The Marlborough Collection of George V 25-cent coins will cross the auction block in Texas on April 25.
The coins in the 219-lot collection range in date from 1911, when George V became the monarch following the death of Edward VII, until 1936, when George V died and was replaced on the obverse of Canada’s decimal currency with George VI. Each coin is certified in Mint-State (MS) condition except one, a 1915 issue, in Extremely Fine-45.
From 1910-19, Canada’s 25-cent coin was composed of 92.5 per cent silver and 7.5 per cent copper, and from 1920-52, they included 80 per cent silver and 20 per cent copper. The denomination’s reverse design featured crossed maple boughs from 1870, when the Dominion of Canada issued its first circulation coinage, through 1936.
Among the top highlights are what auctioneers describe as a gem-certified key date “richly decorated in blue-green tone” plus an “elite gem” formerly from the Belzberg Collection.
Lot 99038, the gem-certified 1915-dated 25-cent coin, is certified as MS-65 by International Coin Certification Service. Struck at what was then the Ottawa Mint, the coin is described by auctioneers as “exceedingly difficult to acquire at this level of certified preservation.”
“George V’s 1915 quarter issues are currently capped at the MS65 grade level across NGC and PCGS, where only four such examples have been certified to date in total,” adds the lot description. “ICCS does not provide population figures, but what is certain is that this elite gem preserves a combined caliber of aesthetic appeal and originality that propels it to the highest tier of conditional survivorship. Merlot color in the centers contrasts with a vibrant iridescent ocean blue at the peripheries, this latter hue transitioning to a bright emerald glow across the reverse edge, all while preserving a clear expression of underlying mint luster. By virtue of its self-evident condition and rarity, the offering ranks as one of the indisputable stars of this collection.”
It’s estimated at $8,000 US-$10,000 US.
Lot 99157, the Belzberg coin, offers a 1933-dated 25-cent coin certified as MS-67 by Professional Coin Grading Service. Auctioneers describe it as a “bright white and lustrous offering of near-perfect quality, so pristine as to appear specimen-level,” adding it’s “certainly amongst the finest extant.”
It’s estimated at $2,000 US-$3,000 US.
A full Marlborough Collection preview with comments from auctioneers will be published in CCN Vol. 59 #3.