A selection of
choice Ancient & Hammered
coins for sale
through HistoryInCoins.com
(please check the ACTUAL listings pages which,
unlike this, are kept bang up to date):
WSax-6004: Offa Middle Saxon Mercia Hammered Silver Penny. King’s name variety, 765-92 AD. Kings of Mercia era. OFFA
REX with two lunettes with crosses in between. London and Canterbury mint;
moneyer ETHENOTH. Good
silver, good edges and good detail thus rare. A seldom seen variety. North 286 – listed
Extremely Rare, Spink 904. An iconic
ruler, evocative of that period in our history. Sold with a couple of old tickets. £1,995
WSax-6339: Offa Middle Saxon Hammered Silver *PORTRAIT* Penny. London or Canterbury type,
North 301, S.905. Floriate cross with lozenge
reverse. 17mm, 1.07 grams, 16.6
grains. First
image in natural light. Extra image with
flash - chip at 10 o'clock (obv), the effect at 7 o'clock(rev) is just a lighting
effect. A sought after type coin. £3,295
WSax-6415: Offa Middle Saxon Mercia Hammered Silver Penny. King’s name variety, 792-96 AD. Kings of Mercia era. OFFA REX. London, Canterbury and East Anglia mint; moneyer ETHENOTH. Good silver, good edges and
good detail thus rare. A seldom
seen variety. North 321 – listed Extremely Rare, Spink
908. An iconic ruler,
evocative of that period in our history. £1,995
WSax-6079: Wulfred Middle Saxon Hammered Silver Penny. Portrait penny, Canterbury (Archbishops
of Canterbury) with SAEBERHT as the moneyer. Group III, WVLFRED ARCHIEPI
and AEBERHT MONETA. North 240/1,
Spink 889. BMC 26,
circa 815-23. Excellent
grade with just a small ragged edge at 12 o’clock. Rare. £1,875
WSax-6442: Coenwulf Middle Saxon Kings of Mercia Hammered Silver Penny. Portrait penny, Canterbury with
DVDA as the moneyer. Group II, Spink 915. BMC 26, circa 815-23. Excellent grade with
small edge chips at 7 o’clock. Ex Mack, Lockett and Spink. See tickets here. In
1975 this coin was sold as part of the Mack collection by Glendinnings (see here). The
estimate was £900 - £1,000 (£5,032.46 in today’s money – accurate as of Sept
2017). Rare and with excellent
pedigree. £2,495
WSax-6194: Aethelred II Hammered Silver Saxon Penny. B.M.C. viii var. Late
Saxon, 1003-09 AD. Helmet type. London mint town. Moneyer
PVLGAR. Extra annulets in the
first and third reverse quarters – an
extremely rare ECCLIASTICAL issue. Unusual
varieties with Ecclesiastical devices are nearly always exclusively from the
East Anglian mints. This
is London and the first I’ve ever
seen. Hild type
E, Spink 1152 var,
North 775 var. No examples known for B.M.C or in Scandinavia. Not on the E.M.C.
database. Sold with three
tickets (an old one shown here, a Mike Vosper ticket and a Tim Owen
ticket). A very
rare coin. £895
WMH-6389: William 1st Hammered
Norman Penny. Sandwich mint: +IELFHEH.ON.SAND,
Profile right type (B.M.C. 7). Spink 1256 (listed £3,000 for type
and moneyer in 2017). The rarest of the William 1st types and from a rare mint town –
there are only two examples of this type and moneyer listed on the EMC and SCBI
databases with one of those being a fragment and the other not as good as this
coin. Ex Lord Stewartby, ex
Spink. Excessively
rare and choice. £2,395
WMH-6097: William
“Rufus” II Hammered Silver Norman Penny. B.M.C. iv (cross pattée and fleury), circa
1095-98. Spink 1261, North 855. 1.26 grams. “+NIREPORÐ ON TAM. Nireworth of Tamworth. Completely unrecorded type for the Tamworth mint. Completely unrecorded moneyer throughout the entire Norman and
Saxon series for any mint town. An extremely rare mint
town for all monarchs, there being only six Norman and four Saxon pennies in total
listed on the EMC database for Tamworth (obviously none for Wm II type iv). The BMC lists three Norman Tamworth
pennies for Wm II types i &
ii only (moneyers Bruninc & Culinc). None for
type iv. The
Elmore-Jones collection had seven Saxon Tamworth pennies. He also
had both the William II type ii coins mentioned above (Colinc & Bruninc) in the BMC database as well as a William 1stBonnet
type ii (Colinc) which was
again the BMC coin. It just goes to show how good a yardstick the
Elmore-Jones collection is because not only is seven Tamworth Saxon pennies
unprecedented in a private collection (a number greater than the EMC) but he
also managed to get both the BMC Tamworth Wm II pennies (there were only three)
as well as a Wm 1st Tamworth penny which was also in the BMC.
The anomaly in the photograph (reverse edge, between 6 and 7 o’clock) which looks like a split or crack is in
fact a slight double strike that you can’t see without a lens (or this highly
detailed image). The coin is totally problem-free having no cracks,
chips or repairs. It rings as well as any coin when
dropped. A high grade coin with
attractive toning. Sold with several tickets, one of which is a CNG
ticket from 2014. In terms of unique
coins, this ticks all the boxes. £5,700
WMH-6308: Henry 1st Hammered Silver Norman Penny. B.M.C.
IV – cross & piles issue of 1105 only. Aelfwine of London. Some ligation to reverse legend (N-E and
O-L). A very early Henry 1st issue,
pre-dating the official test cut practice. A high grade, well struck
example in a notoriously badly struck issue. £1,555
WMH-5799: Henry
1st Hammered Silver Norman Penny. B.M.C.
VI – pointed bust with stars. Full frontal crowned bust of Henry 1st,
vertical sceptre to king’s right, three large stars to king’s left. GODRIC of Lincoln. This is an exceptionally rare
issue, being struck in AD 1107 only. Whilst B.M.C. VIII is probably
harder to source, B.M.C. VI coins are priced higher in Spink (B.M.C. VI have
the highest valuation for any Henry 1st penny). There
are only two B.M.C. VI Lincoln coins listed on the EMC database, one of which
is this coin (reference 2013.0242,
found Market Rasen). A very rare coin. £1,895
WMH-6322: Henry 1st Hammered Silver Norman Penny. B.M.C.
VII, quatrefoil with piles type. Moneyer: Godwine of Wallingford. Spink 1268. Whilst Godwine is recorded as being
a moneyer at the mint, Godwine is
NOT known for type 7. This coin effectively re-writes the reference
books. The official test cut at 5 o’clock is as expected. Type 7 coins
are rare coins, as are Wallingford mint coins. A unique coin. £1,995
WMH-6481: Empress
Matilda (Rightful Norman Heir of Henry 1st) Cardiff Hammered Silver Penny. Cross patonce over cross fleuree in saltire. Struck 1139-48. Cardiff mint
– moneyer Beorhtmaer. Ex Coed-y-Wenallt Hoard (June 1980), ex Spink (1982), ex Baldwin’s
(1998), ex Coincraft2010. [MA]TILLI[S: IMPER:] and [BRIC]MER[:ON:CAIER]D[I]. This exact coin is
illustrated in Boon (Coed-y-Wenallt 42). 100% unambiguously Matilda. The Coed-y-Wenallt Hoard was
small but it trebled the number of extant Matilda coins
overnight. The coins in this particular hoard were struck from
silver that was brittle and as a result, most coins were found damaged similar
to this one. Cardiff Museum repaired (and obviously recorded)
this and all the coins but they did so as a museum should – by making the
repair as obvious as they possibly could. There are skilled
repairers of coins in business these days who could take this coin and make it so much
better. Needless to say they wouldn’t be using cheap PVA
glue! The Coincraft ticket
is imaged here. The coin also comes with a
detailed printout. To illustrate the desirability and price of
Matilda coins, just last year an example of Spink 1326 sold for £8,000 which
was presumably close to £10,000 after commissions. Details of that
coin can be seen here. Don’t miss this rare
opportunity to own one of the most iconic and significant Norman coins of the
Civil War period. 
£2,850
WMH-6427: Edward
I Medieval Hammered Silver GROAT. Struck very early on during the New Coinage which commenced 1279. Bust
with larger oval face with bushy hair, thick curved drapery with rosette in
centre, quatrefoil in three lines surrounding bust, flowers in spandrels, obv. triple pellet stops, mm. cross pattée, rev. with pellet barred N
and colon stops :DNS HIBN' EDVX AQVT', 4.99g, (S.1379E, N.1006, Fox 4). Never
gilt or mounted , slight
edge chip and only about fair but very rare. Ruding says that during the reign of Edward I,
William de Turnmire,
of Marseilles was appointed to the office of Master of
the Mint in England, under an agreement dated Thursday the
Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Mary, in the eighth year of Edward's
reign (i.e. 8 December 1279). Amongst other things it was agreed that
Master William should make great Sterling ('grossus sterlingus') to the value of four
lesser sterling. This new denomination proved unpopular with an
almost complete recall sometime after the date of the class 3g
coinage. Ex Beauchamp Coins, ex
AMR, ex Yorkshire collection. Sold with these tickets. On-line provenance here. An
excessively rare coin (Jon Mann, the acclaimed numismatic researcher, ex of
Spink, stated on his ticket that there were only 59 recorded groats for Edward
1st by Dr Martin Allen) with the bulk being either gilt or
mounted or both. This coin is neither…and neither does it come with
the usual £10,000 price tag! £2,850
WMH-5808: Henry
IV Hammered Silver Penny - Choice. York mint,
heavy coinage (1399 – 1412). Typical round chin
& broad face. Relatively few examples exist and
most of those are either creased, weekly struck, clipped, worn or some
combination of all of those things. This coin has the initial mark
(Cross Pattee), a
full reignal name
and an excellent portrait. It is interesting to note that all the
commonly used reference books have the obverse legend on this York issue incorrect. This is
perhaps not surprising as these coins are rare in any grade but exceptionally
rare to have legends remaining. An ecclesiastical issue struck under
Archbishop Scrope of York in around 1405. VF for issue which Spink rate at £1,500 in their
2017 edition (S.1722). Rare coin and the key monarch for collectors. Sold with a collector’s / dealer’s ticket. £1,275
WMH-6421: Henry
IV Hammered Silver GROAT. London,
light coinage (1412-13 only). Ex Reigate Hoard,
ex Glendinings. Pellet to left of crown,
annulet (filled die) to right; Roman lettering to reverse – Spink 1726 (£2,500
/ £9,000 in 2017 edition). Comes
with an old ticket as well as a digital copy of an
old auction extract here. Very little
coinage was produced during this period due to a severe shortage of silver
bullion in the UK with the bulk of that heading to the Continent (and thus the
melting pot) where the price of silver was more than it was in the UK at that
time – think taking £10 notes from the UK and exchanging them for the
equivalent of £15 each on the Continent. Henry IV pennies rarely
turn up, groats once in a blue moon and then they are usually Henry IV / Henry
V mules (listed under Henry V in Spink as the obverses are Henry
V). This is a true first issue Henry IV groat, the dies being altered Richard II
dies. A very rare coin. £2995
WAu-6504: Henry VI Hammered Gold Half Noble – High Grade. Annulet
Issue of 1422-30. Spink 1808. The much rarer Calais mint
with an "h" in the reverse centre. No mount marks, no cracks; no
issues at all. 3.41 grams, 52.51
grains. Listed at
£4,500 in the 2018 Spink guide. A choice medieval
hammered gold coin. £2,950
WAu-6072: 1601
James VI Scottish Hammered Gold Sword & Sceptre Piece. Eighth
coinage just prior to James VI of Scotland becoming James 1st of England. Some scuffs which are much
enhanced due to the nature of the photography. Sold with an old, pictorial sale’s printout. A
very desirable hammered gold coin from Scotland. £1,825
WSC-6029: Alexander
II Hammered Silver Roxburgh Penny. Voided short cross Phase C, 1230 – 1234. Joint moneyers Peris &
Adam of Roxburgh. Spink 5034. Rarer right facing bust. Outstanding legends. The
very first issue of Alexander II in the name of is father
William. Alexander was 16 when his father died. Spink
recently sold a very similar example of S.5034 (described as ‘Alexander II in
the name of William the Lion’ for £1,320. A rare coin. £995
WSC-6479: Robert
“The Bruce” 1st Medieval Scottish Hammered Silver Penny. Bust
of Robert Bruce left, reverse
four mullets of five points each. Coinage was only struck very late
in this reign. Spink 5076. Once
of the rarest, most iconic Scottish coins you can get and also very
rare. This one much better than normally seen (although ‘normally’
is the wrong word when you bear in mind I’ve only seen three of four ever) and
equally on a par with one that was doing the rounds at the UK coin fairs which
had an asking price of over £2,000 and recently sold. This coin
accompanied by an old auction printout. £1,250
WSC-6460: David
II Medieval Scottish Hammered Silver Penny. Second coinage, 1351-57. VILLA ABERDON – the very rare Aberdeen provincial
mint. Spink 5121 where the 2015 price guide lists this
coin at £900. I am unaware of any Aberdeen pennies coming up for sale in recent or
even non recent times. A great
rarity. £695
WJC-5498: 1645
Charles 1st “Newark Besieged” Silver Shilling. Emergency
coinage made from silver plates from Newark Castle and nearby which
were cut and stamped. This one has the rarer spelling of Newark. As with
many of these siege coins, they were pierced and worn around the neck, possibly
as a sign of one’s loyalty to the crown. Unusually
high grade on this example and benefiting from coming out of the Ross Schraeder collection. £1,695
WCA-6419: 1648
Charles 1st “Pontefract Besieged” Silver Shilling. Emergency
coinage made from silver plates from Pontefract Castle and nearby which
were cut and stamped. Many of these siege coins were pierced and
worn around the neck, possibly as a sign of one’s loyalty to the
crown. This coin has not been pierced or
plugged. Pontefract was a strategic Royalist
stronghold. It was first besieged in December 1644 with Lord Thomas
Fairfax in command (although he arrived early 1645). Pontefract was
again seized during the Second English Civil War (the first being 1642-46 and
not the Stephen & Matilda civil war of 500 years earlier), this time by
Colonel John Morrice who declared it
for Charles 1st. It was during this siege that coinage
was struck. It is interesting to note that Pontefract and Scarborough were the very
last castles to hold out for the king. This coin is ex CNG where it
sold for well over $5,000 in 2012, ex Ian Gordon collection, ex Philip deVicci collection and ex
CNG (Sept 2000). Sold with the 2012
CNG lot ticket and an extract from that catalogue (which is
very detailed and most interesting) together with another unidentified printed
auction / list entry. £3,495
WJC-5744: 1642
Charles 1st “Declaration” Full Crown. Shrewsbury provincial
Civil War mint. Initial
mark Pellets. With ground line. Good
provenance (see here) – tickets included. £3,250 VF price in 2013 Spink. Problem-free
coin with strong provenance. £2,250
WJC-6318: 1644-45 Charles 1st “Declaration”
Half Crown. Worcester mint
with W below horseman. Unrecorded
reverse. Sold with original 1997 Roderick Richardson
sale’s tickets (sold for £4,750) here. Spink 3096. VF or good
VF in grade, being far superior to the Spink plate example (see close-ups here -
notably the reverse crown). £3,850
