A selection of
choice Ancient & Hammered
coins for sale
through HistoryInCoins.com:
WAu-5994: James 1st
Hammered Gold TOUCH PIECE – guaranteed to have been touched by the king. Third coinage, initial mark
Spur Rowel, 1619-20. James 1st of
England (James
VI of Scotland)
attended a special ceremony in London
twice a year (Easter & Michaelmas). Sufferers of the disease Scrofula (modern day
tuberculosis) were invited to attend by strict invitation only. A pass was given which allowed entry. The king personally gave every sufferer one
of these gold touchpieces. The theory was that the king touched the gold
touchpiece and then personally gave it to the
sufferer, so through him God also touched the sufferer. This touchpiece was
in production between 1619-20 only. James 1st is recorded as being a
"Reluctant Toucher", getting out of what he
could. The touchpieces
were purposefully pierced, always in the same position, in order that sufferers
could wear them around their necks, next to their skin. This touchpiece is
a field find from the north of England
so was obviously lost by some sufferer who was working the land. Needless to say, the vast majority of these
would have been melted down and the money spent on everyday living. Recipients were not always commoners. It is recorded that in 1686, six pupils from Eton
College were Touched;
one of which was the 4th Earl of Salisbury’s brother. Samuel Pepys, the
great diarist, witnessed the ceremony on 13th April 1661
. He wrote, "I went to the Banquethouse,
and there saw the King heal, the first time that ever I saw him do it; which he
did with great gravity, and it seemed to me to be an ugly office and a simple
one." Later, in 1712, Queen Anne touched
a 2 year old boy. This was Samuel Johnson who later became famous for his
dictionary. Spink
2636. A rare piece of early
1600's hammered gold, guaranteed to have been touched by James 1st. £1,975
WAu-6072: 1601 James IV 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
WJC-6092: 1644 Charles 1st
“Declaration” Half Crown. Bristol mint, initial mark Plume. Full
weight, large flan, attractively toned and at an overall GVF, an
extraordinarily high grade coin for the issue.
Spink 3009.
The die axis is 175 degrees.
Arguably better grade (or at least as good) than the Spink plate coin
(which is the very best grade coin they could source from various collections)
as well as the four Brooker examples. Of those x4 examples in the Brooker collection, only one (#982) has the reverse reading
“RELIG PRO LE AN LI PA”. The others all
have the “REL PROT LE AN LI PA” reading.
The Spink example also reads “REL PROT LE AN LI PA” making this coin
technically Spink 3009 var. Sold with four old dealers’ tickets. Choice. £3,975
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. 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-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. Ecellent grade with just a small ragged edge at 12
o’clock. Rare. £1,875
WSax-6088: Cnut
Late Saxon Hammered Silver Penny. B.M.C. xvi - Short cross type (1029-35/6), “+AEGELRIC O SCEFT”. Spink 1159. Shaftsbury mint. No examples of Shaftsbury Cnut
pennies in the Mack (1975) collection and only a single example (+ ÆLRIC ON
SCEFTE) on the EMC database. A very rare mint coin.
£795
WSax-5827: Harold 1st Hammered Silver
Saxon Penny. Late Saxon – Jewel Cross
type (1036-35). B.M.C.
I. Extra image added here. THORGRIM.ON.EBOR – York
mint. Sold with
several tickets. £725
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 1st Bonnet 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-5172: 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-5433: Henry 1st
Hammered Silver Norman Penny. B.M.C.
VII, quatrefoil with piles type. Moneyer: Godwine of Wallingford.
Whilst Godwine is recorded as being a moneyer at the mint, Wallingford is only known for issuing
the following types under Henry 1st:
1,2,3,4,5,8,10,12,13 and 14, meaning B.M.C. types 6,7,9,11 and 15 are
unknown at Wallingford. Until now. This type
7 coin effectively re-writes the history books.
The official test cut at 5 o’clock is as expected. Type 7 coins are rare coins, as are Wallingford mint coins.
This coin is beyond rare – it is unique.
£2,725
WMH-5672: Henry 1st
Hammered Silver Norman Penny. B.M.C.
IX, cross in quatrefoil type, 1109 only.
Mint and moneyer: DEREMAN of London.
Official test cut done before the coin left the mint. This was to reassure the public that the coin
was genuine (ie silver) and not a plated
counterfeit. Rare
coin. £455
WMH-5884: Henry 1st
Hammered Silver Norman Penny. B.M.C.
XI, double inscription type, 1115 only.
Mint and moneyer: DVNING of Exeter. Type
11 is one of the rarest of the Henry 1st issues and interestingly,
was issued before type 10. The coins of
this period were so poor that Henry called all 150 moneyers
to Winchester in 1124 to account for their actions. This
became known as the 'Assize of the Moneyers'. Out of the 150 individuals, 94 were mutilated
by having their right hands and one testicle chopped off. There are only about 45-55 of all mints known
for this rare B.M.C. XI type and half of those came from the Pimprez Hoard in 2002.
Exeter is a rare Norman mint. DVNING is a known moneyer
for Exeter but was previously unrecorded for type
11. About as struck
with a couple of weak striking areas.
Sold with an old sale’s ticket marked at £1,500 and an old auction
entry. This same coin was sold to an
unknown collector several years ago for around £2,000. There are no B.M.C. XI Exeter coins listed
on the EMC database – in fact there are only six Henry 1st Exeter coins on
there and five of those are the common types X & XV. The other example is a type IV which is badly
damaged. This is a very rare coin. £1,995
WMH-5506: Stephen Hammered Silver
Norman “Eastern Variant” Civil War Penny.
An irregular Lincoln Eastern variant, Spink 1289 (var), North 904 (var). Obverse bust with
unnaturally long hair coming down over the collar. The initial mark is extremely large and of an
unprecedented, crude design which marries up with the reverse cross. The S of STEPHANVS is at 90 degrees. Predominantly course work. The reverse in an enigma. It appears as though there were two different
dies used as opposed to a single, double struck die. Moneyer RODGER of Lincoln,
reverse design plain cross with fleurs in
angles. However, as mentioned earlier,
the plain cross is of a crude, local design and is not the usual thick, stumpy
neat work cross that other recorded examples exhibit. The reverse cross on this coin is similar to
the unusual obverse initial mark cross.
The coin is unclipped and is about the same grade as it left the
mint. Found Mablethorpe
(Eastern England) some time ago. Very much from local, crude dies and as such,
unexpectedly well struck and undamaged.
£1,975
