Lot 31
Oliver Cromwell, AR Crown, 1658, J. S. Tanner’s copy (struck in 1738). PCGS AU58 (Finest Graded) ‡
The Abby Welsh Collection of Crowns & Halfcrowns | C26003
Auction: 29 May 2026 at 10.30 BST
Description
Laureate bust left, Rev. Crowned and quartered shield of the Protectorate, 6h. (Bull 246 [R4]; ESC 13; L&S 3; S. 3226B). Encapsulated and graded by PCGS as AU58. Excessively rare, and probably rarer still in this condition.
Footnote
Ex. Spink & Son, Auction 1186, March 3rd, 1998. The only example graded by PCGS, and, therefore, the finest graded. Certification no. 635366.58/84924447. Much rarer than the Simon crown (which is “scarce”, while the Tanner coin is rated R4 by ESC, and extremely rare, with just 11 to 20 known). Prospective bidders should take this rare opportunity to compare the two 1658 crowns in this auction. Simon’s engraving on the original shows a brooding, unpleasant pseudo-king, somehow evincing his war-like disposition in the aspect of his jowls and the “anger” in his eye. This was the work of a supreme artist, and Cromwell in life was Simon’s model. By contrast, the wonderful “copy” by Johann Sigismund Tanner, a marvellously talented engraver in his own right, but the product of a later century, shows Cromwell as a figure along the order of that of a Roman emperor. There is no mood in his face now, but rather, the engraving is altered to give a finer quality, calmer and statuesque. It is not lesser; it is different. Tanner was able to locate the puncheons used by Simon, re-engrave them, and create new dies that almost duplicated Simon’s. It was most likely by intention, not error, that he made the date a sharp, singular 1658, not 8/7, perhaps paying homage to the great Thomas Simon by respecting the minute differences in engraving of the earlier piece. At the same time, Tanner imparted intimate detail in Cromwell’s hair (but left his laurels less pronounced) and gave an extraordinary clarity to the details of the reverse shield, as well as rounded, slightly more even beading to the rims.
