets this collection apart”.
The collection is currently on view at the London offices of CNG (British coins until April 22) and NAC (Roman coins until April 19) prior to sale in Zurich.
During much of the 1970s and 80s, Geoffrey Cope ran Skopes, the men’s tailoring business founded by his father in Leeds in 1948. His son Simon Cope, the vendor of the coin collection, now runs the firm.
A rare bronze sestertius of Hadrian celebrating his legions stationed in Britain has an estimate of SFr300,000 / £260,000 as part of the Cope collection sale.
Image © Stephen Wakeham
