Angel of Edward IV

The finder of this coin wished to remain anonymous but wanted a valuation as he hoped to be able to buy it from the owner of the land on which it was discovered.

This is a very rare hammered gold coin, which was struck close to the end of the reign of Edward IV. The coin is an angel with mint mark halved sun and rose on both sides and is listed in the Standard Catalogue as number 2144. The mint mark was introduced shortly after 12 February 1483 and continued to be used after he death of Edward IV on 9 April 1483. However, angels with an obverse as it is on this coin – EDWARD DEI GRA – have been attributed to Edward IV. As they were struck for a very short time it is unsurprising that they are very rare.    

Valuation

The coin has faint scratches on the obverse and is short of flan so it might be slightly clipped. It would need to be weighed to ascertain if it is clipped or full weight and struck on a small flan. In terms of circulation wear, the coin would grade good Fine.

The most recent sale at auction I traced of a similar coin was in 2017. This specimen was described as being good VF but slightly creased and the hammer price was £16,000. The latter was in better condition than the coin under discussion.

As I always tell detectorists and numismatists, the state of preservation is by far the most important factor in relation to the value of any coin. Even slight defects can have significant impact on value. After taking into consideration its plus and minus points, if I was cataloguing this coin for sale at auction then I would set the pre-sale estimate at £8,000-10,000 and would expect the hammer price to be within that range.

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