A selection of some of the better / more interesting coins SOLD through

HistoryInCoins.com

in 2026

WAu-9241: 1654/0 Commonwealth Hammered Gold Crown. Initial mark Sun, S.R. 3212. Generally, larger denominations such as this never really made it out of London into the shires; gold coins especially so - silver crown and all gold Commonwealth coinage was predominantly NOT in general circulation, rather being held as collateral in banks (although the Commonwealth period at this point were so bereft of money that there was very little, if any reserve in the vaults), or for use by the government or merchants, which is why Commonwealth crowns and greater did find their way over to the Continent. A coin falling within the Protectorship period (1653-59) under Oliver Cromwell. The date is a clear overdate of 1654 over 1650, meaning the dies were originally sunk for the enigmatic 1650 coinage, of which there was zero silver and one of the lowest quantities of gold (all three denominations combined in total) compared to all the Commonwealth years - even the exceptionally rare year of 1657 struck more gold than 1650. Thus it is not surprising to see that literally every 1654 gold crown, without exception, derives from the recycled 1650 die because it got but the briefest of outings in 1650. Interestingly, 1654, this coin, was the penultimate gold crown issued under the Commonwealth, the final being a 1658. So little gold coinage was able to be struck because the bullion just wasn't available. The gold coinage, unlike the later silver coinage, had to be maintained at exactly the correct fineness because it was this coinage, along with the silver crown, that as has been already pointed out above, was used for overseas trade. The gold coinage of 1654, that's all three denominations combined in total (crown, double crown & unite) is roughly equivalent to the total output of exceedingly rare 1649 silver crowns (Spink auctioned one of the two varieties off a few years back with a hammer price of £40,000+ before commission). There was perhaps slightly more combined gold struck but if you break down the gold and just look at gold crowns, 1654 gold crowns will have been struck in much less quantity than the 1649 silver crowns. In terms of extant silver 1649 crowns, there are less than 20 known, both in private and public collections, and it's almost certainly closer to 15. A very rare and interesting coin. SOLD

WSC-9187: 1547 Mary Queen of Scots Hammered Billon Silver PORTRAIT Penny. First period, 1542-58, before marriage although this coin represents the very first portrait issue of Mary - she was just 5 years old in 1547, so a long time before the first marriage. Facing infant head of the very young Mary with an arched crown. The reverse is a cross fourchee with cinquefoils and crowns in alternate angles. Edinburgh mint. Burns 3 (fig 864), SCBI 71 (Stewartby), S.R. 5440. Very few coins in the reign of this iconic monarch had a portrait of the queen so if you collect by portrait, this is for you. Old tickets here. An exceedingly rare coin, it being the second only that I've handled in many a decade. SOLD

Provenance:

ex DNW 2009, sold to

ex Raymond collection

WJC-9247: 1645 Charles 1st NEWARKE BESIEGED Hammered Silver Shilling. Emergency coinage whilst supporters and troops of Charles 1st were besieged in Newark between 1645 and 1646. The rarer crude, fat-topped crown variety; S.R.3142. 1645 was within the third siege of Newark during the Civil War. It was the actual town of Newark that was besieged, not just the castle, although then and now, the castle lies in the heart of the town. On 26 November 1645, Scottish and Parliamentarian troops launched a twin attack on Newark. The Scots besieged Newark from the north; Parliamentarian forces besieged from the south. The garrison refused to capitulate and aggressively defended the town. During the harsh winter, the Scots built up siege works which were manned by 16,000 men. They also tried to dam the River Deven (a tributary of the famous River Trent which literally laps up the side of the present day castle walls) to starve the town’s grain mills power. Despite this sustained attack, Newark held out. Townspeople who survived later recounted that they were forced to eat horses and dogs because food was so scarce. The town was blighted by the plague. These silver Newark siege pieces - sixpences, shillings, ninepences and halfcrowns - were emergency money; literally cut from the silver pate at Newark Castle and then stamped with the dies. Circular coins would have been difficult to cut, hence the diamond shape. Examples with original underlying designs from the silver plates have been recorded. The town only surrendered at the order of Charles 1st, who was himself forced to order the surrender as part of the conditions for his own surrender. The town finally surrendered on 8 May 1646. It is interesting to note that soldiers from the Newark garrison fought at the famous battle of Marston Moor (2 July 1644). This coin, a twelve-penny shilling, needed to be 6g as that was its intended buying power - literally x12 pennies worth of silver (the good old days when the coin in your hand wasn't just a worthless lump of base metal with an attached bank promise of value, rather the coin in your hand was literally worth what the coin said it was worth in metal, be that copper, silver or gold). In size alone this was a very generous blank that the moneyer initially cut out for a shilling (presumably larger in size because the silver plate being cut up at the time was a thinner plate?); one that clearly came out at more than the stipulated 6g because either the moneyer himself, or someone further up the food chain, cut off and rounded the four corners in an attempt to reduce the weight. At still over 6g, even with circulation and the passage of time, that effort was only partially successful. This is something you rarely see - in fact, I've never witnessed it before. The Brooker collection contained only one example of this rarer die variety but looking at all the Brooker Newark denominations, and indeed his Pontefracts, none had their corners removed in this way to reduce weight. A rare coin in its own right. SOLD

Provenance:

ex Oriole collection of gold and silver English coins

Dispersed by Spink 2025

WTH-9250: Choice Elizabeth 1st Hammered Silver Tudor Penny. Second coinage, 1st December 1560 to 24th October 1561 only. Initial mark Martlet, S.R.2558. The end of September 1560 witnessed the government recalling all older coinage and literally demonetising it. The old debased coinage was circulating freely at less than face value, eg earlier English base issue halfgroats were, pre September 1560, circulating at three farthings and debased Irish issues circulating at 25% face value in London. Incidentally, a lot of this debased coinage was sent to Ireland where is was gratefully received. The English public was confused and so action was taken in the form of a brand new mint, working alongside the old one, issuing coinage at .925 fine. The original mint was the Nether Mint (situated on the west side of the Tower of London by the main entrance); the new one, again situated within the Tower of London but between the walls of the east side, was called the Upper Houses. This new Upper Houses mint, for this second coinage, struck coinage only using the privy mark Martlet, meaning that the coin on offer here originated out of the new, Upper Houses mint. An exceptionally good, choice coin. Find better! SOLD

Provenance:

ex Tim Owen (his original ticket)