A Run of van der Passe Gaming Pieces
All Ex Archbishop Sharp Collection (1644-1714)

416, Lot: 602. Estimate $100. Sold for $425. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

STUART. temp. James I to Charles I. 1625-1649. AR Gaming Piece (27.5mm, 2.43 g, 12h). From the school of van der Passe. Made circa 1625 to 1628. GIV E THY IVDGEMENTS O GOD UNTO T(HE) KIN(G), bust of James facing slightly right, wearing hat with brim and jewel, ornate collar, and Garter Collar / AND THY RIGHTEOUSNESSE UNTO T(HE) KINGS SON(NE), bust of James facing slightly right, wearing mustache and beard and ornate collar. Mitchiner, Jetons 4779-83. VF, toned.

Ex Archbishop Sharp Collection (1644-1714).

Dr. John Sharp (1644-1714) was a clergyman who rose through the offices of the Church of England to become Archbishop of York in 1691. Sharp started collecting coins in 1687 and focused his energies primarily on the issues of the British Isles, acquiring many highly important rarities. Sharp was in contact with several other leading numismatists of his age, including Ralph Thoresby, to whom he addressed his manuscript, Observations on the Coinage of England, published in 1785. The great 19th Century numismatist, Rogers Ruding, regarded this work as, “the first systematic treatise ever composed on the subject.” On Sharp's death the collection was left to his son and was kept together for some 250 years by his descendants. Two dispersals were made in the 1960s: Sotheby, 14 March 1966 (European, Spanish American, together with miscellaneous coins and medals) and Glendinings, 5 October 1977 (British, Charles I to Queen Anne). On 7 December 2018, Morton and Eden sold the coins from Anglo-Saxon times through to James I and some medals. In the words of the late Harry Manville, “Sharp pedigrees are among the oldest available in British numismatics.”