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
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
1616…
1612…
1614…
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
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
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
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