One of Britain’s rarest coins EVER goes under the hammer and could sell for £595,000

• One of the rarest British coins in existence is up for auction 
• The coin is expected to fetch £595,000 or $750,000
• Only 16 of these ‘Petition Crowns’ exist, this one is part of the Cope collection

One of the rarest and most valuable British coins in existence will soon be going under the hammer and could fetch as much as $750,000  or £595,000.

The ultra rate Petition Crown of King Charles II – or Petition Crown as it is known – was minted in 1663 and is part of a collection of British and Roman coins to be auctioned.

This particular Petition Crown is part of the Cope collection, which was owned by known numismatist Geoffrey Cope.

Worth a mint: The Petition Crown, one of the coins in the collection of Geoffrey Cope, could sell for $750,000 at auction

The coin collection will be auctioned off in two lots in Zurich on 8 May and in October.

The collection includes two other noteworthy coins – among many – a King Henry VIII Testoon and an Oxford Crown.

What’s so special about this coin?

The Petition Crown, which is part of the multimillion dollar Cope collection, is one of just sixteen in existence.

There’s no chance you’ll find one wedged between the sofa cushions though, as the other fifteen Petition Crowns have fallen into the hands of millionaire private collectors or museum collections.

Coin experts at the Classical Numismatic Group said: ‘Our understanding is that there are eight examples of the Petition Crown in museum collections and a further eight in private hands.

The Petition Crown in the Cope collection is one of the best examples of the coin in the world.

It was graded Mint State 63+ by the Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC), a third party grading and authentication service. This is the highest grade awarded to any Petition Crown by any third party grading service.

The Petition Crown coin is considered a masterpiece and has always been extremely collectible. Records show the sale of one dating back to 1742 for £20, which is around £3,600 today.

The Petition Crown is one of the rarest and most valuable British coins in existence

In 2007, a Petiton Crown sold for £207,100 and in 2018 another one sold for $649,000 in New York. Just this year, another Petiton Crown sold in New York for $960,000.

That suggests this example could go for more than $1million.

The Petiton Crown has a patriotic history behind it. It was struck by celebrated medallist and coin-designer Thomas Simon, who worked for the Royal Mint, in 1663.

The coin was created by Simon to ‘petition’ King Charles II to reinstate him as the sole chief engraver at the Royal Mint and also as a petition against the contemporary coins designed by the Flemish brothers John and Joseph Roettiers.

Using new mechanical coin machinery, Simon printed message around the edge of the coin asking the King to ‘compare this his tryall piece with the Dutch’, a dig at the Femish engravers.

The coin features a striking portrait of King Charles II so detailed that even a shadow of the veins on the King’s neck can be made out.

Oxford Crown

Another prized coin up for auction in the Cope collection is the famous Oxford Crown depicting King Charles I by Thomas Rawlins, which was struck in 1644.

This one is set to fetch around £132,400 when it goes up for auction, but experts at the Classical Numismatic Group say ‘this coin will very likely sell for more.’

The coin shows King Charles I in Oxford during the English Civil War.

Only eleven original Oxford Crowns are known to be in existence, eight of which are in museum collections.

The Oxford Crown was minted in 1644 and shows King Charles I in battle at Oxford during the English Civil War

King Henry VIII Testoon

Another exceptionally rare coin in the 800 strong Cope collection of British coins is a King Henry VIII Testoon.

This coin was struck in 1544. It has always been popular with collectors because of the striking portrait of King Henry VIII.

It represents a key moment in Henry VIII’s reign, when a lack of funds in the treasury led the Tudor government to introduce cheap metals into coins previously made of sterling silver – known as the Great Debasement.

The King Henry VIII Testoon in the Cope collection is viewed by experts as the finest of any in existence and is a coin which Cope himself spent his whole life searching for.

This one is expected to fetch the equivalent of £35,300 when it goes under the hamer, but again experts at the Classical Numismatic Group think it will likely go for more.

Imposing: The King Henry VIII Testoon is one of the most sought after coins after the petition Crown

David Guest, director of Classical Numismatic Group, said: ‘The sale of the Cope Collection is one of the most significant dispersals of British coins in decades.

‘Every era of coin production in the British Isles is represented in the collection.

‘Among many great rarities the Petition Crown of Charles II stands out, which, in the centuries since its production, has developed a mythic status amongst numismatists and coin collectors for its sheer artistry.’