Dynamically assembled over more than fifty years by a true connoisseur and passionate advocate for numismatics, the Geoffrey Cope Collection comprises some one hundred and seventy ancient Roman bronze coins and over eight hundred British coins and commemorative medallions. Mr Cope was blessed with an unerring eye for quality, a fierce determination and the means to pursue to the best specimens he could find. Consequently, most of the coins and medallions in the collection are in remarkably high states of preservation, with a significant number being considered the finest examples known. Important pedigrees abound only adding further to their allure. Of exceptional visual appeal, many of the coins will also be familiar to collectors, dealers and scholars having been used to illustrate publications on history, art and numismatics, or from their display in prominent exhibitions at the British Museum and the Money Museum of the American Numismatic Association.
Among the Roman highlights is a sestertius of Agrippina Senior, issued posthumously by her son Gaius Caligula. In superb condition, the reverse depicts in extraordinary detail a carpentum drawn by two mules. While the collection is rich in rare bronzes in choice state, many with untouched patinas, the crown jewel is undoubtedly the famous sestertius of Hadrian commemorating his visit to Britain in AD 122. An elegant portrait of Hadrian is paired with a reverse showing the emperor addressing legionary soldiers serving in the province of Roman Britain. This very rare coin is remarkably well preserved and accompanied by a provenance over a century long.
Every era of coin production in the British Isles is represented in the collection with a particular strength in the silver and copper coinage of the Tudor, Stuart and Georgian periods. Among many great rarities are the magnificent Petition Crown of Charles II by Thomas Simon from the Slaney collection; the fabled Henry VIII Testoon, ex Marshall, unquestionably the finest portrait coin known of this monarch; the SEPTIM Testoon of Henry VII, ex Montagu, Murdoch and Bliss; the only Philip and Mary Halfcrown in private hands, a spectacular gold Ship Ryal of James I, ex Carter, and a USA Dollar dated 1799 countermarked for George III. A wonderful offering of milled silver, copper and bronze coins in unparalleled grade includes many key dates and seldom encountered types as well as proof and pattern strikings. Scottish coins in the collection feature several beautiful portrait types of Mary Stuart and the notable array of Irish coinage include is a mint state pewter Crown of James II.
The coinage of Charles I was a particular love of Mr Cope and he was fortunate to obtain many star pieces of this ill-fated king – exceptional Crowns, the finest group of ‘fine work’ Shillings assembled since Brooker, numerous rarities of the provincial mints in all metals and the celebrated Oxford ‘city view‘ Crown by Thomas Rawlins formerly in the Lockett collection. The sale of the Cope Collection will be the most significant dispersal of British coins since the Norweb sales in the late 1980s.
The Roman coins and the first part of the British collection will be offered in a sale in Zurich on 8th May 2024. The second and final part of the British collection will be offered in Zurich in October 2024. Viewing will take place at the London offices of Classical Numismatic Group (British) and Numismatica Ars Classica (Roman) in early April, again in September, and prior to the auctions in Zurich.
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