A rare Victorian gold coin considered to be one of the most beautiful ever produced has fetched a record £532,000. ($650k)
The 1839 'Victoria Una and the Lion' five pound coin shows the 20-year-old queen leading a lion representing the British Empire.
It depicts Victoria as Una, from the Elizabethan poem The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser.
The reverse carries a portrait of the monarch.
Only 400 of the gold coins, designed by William Wyon, chief engraver at the Royal Mint, were struck.
The piece, described as 'a truly stellar example of one of Britain's most iconic and beautiful coins', was sold by a private collector through US-based Heritage Auctions, in Dallas, Texas.
It had been expected to fetch £190,000 ($260k) but eclipsing the previous record of £421,000 ($550k) for one of the coins in 2017.
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Originally Posted by oyarde
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