A selection of some of the
better / more interesting coins SOLD through
HistoryInCoins.com
in 2026
WJC-9261: 1646 Charles 1st NEWARK
Besieged Hammered Silver Shilling. Emergency coinage whilst
supporters and troops of Charles 1st were besieged in Newark in
1646. The desirable later year of 1646 with Newark
spelt correctly. S.R.3143. 1646 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 hand cut,
hence the diamond shape. Examples with original underlying designs /
gold gilding 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 capitulation. Newark finally surrendered
on 8 May 1646, thus this later date
coin was clearly only struck for four months. It is interesting to
note that soldiers from the Newark garrison fought
at the famous battle of Marston Moor (2 July 1644). Remarkably well centred for this
issue, both obverse and reverse (this was a rushed, emergency issue which
resulted in the majority of coins being regularly off-struck) with an
interesting "wobble" on both the obverse right diagonals where the
person in charge of cutting up the silver plate presumably utilised a vaguely
straight edge to save himself at least one cut and then for whatever reason,
had to cut very slowly on the adjacent diagonal. The Brooker collection
contained only one example dated 1646 - a smaller but thicker flan, pierced
& plugged. Newark siege pieces are
increasingly rare and as collectors will be aware, when they do turn up, the
vast majority are pierced (siege pieces were often kept as touch-pieces to be
worn around the necks of loyal supporters), damaged, worn, etc. A rare
coin. SOLD
Provenance:
ex Tim Owen
Old unidentified
ticket
WSC-9045:
1565 Mary and Henry
Darnley Scottish Hammered Silver Two Thirds Ryal. Fourth period, circulated at 20
shillings. Edinburgh mint. Obv: +MARIA & HENRIC DEI GRA R & R
SCOTORV and totally different to the 1565 first issue Ryal,
no images of either Mary or Henry. S.R. 5426. Mary became queen at only seven days
old. She married Lord Henry Darnley
(second marriage) in 1565 - this coin very much from that union period. Darnley was killed in an explosion in 1567,
thereby bringing this date run to an abrupt end. It is interesting to note that this reverse
die was struck 156- in order to insert the appropriate final digit as and
when. Unusual to find this denomination
NOT counterstamped under Mary's son (Darnley was officially the father), the
future James VI of Scotland and James 1st of England. Scottish circulation was much more intense than
south of the border due to lack of sufficient coinage physically in
circulation, so that, coupled with the inadequate and shallow-sunk dies, led to
very, very few coins of this type or similar ending up in anywhere near VF
today. SOLD
WMH-7446: Stephen NORMAN Hammered
Silver CROSS & PILES Penny. B.M.C. VI, 1150-54: (+)GERFREI ON
(TEF) – Geffrei of Thetford. S.R. 1281. There are only six recorded examples of Thetford mint B.M.C VI coins on the EMC database with only
two for this moneyer, one of which is a cut half of questionable
attribution. Sold with
a variety of old tickets etc - ex W.J. Lawson collection (sold by Spink Aus in
1989). Toned,
virtually VF and just a lovely coin.
SOLD
WMH-9258: Extremely
Rare and Finest Known Henry IV Hammered Silver HALFGROAT. Choice. Light Coinage of
1412 - 1413 only, London mint.
An annulet to the left of the crown, a pellet to the
right. S.R.1730, this being dies
sunk under Henry IV as opposed to altered Richard II dies (S.R.1729). Nine arcs in the tressure indicating the
later of the two obverse dies for this Stewartby
class P with annulet/pellet arrangement.
Lord Stewartby (English Coins, 1180-1551)
states: "The halfgroats and London pence of later class P are of
considerable rarity." Further
confirmation of this being a later die: the m of Adiutorem is dropped. The previous owner reported that Dave Greenhalgh stated only x20 Light Coinage halfgroats are
extant (both altered R.II and H.IV types) and that this example is the finest
known of that cohort. There are more
groats extant than halfgroats. Readers
may be questioning why a Light Coinage coin, ie very much towards the end of
Henry IV's reign, would be derived from the previous reign's
"left-over" dies - the assumption being that the earlier H.IV Heavy
Coinage (1399 - 1412) would have utilised those? That was indeed the case - there is even an
example of a H.IV Heavy Coinage muled with an Ed.III obverse although bizarrely, the portrait on that Ed.III halfgroat was actually R.II! - but so few H.IV
halfgroats were struck in the Heavy Coinage that those old dies were still serviceable
when the Light Coinage of 1412 - 1413 came along. Even within this period, with the Burgundian Alliance reinstating wool exports (a main
industry in the day), together with the silver reduction in coinage, the output
of all H.IV coinage was miniscule, with the halfgroat being much rarer
still. With a degree of difficulty, and
some expense, you may be able to obtain H.IV pennies (nearly always extremely
worn). Halfpennies are slightly easier
and usually in better grade. Groats are
extremely difficult to source. However,
of all the silver issues, it is the halfgroats that pose by far the greatest
challenge. Coincraft, who I have a lot
of time for, state: "Henry IV halfgroats are extremely rare in any
grade and collectors may have difficulty obtaining an example, regardless of
condition." Ask any
numismatist who the rarest medieval monarchs are in terms of obtaining a coin
from that reign and they'll quickly give you Henry IV and Richard III. Ask the which everyday denomination of those
two monarchs are the hardest and they'll be just as quick to tell you that it's
halfgroat for both. Incidentally,
Sovereign Rarities 2026 Coins of England do have a R.III halfgroat as a plate
coin but were unable to locate an example to illustrate for either the H.IV
Heavy or Light coinages! Here we have
not just one of the rarest British monarchs, but the rarest denomination and
the very best grade example known, and don't forget that's all extant examples:
institutional collections and private collections. And as if that wasn't enough, the provenance
(see old tickets here)
is also impressive. Choice
on several levels. SOLD
Provenance:
ex D. Mangakis collection
ex Raymond Carlyon-Britton
collection (his tickets, December 1958, £45)
ex Spink
Old ticket (unidentified)
states: "Acquired from Spink March 1970"
ex Spink (1984)
ex unknown collection, dispersed...
Numismatica Ars (Zurich), Auction 145, May 2024, lot 1180, £4,500 after
commissions but before import duties
WJC-9184: 1625 Charles 1st Silver
Pattern Halfcrown - reportedly one of only four known. Engraved by either Thomas Rawlins or, more
likely, Abraham van der Doort. Obv: Bust of Charles, lovelock on
shoulder, falling lace collar and armour, rev: cast and chased Royal Arms in
garnished shield, the style imitating engraving, very much along the lines of
the work De Passe was producing around this
time. Listed in Medallic Illustration as
(i)373/267 as a pattern for
a half crown. The internet yields this:
The
Charles I pattern half-crown is one of the rarest examples assumed to be by
Abraham Van der Doort. It
shows the bust of King Charles I with no crown and a lace collar on the obverse.
Additionally, the Royal Coat of Arms is on the reverse. In 1625 this coin was
produced as a prototype before beginning full-scale production. This was due to
the intricacy of the design and the decision that it would slow down coin
production. Ultimately the design for the 1625 half-crown is King Charles on a
horse holding a sword, with the other side depicting an oval quartered shield
of arms. The 1625 Charles I pattern
half-crown is spectacularly rare, with possibly only four currently recorded. It
would be a remarkable addition to any numismatic collection.
and
also this:
Abraham
Van der Doort and the 1625
Charles I Pattern Half-crown
A talented artist from the early 17th century. He is known for painting and
designing medals and coins. His documented catalogue of the King’s paintings,
sculptures and coins is impressive.
Not
much is known of the Dutch artist before he moved to England, but once here his talent was
recognised and sought after. He first worked with the royals, creating medal
and coin designs, through which his working relationships flourished.
In
1609, Abraham Van der Doort
was tasked with being Prince Henry’s ‘Curator of his cabinet of Medals and
Coins’. After Prince Henry’s death, he worked for Prince Charles I. Once
Charles ascended to the throne, Van der Doort started producing new designs of the King for the
Royal Mint. Charles instructed the Dutch artist to make the designs for ‘his
majesty Coynes and his assistance to the engravers’.
The King entrusted Van der Doort
with two posts for life: Provider of Patterns and Life Keeper of the Kings
Coins Collection.
Van der Doort was the first Surveyor
of the King’s Pictures. This meant that he was responsible for the care of the
Royal Household’s collection of pictures, specifically Charles I’s art collections.
Sadly,
there is only a small number of Abraham Van der Doort’s work in today’s market. His most famous work is
with the Juxon Medal. This medal has very similar
imagery to the rare 1625 Charles I pattern half-crown, however, the designer of
which is uncertain. The style techniques and imagery however suggest that it
had been designed by Van der Doort
rather than Thomas Rawlins.
Another example of the
Abraham Van der Doort
pattern halfcrown sold in 2024 for £1500 + buyer's commissions on top. Here, there is no such buyer's commission and
you probably won't even have to pay the full asking price either! An extremely rare and important coin from this most interesting, not
to mention vast area of numismatics. SOLD
Provenance:
ex
John Williams collection
ex HistoryInCoins (2024)
WJC-7961:
1625 Charles 1st
Hammered Silver Sixpence. Initial
mark Lis, Tower mint under the king, Gp.
A, first bust, type 1: small bust with double arched crown. S.R. 2805. Issued right at the very
start of the reign, so much so that the king is literally depicted in his
coronation robes on this coin.
These early dated sixpences are all fairly rare, although 1625 is not
the rarest date. What elevates this coin
is the grade. Collectors will be aware
that nearly all dated Charles 1st sixpences turn up worn or damaged. This one is exceptional for issue. SOLD
WMH-7269:
Henry V
Medieval Hammered Silver Penny. Class F, York mint, S.R.1788.
Henry V
of the Battle of Agincourt fame: I
pray thee, wish not one man more. By Jove, I am not covetous for gold, Nor care
I who doth feed upon my cost; It yearns me not if men my garments wear; Such
outward things dwell not in my desires: But if it be a sin to covet honour, I
am the most offending soul alive. This is
obviously Shakespeare's interpretation on Henry's St Crispin's Day speech but
it's generally believed that Henry V gave a rousing speech to his men, who,
remember, were vastly outnumbered, just before they defeated the French. Generally a poor
issue with little effort put into the dies or indeed the end product. This coin is much above average for
issue. SOLD
WTH-8023: Edward VI Fine Silver
Issue Hammered Shilling. Initial mark Tun, third period, fine
silver issue of 1551-3, London mint, S.R. 2482. Lost very soon after it was issued from the
mint but lost to the plough soil so although VF, which is actually rare to see
in these shillings, there are associated surface marks. SOLD
WSC-8124:
Robert III
Scottish Medieval Hammered Silver Groat.
Heavy coinage, Edinburgh mint.
First issue with obverse colon stops and reverse
saltire "colon-esque" legend terminals. Seven arcs to tressure. The facing bust is not typical of this issue,
being anything but tall. S.R. 5164. John, Earl of Carrick, eldest son of Robert
II, changed his name to Robert on succeeding to the throne. Being almost entirely disabled by an accident
before his father's death, the country was effectively run by yet another
Robert - Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, the king's younger brother. Just as in England, there was a severe shortage of
silver being brought to the mint. SOLD
WI-9149:
Irish Henry VII
Late Three Crowns Hammered Silver HALF Groat. Issue of 1488-90 with mint name: CIV[I TA]S DVB LIN - Dublin and large annulet stops throughout
with a trefoil of annulets (sometimes referred to as annulet crosses) obverse
and reverse at 12 o'clock. S.R.6444. Full groats are
fairly rare and usually turn up with very little, if any legends. Even these indifferent Three Crown full
groats are now achieving impressive prices.
To get a full groat with legends is challenging and the price obviously
rises exponentially, as it does with nearly every coin when you're chasing
grade. Nicely toned with as full legends
as you're ever likely to see (these were not only clipped but often struck on
small flans - you have neither of that with this coin). To find both a HALF groat, and one in
such good grade, is extremely rare.
SOLD
WRS-9086:
Roman Silver Legionary
Denarius: Legion II - Extraordinary Provenance. Roman Imperatorial coinage, post
Second Triumvirate, Mark Antony.
Struck Autumn 32 to Spring 31 BC. RSC 27, Sear 349. Legionary denarii is the modern name for a
series of Roman silver denarius coins issued by Mark Antony
in the eastern Mediterranean during the last war of the Roman Republic from 32 to 31 BC, in the lead up
to the Battle of Actium. They were
struck for one purpose only - to pay the legionary soldiers. This coin is Legion II - present in the British
invasion force of the imperial propraetor Aulus Plautius in AD43, during
which it was placed under the command of the young legionary legate Titus
Flavius Vespasianus, later to become emperor. Twenty Three legions were honoured in this
"Legionary" denarius issue.
The coins were struck in reduced silver content (!) and so survived the
rigours of circulation much better than standard denarii. This meant that they continued to be used in
circulation and would have been present on the invasion force of AD 43. The entire legion apart from a small
caretaker force, plus detachments of Legio VI Victrix and Legio XX Valeria Victrix, was put to work on the construction of Hadrian’s Wall.
Part of the very famous Helmingham
Hoard of 2019 - the largest mixed hoard of British Iron Age and Roman coins
ever found in Britain.
This hoard was deposited AD 46-7, only 3 or 4 years after Legion II
landed. Sold with an
impressive array of tickets & literature here and here. The large A4 double-sided glossy document
makes very interesting reading as it attempts to focus in on the individual who
deposited this hoard into the ground. A
very good coin for issue, bearing in mind its nearly 80 years of circulation,
but more than that, true history in a coin!
SOLD
Provenance:
ex Helmingham Hoard of 2019
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)
