A selection of choice Milled coins for sale through HistoryInCoins:

Updated 12^th November 2021

(please check the ACTUAL listings pages which, unlike this, are kept bang up to date):

WCA-7173: High Grade 1709 Queen Anne Isle of Man Cast Copper Penny. James Stanley, 10th Earl of Derby (1702-36), copper Penny, first cast issue, 1709, Stanley family crest of eagle over child in wicker basket, above the cap of maintenance, date below, legend with rosette stops, * SANS * CHANGER *, rev. struck en medaille, triskeles, legend surrounding, * QVOCVNQVE * GESSERIS * STABIT, weight 10.83g. As cast with weak high point detail, crazed fields, good very fine for issue. Spink 7401. Provenance: Ex Hilary F. Guard Collection, Spink Coin Auction, 29th June 2006. A very high grade example – old auction ticket states “…believed to be one of the best specimens extant”. Spink listed this at £700 in top grade, which this is. A rare and choice coin. £575

WCA-6925: 1714 Queen Anne Copper Farthing. The only farthing ever to circulate in currency under Anne, even though it was initially intended as a pattern only. Spink 3625. Rare coin. £625

WI-7126: 1682 Irish-American St Patrick Copper Farthing. Brass anti counterfeiting plug very much in situ with excellent detail both sides. No damage or repairs. Spink 6569. Struck on a large flan (25mm diameter). This is possibly the best grade example I have ever handled. Collectors of this issue will be aware that they were struck in Dublin on soft metal and that virtually all extant examples, and there aren’t really that many in total, are grim in the extreme. A rare and desirable coin in any grade but clearly much more so this coin. £785

WSC-6929: James Francis Edward Stuart / James III of Scotland Silver Touch Piece. See the excellent “The Sovereign Remedy” by Noel Woolf (ISBN 0 901603 01 5) for everything you need to know about touchpieces and the Kings & Queens that personally handed them out. The would-be James III of England or James VIII of Scotland was in exile in Italy immediately following his second unsuccessful invasion of Scotland in 1715. It was while in exile in the Palazzo del Re, Rome (courtesy of the pope) that he had these silver touch pieces made for both his English and Scottish supporters. This example is very much an Italian commission due to the IAC.III obverse legend, as opposed to the French commissioned English IAC 3 and Scottish IAC 8 reverse legends. James gave them out in very tiny quantities during special Touching Ceremonies where, because he was in direct contact with God, he had the power to cure Scofula (TB). Or so he believed. This one is from a collection dating back to the 1880's – see tickets. This image here, from an auction just last year, illustrates just how rare these Scottish pieces are (and how bad the auction house was at estimating value!) - they were produced in such tiny quantities and very few survived. Guaranteed to have been personally touched by James when he gave this out to a Scrofula sufferer at one of the ceremonies. This is a piece of Scottish and English (but mainly Scottish!!) history. £1,475

WSC-7047: 1721 Large Silver Jacobite Medal with Mercury Gilding. An impressive and high grade example of Jacobite propaganda. Designed by Otto Hamerani, the medal was for distribution among Jacobite followers with the intention of removing the Hanovarians from the British thrown and replacing them with the Stuarts – Prince James III, the Old Pretender. Medallic Illustration 454(ii)/63, Eimer 493. Eimer is now 21 years old so their £1,100 valuation is obviously not current. There has been considerable debate as to why Prince James is NOT mentioned by name, only appearance. One theory is that this medal was hoped to appeal not only to the Jacobites but also to the English anti Hanovarians, of whom there were plenty at this period. A superb example. £685

WSC-7168: 1687 James VII Scottish Silver Ten Shillings. St Andrew’s cross with national emblems. Spink 5641. A high grade example, being actually better than the Spink plate coin. James VII was James II of England. A short reign, brought about due to James’ most unpopular conversion to Catholicism. Prior to this, James had had an excellent term as Duke of York by working alongside greats such as Samuel Pepys and Matthew Wren in improving the state of the Nation. However, his actual reign was an unpleasant episode for all concerned. Interestingly, it wasn’t religion, rather politics that sealed James’ fate - James attempted to impose his Catholic faith by decree; it was a political principle, rather than a religious one, that ultimately led to his removal. This was all because, just like his father, Charles II, and those before him, James totally believed in his principles of absolutism and divine right of kings. James had very little to do with Scotland during his short time as James VII, king of Scotland. It is telling that Scotland, even though James VII produced his son and heir, James Francis Edward (the future Old Pretender), in a Scottish Convention followed that of England by finding that James had "forfeited" the throne and offered it to William and Mary. Sold with a detailed information slip together with a cabinet ticket. A rare coin indeed in this grade. £1,175

WAu-7191: James II Gold Touch-Piece: Guaranteed to have been personally touched by King James II. An ancient practice – that of The Devine (the monarchy was seen very much as a physical, tangible extension of God) healing sufferers of Scrofula (Tuberculosis) – dating as far back as Henry II. All subsequent monarchs took some part in the ceremony (William & Mary refused because William was not of English royal decent) although Henry VIII was the most reluctant. Interestingly, although somewhat disinclined due to an unwillingness to mingle with the common man, it was Henry who initiated the design of St George and the dragon on subsequent Touching Ceremony gold coins. Although James’s brother, King Charles II, was an enthusiastic believer in the divine right of kings, James was actually more prolific in his touching, the number of sick being brought to him being as much as 14,364 in one year. Clearly James II had an extremely short-lived reign, and it must be noted that for the first months of touching, he actually used the left over Charles II gold pieces – some 1,905 of them. Again, the new touch-pieces were the work of John Roettier. It is estimated that 1% of the London population suffered during this time), so James was never short of participants. Interestingly, his ultimately toxic religious views seemed to have mattered very little to the average man in the street who was suffering from this extremely unpleasant disease – if James II could cure him, bring it on! James II personally attended these ceremonies and physically handed the touch-piece to each and every sufferer. Sufferers were invited and issued with an official Ticket-Pass to admit them to the ceremony. You gave your Ticket-Pass in at the door, entered the ceremony, got touched by the king, received your gold coin from the king himself and hopefully left as a cured individual. The Ticket-Token were collected and re-issued for the next Touching Ceremony. James II touched no less than 12,000 a year during his short reign. Touching Ceremonies were scheduled weekly, although never when the weather was warm. Under Charles II, in 1684 the size of the gold touch-pieces were reduced and this was maintained under James. The value of these pieces was some 5 shillings so very few would have survived the temptation of being spent as currency and thus quickly melted down upon numerous currency recalls, not least upon the death of monarchs. Very rare indeed; more so due to the shortness of King James’s reign. £1,850

WCA-7145: 1686 James II Tin Halfpenny. Copper plug intact, slabbed by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation as XF45 – the lower end of the EF grade bandwidth. All tin coins are extremely rare in this high grade with this date (the rarest of all three dates) stated as Very Rare by Peck. Further, the coin database shows this to be only the second example of a 1686 being offered on the open market since 2003, the other being ex Dr Nicholson collection. Choice. £1,950

WCA-5425: 1689 William & Mary Very Large Silver Coronation Medal. Designed by George Bower for the coronation. There had been issues with James II so it was heavily promoted at the time that the coronation of William & Mary to the throne of England was a very positive step forward for the country. A beautiful medal, at least in my opinion. £525

WCA-5481: 1694 William & Mary Copper Proof Halfpenny. Over weight and larger planchet, en medaille die axis. Usual die flaw on rim (described in Peck). Good VF grade. Peck 612 although the N’s are unusual and seemingly not rerecorded in Peck. A lovely coin in very nice grade considering the soft nature of the copper used in this period. £639

WCA-6578: 1693 William & Mary Silver Sixpence – high grade, ex Viola W&M collection. Spink 3438. Conjoined busts right; crowned cruciform shields. Rare in this grade. £855