James I (1603 - 25) Read about James I

 

 

Hammered Gold

 

WAu-7813:  James 1st Stuart Hammered Gold Full Angel.  Second coinage, initial mark Tower: 1612-13.  Spink 2616, North 2081, Schneider –.  Pierced for use as a touch-piece.  This is an historically significant and important coin: it was literally touched by King James 1st before being presented to a sufferer of Scrofula (modern name TB).  Just to reiterate, this coin is guaranteed to have been touched by King James 1st (as well as someone presumed dying with TB!)  This happened at an official Touching Ceremony organised by the palace.  The origins of “Touching” go back to Henry II; the idea being that only God can cure this incurable disease and as the monarch had direct contact with God, the monarch touching the sufferer was the same as God touching.  The gold coin, touched by the king (and thus God himself) was to go around the neck of the sufferer and be always in contact with the skin.  Some years before James 1st, Mary took this very seriously indeed.  She literally pressed the sufferer’s open sores with her own two hands and later in the ceremony, she touched the same places with the gold coin whilst making the sign of the cross.  She then personally threaded a ribbon through the coin and placed it around the neck of the unfortunate individual.  James 1st held his first Touching Ceremony on October 1603.  It has to be said that he was extremely reluctant, partly for religious reasons (he refused point blank to make the sign of the cross) but mainly because he really couldn’t face being around “these superstitious, afflicted people”.  However, much as he was reluctant to even be there, he was even more unwilling to break with Royal tradition so the Touching Ceremonies continued.  See here for some excellent research on a Charles 1st touch-piece – a coin less frequently encountered, in my opinion, than the James 1st touch-piece.  Incidentally, I remember than coin selling for not just more than I was willing to pay but significantly more than I thought even a collector would be willing to pay!  This coin ex Peter Mitchell of Baldwin’s (old ticket in his hand).  Richly toned, good VF and very rare.  £3,850

 

 

 

Hammered Silver

 

Shillings

 

WTH-7655:  James 1st Tudor Hammered Silver Shilling – High Grade.  Third coinage, initial mark Trefoil, sixth bust, Spink 2668.  High grade – the best I’ve ever handled – with attractive steel grey toning.  If this were to be slabbed and put into a decent auction, it would likely fetch much more than the listing price here.  I refer potential buyers to this March 2023 DNW auction of Spink 2668.  A very similar coin in every way, apart from the fact that the DNW coin cost just under £5,000.  I really don’t understand why buyers not only shun websites in favour of auctions but even more perplexing, seem happy to pay double for the pleasure of using auctions (in this case, more than double).  If this coin does not sell here, it will likely be consigned to auction.  Choice.  £1,685

 

WJC-7795:  Rare James 1st Stuart IOCAB9 Hammered Silver Shilling.  Initial mark Lis, third coinage, sixth bust, Spink 2668.  This variation of regnal name is recorded (I seem to recall an old BNJ paper referencing it?) but it is seldom seen.  Very nice grade and good provenance being ex Tim Owen.  Very Rare.  £595

 

 

Sixpences

 

If marked as such, the following coins are from the Wootton Collection of James 1st sixpences – as near a complete set of dates as we’ll probably ever see!

 

If I’m being honest, and I always try to be, this series is not really about attractive, pretty coins, and it never really has been.  Historically, collectors have tended to go for a high grade example, perhaps even one from each of the three issues, but maybe not, forsaking dates, and there they left it.  Incidentally, finding that high grade James 1st sixpence is in itself no mean feat because it is a particularly rough and problematic issue throughout.  A good VF James 1st sixpence (and it will invariably be 1603 or 1604) will set you back the best part of four figures in today’s market.  I have listed some really nice examples below which have come from my personal collection, not the Wootton collection.  Perhaps the main reason why, until recently, dates haven’t been collected is because nobody really knew which ones were rare – and there still are no reference works out there.  It gets worse though: most people today will assume there is a complete date run from 1603 to 1624, but actually there are several English dates (this issue is not to be confused with the near identical James 1st and Charles 1st six shillings dated issues – see the Scottish section on this website) where, up to now at least, there are no extant examples.  Spink, conveniently for them but immensely unhelpful to us, lump everything together, bar the 1618, implying all dates are of similar rarity and price.  That is certainly not the case!! 

 

My plan is to set the ball rolling: to inform; to educate; to inspire collectors to seek out new dates, new varieties, to boldly go where no numismatist has gone before!

 

To be fair, with the current heightened interest in Elizabeth 1st dated sixpences (again, no real reference works out there to help collectors re specific dates, although this website does do just that and is the ONLY site to do that), these unattractive, invariably lower grade, often problematic (and let’s be honest here, a rather unpopular monarch to collectors) dated coins are now being eagerly sought out and collected by date.  And about time too! 

 

So, preamble over, here’s the all important rarity table with commonest date down to rarest:

 

1603

1604

1605

1606

1624

1623

1621 (this is for the straight date – 21/20 represents only two known examples)

1607

1609 (1609/9/8 would appear to be unique)

1622

1608

1610 (this is for the 10/9 date – John Jerrams has only ever seen one straight 10 and the same goes for me with the coin listed below)

1613

1611

1615

1616two to four extant so really, it’s hard to differentiate between 1612, 1614 & 1616

1612two to four extant so really, it’s hard to differentiate between 1612, 1614 & 1616

1614two to four extant so really, it’s hard to differentiate between 1612, 1614 & 1616

1618… two extant

 

1617, 1619 & 1620 appear to not exist at this point in time, although be aware because 1617 & 1619 exist as Scottish six shillings.  It is my belief that many “sightings” of some of the English rarer dates were, in fact, Scottish six shillings.  This image should inform you as to the difference between English & Scottish coins

 

NB Various date / initial mark combinations will potentially increase a date’s rarity , for example 1607 grapes is, perhaps rather counter-intuitively, rarer than the other two initial marks, but I didn’t really want to get into that added complication here.  That’s for the next person to take on.

 

John Jerrams   numismatist of long-standing who has previously specialised in this specific area – has kindly contributed to this work-in-progress, as have one or two others.  The ball is now well and truly rolling.  If anybody else out there has anything further to add, I’m more than happy to listen and to update the page.

 

 

1603

 

WJC-7501:  1603 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  First Coinage, first bust, initial mark Thistle.  Spink 2647.  The commonest date but the rarer first coinage and rarer still first bust type.  A deceptively hard coin to source.  Ex Wootton collection.  £395

 

WJC-7502:  1603 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  First Coinage, second bust, initial mark Thistle.  Spink 2648.  The commonest date but the rarer coinage issue type.  Ex Wootton collection.  £125

 

 

1604

 

WJC-7503:  1604 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  First Coinage, second bust, initial mark Lis.  Spink 2648.  A common date but the rarer first coinage type.  Ex Wootton collection.  £195

 

WJC-7504:  1604 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Second Coinage, third bust, initial mark Lis.  Spink 2657.  A common date.  Ex Wootton collection.  £195

 

 

1605

 

WJC-7505:  1605 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Second Coinage, third bust, initial mark Rose.  Spink 2657.  Guy Fawkes' date.  Ex Wootton collection.  £345

 

WJC-7857:  1605 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Second Coinage, third bust, initial mark Lis.  Spink 2657.  Guy Fawkes' date.  The 1 in the date is a thin digit stamped over a very thick digit.  An exceptional grade issue for this generally atrocious issue.  £495

 

 

1606

 

WJC-7506:  1606 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Second Coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Escallop.  Spink 2658.  Uncommon date.  Ex Wootton collection.  £245

 

WJC-7507:  1606 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Second Coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Rose.  Spink 2658.  Uncommon date.  Ex Wootton collection.  £395

 

WTH-7738:  1606 James 1st Stuart Hammered Silver Sixpence.   Second coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Escallop, Spink 2658.  A really, really nice grade in what was, perhaps bar the first coinage, at best an indifferent issue.  Uncommon date.  £395

 

 

1607

 

WJC-7508:  1607 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Second Coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Grapes – much rarer initial mark.  Spink 2658.  Uncommon date.  Ex Wootton collection.  £145

 

WJC-7509:  1607 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Second Coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Coronet.  Spink 2658.  Uncommon date.  Ex Wootton collection.  £195

 

WJC-7529:  1607 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Second Coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Coronet.  Spink 2658.  Uncommon date, excellent grade.  £645

 

 

1608

 

WJC-7580:  1608 James 1st Hammered Silver Sixpence.  Second coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Coronet.  Spink 2658.  Hard to photograph – the first attempt wasn’t the best.  Rare date - the rarest of the entire single digit dates although as ever with this issue, not the best of grades.  Still a rare coin though.  £355

 

WJC-7858:  1608 James 1st Hammered Silver Sixpence.  Second coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Coronet.  Spink 2658.  An interesting "Filled" 0 in the date.  Rare date - the rarest of the entire single digit dates and actually one of the very best grade examples of the half dozen or so 1608 coins I've seen in the last 30 odd years.  £485

 

 

1609

 

WJC-7511:  1609 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Possible overdate?  Second Coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Coronet.  Spink 2658.  Scarce date.  Ex Wootton collection.  £275

 

WJC-7512:  1609 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Second Coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Key.  Spink 2658.  Scarce date.  Ex Wootton collection.  £195

 

WJC-7531:  1609 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Second Coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Key.  Spink 2658.  Scarce date.  Very good grade indeed for date.  £425

 

WJC-7926:  Unrecorded 1609/8/7 James 1st Hammered Silver Sixpence.  Second coinage, fourth bust, Spink 2658.  By no means a pretty coin (maybe the understatement of the year?!) but for those of us who appreciate the technical side of our hobby, this is an enormously interesting coin.  Elements of the underlying 8 and 7 are just about discernable.  Initial mark Coronet, which did in fact span the entirety of the three years on this coin, so no adjustment needed there.  £445 RESERVED (M.He.3-12-23)

 

 

1610

 

WJC-7515:  1610 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Second Coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Bell.  Spink 2658.  Scarce date and much rarer for being a straight 1610.  Creased coin.  Ex Wootton collection.  £350 SOLD

 

 

1611

 

WJC-7516:  1611 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Second Coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Mullet, although this is absent on the obverse.  Spink 2658.  A very rare date indeed with only a handful of recorded examples.  Ex Wootton collection.  £495 RESERVED (D.S.7-9-22 Lay-Away)

 

WJC-7859:  1611 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Second Coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Bell.  Spink 2658.  Here we have a most unusual feature - although this 1611, there is clear evidence (directly above the mess they made of the third digit) of the 1 being struck over a 0.  Clearly they were utilising old dies - presumably these were 160- dies where the final digit was inserted as required.  They surely must have done this in 1610 if they did it in 1611, so it just goes to show that the mintages must have been tiny if dies could last that long.  A very rare date indeed, not to mention a hitherto unrecorded overdate, with only a handful of recorded examples.  £595

 

 

1612

 

WJC-7518:  1612 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Second Coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Tower over Mullet.  Spink 2658.  An excessively rare date.  I had always understood there to be only two known examples recorded.  Stephen Jerrams has seen one go through the market recently, although I have since been informed that the coin was in fact a 1612 Scottish six shillings - a completely different, albeit near identical coin (see introduction above).  Three or four known examples?  Either way, this date is fairly comparable with 1618 which Spink rate at £850 - £2,750.  Ex Wootton collection.  £1,395 SOLD

 

WJC-7860:  1612 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Second Coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Tower over Mullet.  Spink 2658.  Unlike WJC-7518, this coin clearly shows the tricks of the trade at the mint: it was a 161- die with the final digit being inserted as appropriate.  Now, this is a 1612 coin so presumably this 161- die had been through 1610 and 1611 before still being good enough to be used in 1612.  Now I say "good enough", but let's be honest here; producing good dies and nice looking coinage appears to have been the last thing on their minds in the mint at that time.  Another image here using a camera phone.  The sloppy placement of the final digit (it's also been double struck) also adds credence to that theory.  An excessively rare date.  I had always understood there to be only two known examples recorded.  Stephen Jerrams has seen one go through the market recently, although I have since been informed that the coin was in fact a 1612 Scottish six shillings - a completely different, albeit near identical coin (see introduction above).  Three or four known examples?  Either way, this date is fairly comparable with 1618 which Spink rate at £850 - £2,750.  £1,395

 

 

1613

 

WJC-7519:  1613 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Second Coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Trefoil.  Spink 2658.  A rare date which seldom turns up.  Ex Wootton collection.  £550

 

WJC-7520:  1613 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Second Coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Trefoil but no stop before reverse trefoil.  Spink 2658.  A rare date which seldom turns up.  Ex Wootton collection.  £495 SOLD

 

WJC-7914:  1613/2 James 1st Hammered Silver Sixpence.  Initial mark Tower, second coinage, fourth bust.  Spink 2658. A previously unrecorded overdate on this rarer, im Tower coin.   In recent years, Elizabeth 1st sixpences have become really popular with collectors.  I predict that even though James sixpences are virtually impossible to get in nice grades, not to mention that some of the dates are virtually impossible to find, these hitherto almost ignored coins will be the next big thing.  Who doesn't enjoy chasing and collecting by date?!  To my knowledge, a unique overdate coin.  £550

 

 

1614

 

WJC-7521:  1614 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Second Coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Cinquefoil.  Spink 2658.  An excessively rare date being fairly comparable with 1618 which Spink rate at £850 - £2,750.  I had always understood there to be only two known examples recorded of 1614 but the literature accompanying this coin states four known examples.  Lingford collection, sold to Baldwin’s 1951 (their old ticket) with their 1951 auction estimate given as £500 - £700.  Ex Wootton collection.  £1,695 SOLD

 

WJC-7861:  1614 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Second Coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Cinquefoil.  Spink 2658.  An excessively rare date being fairly comparable with 1618 which Spink rate at £850 - £2,750.  I had always understood there to be only two known examples recorded of 1614 but the literature accompanying WJC-7521 states four known examples.  A coin which would win no beauty contest but never-the-less, a very clear date and an excessively rare date.  £995

 

 

1615

 

WJC-7582:  1615 James 1st Hammered Silver Sixpence.  Second coinage, fourth bust, initial mark Tun.  Spink 2658.  One of the rarest of the entire series and remarkably good grade for issue.  Ex Wootton collection and sold with his ticket.  A very rare coin.  £675

 

 

1616

 

 

1617 

 

No examples exist to date

 

 

1618

 

 

1619

 

No examples exist to date

 

 

1620

 

No examples exist to date

 

 

1621

 

WJC-7524:  1621 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Third Coinage, sixth bust, initial mark Thistle.  Spink 2670.  An uncommon date and actually, very nice grade.  Ex Wootton collection.  £295

 

WJC-7525:  1621 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Third Coinage, sixth bust, initial mark Rose.  Spink 2670.  An uncommon date.  Ex Wootton collection.  £165

 

WJC-7532:  1621 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Third Coinage, sixth bust, initial mark Thistle.  Spink 2670.  An uncommon date.  Ex New Horizons, ex AMR, ex Vosper.  Outstanding grade and toned.  Several old tickets together with a cabinet ticket.  £650

 

 

1622

 

WJC-7533:  1622 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Third Coinage, sixth bust, initial mark Thistle.  Spink 2670.  An uncommon date.  Old tickets.  Outstanding grade.  £650

 

 

1623

 

WJC-7862:  1623 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Third Coinage, sixth bust, initial mark Lis.  Spink 2670.  An uncommon date but more importantly, a very nice grade indeed for issue.  £285

 

 

1624

 

WJC-7528:  1624 James 1st Hammered Silver Dated Sixpence.  Third Coinage, sixth bust, initial mark Trefoil.  Spink 2670.  Ex Wootton collection.  £125 SOLD

 

 

 

Halfgroats

 

1st coinage:

 

WJC-7489:  1603-4 James 1st Hammered Silver "Portrait" Halfgroat.  First coinage, initial mark Thistle.  Spink 2649.  A superb coin being as good as the Spink plate coin.  £245

 

WJC-7583:  James 1st Hammered Silver "Portrait" Halfgroat.  First coinage, first bust, initial mark Thistle.  Spink 2649.  A very nice coin with some interesting double striking on the reverse.  £165

 

WJC-7892:  James 1st Hammered Silver "Portrait" Halfgroat.  First coinage, 1603-4.  Initial mark Thistle, first bust, Spink 2649.  Old tickets: Ex CS, ex JNM coins (2021), ex Ian Davidson.  £175

 

 

2nd coinage:

 

 

3rd coinage:

 

WJC-7043:  James 1st Hammered Silver Halfgroat.  Initial mark Thistle – third coinage, 1619-25.  Spink 2671.  A nice example.  £59

 

 

 

Pennies

 

WJC-7083:  James 1st Hammered Silver Stuart Penny.  Second coinage, 1604-19.  No crowns either side, initial mark Escallop (1606-7), Spink 2661.  £75

 

 

 

Halfpennies

 

WJC-7893:  James 1st Hammered Silver Halfpenny.  Second coinage, 1604-19.  Initial mark Cinquefoil, Spink 2663.  A beautiful coin!  £135

 

WJC-7430:  James 1st Hammered Silver Halfpenny.  Third issue, 1619-25, with no initial mark.  Spink 2673.  James 1st was really James VI of Scotland and we can clearly see the Scottish influence on this pleasing coin.  £75