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hammered coinage was officially superseded by milled coinage.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hammered coinage was officially superseded by milled coinage.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
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