LONDON.- A large attractive gold coin from the reign of Charles I sold for £54,560* as part of the auction of Micheal Gietzelt Collection of British and Irish Coins on Wednesday, September 22, 2021 at international coins, medals, banknotes and jewellery specialists Dix Noonan Webb. The impressive and very rare coin, which weighed 26.57g, dated from 1643 and came from the Mint in Oxford. Known as a Triple Unite (the value of 60 shillings or three pounds), this popular coin among collectors, was issued during the Civil War and depicts Charles I holding a sword and an olive branch, possibly signifying his desire for peace. It was bought by a dealer in the room on behalf of a collector [lot 70].

The main emphasis of the Collection, which comprised 220 coins and was 100% sold, was Charles I (1625-1649) (203 lots) with 12 lots of Commonwealth Coins (1649-1660) and five from the era of Oliver Cromwell.

As Christopher Webb, Client Liaison (Numismatics) at Dix Noonan Webb commented: “This was a very specialised collection, with a pre-sale estimate of £330,000 to £430,000, however the final total was £454,000 (£562,960 with buyers’ premium), which was a strong result for a collection which was basically focussed on the coins of Charles I & Cromwell, therefore showing the strength of the market.”

Other notable highlights of the Collection was among the Cromwell coins. An extremely fine broad coin (worth 20 shillings) from 1656, sold for £29,760 against an estimate of £15,000-20,000 and was bought by an American dealer [lot 216], while a crude-shaped shilling or siege piece from Carlisle, dating from 1645 sold for £18,600 against an estimate of £10,000-12,000 to a British collector bidding online [lot 158].

Elsewhere a very rare Charles I halfcrown, believed to be from the Hereford mint, also dating from 1645, depicting the King on horseback, while the reverse type of this coin is unique among the silver issues of Charles I, showing as it does the gartered arms with lion and unicorn supporters, a design normally reserved for gold coinage. This coin, due to its rarity sold for £12,400 against an estimate of £5,000-7,000 to a European Collector online [lot 140].

Among the Irish coins was an extremely rare shilling from Cork from the time when Charles I’s supporters were fighting in Ireland in 1647, which sold for £12,400 against an estimate of £6,000-8,000 to a US collector online [lot 196].

Michael Gietzelt was born in Berlin in 1954, the son of a doctor. Educated at Berlin Secondary School, he performed his military service in the DGR Medical Corps, attaining the rank of Sergeant, before entering Berlin University to study medicine in 1975. Within two years he had decided that medicine was not the career choice for him and he opened his antique shop on the Frankfurter-Alle in Berlin in 1977.

Encouraged by his Mother, who made him a present of some worn Victorian pennies, and his great-grandfather, who gave him his first serious coin, an 1887 five-pound piece, Michael’s collection has expanded – not just into British coins, but also into all other spheres of British numismatics, including orders, decorations, medals and paper money. From the outset Michael’s aim has been to form a type collection of British coins from Edward III to the present day, but with the dispersal of his milled coins in these rooms on 14 November 2018, and now his hammered and AngloGallic coins in this auction, his coin collecting focus will now be on Scottish and Irish issues, while maintaining his collections of coins and tokens of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.