Charles II (1660 - 85)  Read about Charles II

 

 

 

 

Hammered Silver

 

Sixpence

 

WCA-7624:  Charles II Restoration Period Hammered Silver Sixpence.  The rarer first issue with no inner circles and no mark of value.  Old crease.  Spink 3309.  A rare coin.  £495

 

WCA-7110:  Charles II Restoration Period Late Hammered Silver Sixpence.  Initial mark Crown, 1660-62 but nearer 1662 as this is the last Third Issue.  After this, there were no more hammered coins struck for currency.  Spink 3323.  A decidedly handsome coin.  £655

 

 

 

Pence

 

WCA-7032:  Charles II “Restoration” Period Hammered Silver Threepence.  Third issue, struck late on in that brief window of 1660-62, after which hammered coinage was officially superseded by milled coinage.  Large flan.  Spink 3325.  The top image (Canon camera using daylight bulb) was a bit of a disaster so I’ve included the bottom image (cheap camera phone using natural indoor winter daylight) which is unaccountably more representative.  £155

 

WCA-7033:  Charles II “Restoration” Period Hammered Silver Halfgroat.  Third issue, struck late on in that brief window of 1660-62, after which hammered coinage was officially superseded by milled coinage.  Spink 3326.  The top image (Canon camera using daylight bulb) was a bit of a disaster so I’ve included the bottom image (cheap camera phone using natural indoor winter daylight) which is unaccountably more representative.  £155

 

 

 

Milled

 

 

Guineas

 

WAu-7816:  1673 Charles II Restoration Period Milled Full Gold Guinea.  Fourth laureate bust with the rounded truncation.  John & Joseph Roettier dies with Blondeau’s machinery – the milling on the edge of the coin was a safeguard against clipping which had been not just a thorn in the side of every hammered period, but rather a stake.  The practise of clipping officially ended here after several hundred years.  The Guinea was so named because some of the gold bullion used came from the country of Guinea, via the Africa Company.  It was a 20 shilling denomination, directly replacing the short-lived 1662 gold Broad of 20 shillings.  The racehorse aficionados among you are probably crying out “21 shillings, 21 shillings!” but revaluation of a guinea to that amount took place in 1717 under George 1st.  Incidentally, there were times prior to 1717 where the actual value of a guinea (and remember, the value of any coin, guineas very much included, was entirely based on the precious metal content) was even higher than 21 shillings due to market fluctuations in the value, or spot price of gold.  Spink 3344.  No mount marks.  £2,775

 

 

 

Crowns

 

WCA-5755:  1673 Charles II Full Silver Crown.  VICESIMO QVINTO edge but with the I of VICESIMO being very clearly overstruck on an “O”.  The 3 of the date has an odd look to it, specifically on the right side immediately opposite the pellet stop.  An unusual coin.  £235

 

 

 

Half Crowns

 

WCA-5746:  1677 Charles II Silver Halfcrown.  Fourth draped bust, crowned cruciform shields.  Strong edge – V.NONO.  A most unusual coin as there are NO strings to the reverse crown, something I’ve never seen before.  £275

 

 

 

Shillings

 

WCA-5413:  1684 Charles II Silver Shilling.  Final issue (4th) and final year before James II.  A nice grade coin (not quite VF but much better than F) that’s been gilded in antiquity and presumably been mounted – there are flat areas on the milled edge indicating a mount.  An attractive and hard-to-source coin in anything better than F.  £395

 

 

 

Silver Maundy / Small Denominations

 

WCA-5135:  1679 Charles II Silver Threepence – Unrecorded Variety.  The first “A” in “GRATIA” is over an “O” and the second “A” is over another “A”.  The second overstrike is not a double strike, rather an adjustment in spacing for GRATIA.  The two “A”s in this second overstrike are a good distance apart.  Unrecorded in Spink and ESC.  £75 

 

 

 

"Other"

 

WJC-7062:  1638 Silver Medal – Prince Charles Invested into the Order of the Garter.  As symbolic as you’d perhaps expect from this period, this is an interesting medal depicting entry into that rather exclusive club that still exists today. 

Membership is limited to the monarch and his / her first-born and up to 24 “companions” - along the lines of Dr Who.  Charles 1st as monarch in 1638 and Prince Charles (the future Charles II, once Oliver Cromwell had gone away) were automatic members.  Then and now, the lucky recipients were / are hand picked by the monarch.  Today the Order of The Garter is open to women, although it has to be said that there are currently only three of those.  In 2018, 2019 and 2020, three members sadly died (all men), meaning that there are currently three vacancies should any reader be interested.  More recent members include Sir Winston Churchill and Sir John Major, the latter being an ex Prime Minister, although perhaps more famous for his avatar appearing on Spitting Image in the 1990’s with some peas.  Eimer 131 (£500 /£900, 21 years ago back in 2000), Medallic Illustrations (i) 282/88.  An interesting piece of British history.  See Charles 1st section