NGC-certified English Gold Coins from Ellerby Hoard Realize Over $800,000 in Spink Sale

A group of 264 vintage English gold coins almost entirely certified by Numismatic Guaranty Company™ (NGC®) realized £754,000 (about $837,000) in a Spink & Son auction. The sale of the Ellerby Area Hoard, which was found during the remodeling of a historic English home, was held October 7, 2022.

The top lot in the sale was a Great Britain 1720 Guinea with Reverse Brockage that is graded NGC AU 55 (lot 241). This stunning mint error realized £62,400 (about $69,000), more than 10 times its pre-auction estimate. The obverse was mistakenly struck with an inverted version of the design from the reverse side of the coin. It set a world record for any "brockage" error coin from any country.

a Great Britain 1720 Guinea with Brockage on Obverse graded NGC Mint Error AU 55 and pedigreed to the Ellerby Area Hoard. Realized: £62,400 (about $69,000) Click images to enlarge.

Meanwhile, a Great Britain 1708 Elephant and Castle Guinea graded NGC VF 25 (lot 165) realized £24,000 (about $27,000), more than 10 times its pre-auction estimate. This coin depicting Queen Anne was issued just after the unification of England and Scotland into Great Britain. It is the finer of the two examples in the NGC Census.

a Great Britain 1708 Elephant and Castle Guinea graded NGC VF 25 and pedigreed to the Ellerby Area Hoard. Realized: £24,000 (about $27,000) Click images to enlarge.

Another Queen Anne coin — an England 1705 Guinea graded NGC AU 50 (lot 164) — realized £13,200 (about $15,000), more than double its pre-auction estimate. It is the finest example to be certified by NGC, and only three other examples are believed to have been offered at public auction in the past two decades.

an England 1705 Guinea graded NGC AU 50 and pedigreed to the Ellerby Area Hoard. Realized: £13,200 (about $15,000) Click images to enlarge.

Finally, an England 1675 “CRAOLVS” Guinea that is graded NGC F 15 (lot 101) realized £9,600 (about $11,000), more than five times its pre-auction estimate. The normal Latin inscription on Guineas around this time was “CAROLVS II DEI GRATIA” on the obverse, along with an image of King Charles II. On this example of the coin, the inscription reads “CRAOLVS II DEI GRATIA.” The misspelling may have been done as a statement against the “Great Stop of the Exchequer” orchestrated by the king in 1672.

England 1675 "CRAOLVS" Guinea graded NGC F 15 and pedigreed to the Ellerby Area Hoard. Realized: £9,600 (about $11,000) Click images to enlarge.

The collection includes more than 250 gold coins that date from 1610 to 1727. They are believed to have belonged to a woman named Sarah Fernley, who once owned the home in Ellerby, North Yorkshire, where they were found. Fernley passed away in 1745. They were rediscovered during a kitchen renovation project, contained in a pottery cup that historians say dates from the early 18th century.

More than 350 people registered through Spink to bid for the Ellerby Area Hoard, which was mostly composed of coins used as currency from the reign of King James I through that of King George I. NGC encapsulated them with a customized Ellerby Area Hoard special label.

"I have never seen a response to an auction like this before, and it dwarfed any pre-conceived expectations and set dozens of world records along the way," said Gregory Edmund, Head of Numismatics and Chief Auctioneer of Spink. "NGC's expert and customized certification services helped these amazing coins realize their full potential at auction."

Other NGC-certified highlights in the sale included:

• a Great Britain 1716 Guinea - Arms of Hanover at Date graded NGC VF 35 (lot 226) that realized £9,600 (about $11,000)
• a Great Britain 1723 Guinea graded NGC AU 58 (lot 254) that realized £8,520 (about $9,500)
• a Great Britain 1711 Guinea graded NGC AU 53 (lot 171) that realized £7,800 (about $8,700)
• a Great Britain 1713 Guinea graded NGC AU 53 (lot 180) that realized £7,800 (about $8,700)
• an England 1698 Elephant and Castle Guinea graded NGC XF 40 (lot 148) that realized £7,800 (about $8,700)
• an England 1679 Elephant and Castle Guinea graded NGC VF 20 (lot 111) that realized £7,200 (about $8,000)
• a Scotland Gold Double Crown graded NGC AU Details (lot 5) that realized £5,400 (about $6,000)

Prices realized include buyer's premium. The $ symbol represents US Dollars.