This week’s fresh listings:

This page is to be updated every Tuesday and will contain all the latest Coin, Medal & Token listings for that particular week.

The more observant of you may have realised that I no longer keep previous "Fresh Listings" coins on this page.

All for sale coins can be found via the category grid on the front page. Most sold coins are now accessible via a new link on that same category grid.

Additions to www.HistoryInCoins.com for week commencing Tuesday 27th January 2026

Extra information added to this coin listing:

WSC-9228: Alexander III Hammered Silver Scottish Penny. First coinage, long cross and stars, circa 1250-80. WILAM ON KING - Wilam at the Kinghorn mint. Type IIIa, S.R.5043. Attractive and desirable old golden cabinet toning, one of the rarest Scottish mints, and what is a very nice grade coin for type. See here for a Kinghorn penny January 2026 auction result, and don't forget buyer's commission was on top of that price. This coin looking like a steal at only £1,250

Provenance:

From an old family collection, through decent.

This week, not just one of the rarest monarch halfgroats but the finest known thrown in for good measure!

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. £5,950

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-9259: Charles 1st Hammered Silver OXFORD PLUME Halfgroat. Small obverse bust, beaded inner circles with a large reverse plume. Oxford mint. Initial mark Lis to the reverse only. S.R.2996. An iconic and very distinctive coin from this Civil War provincial mint. Examples do turn up but are invariably damaged (this being such a different and unusual reverse design, it attracted a great deal of scepticism when found in circulation, hence the often-found damage where the public bit or bent the coinage to determine if it was good or not), clipped or just badly struck. This example is about as good as you'll ever find: full flan (slightly off-struck on the reverse), having a decent portrait (often lacking on this issue) and a very strong plume. An excellent unique type, Civil War provincial coin. £495

Provenance:

ex Spink (their old ticket - 2004?)

ex Ian Davison

WSC-9260: 1553 Scottish Mary Portrait Testoon. First period, 1542-58, before marriage. Type 1 with crowned bust, right and a crowned shield on the reverse with a cinquefoil both sides. Edinburgh. c.f. S.R.5401. In 1553, Mary would have been just 11 years old. Struck in lead from official dies, presumably to fool nobody, rather to be used as an official pass or ticket (see http://www.HistoryInCoins.com/A.29-7-23-1.jpg for a similar concept), perhaps to allow entry into and out of Edinburgh? For me, I think that of all the varied and different coinage from this reign, including the gold left facing portrait issues, and even the later portrait testoons where Mary adopts the same fashionable high hair line as Elizabeth 1st (they never met although Mary pushed hard for such a meeting over many years, so I wonder if this later depiction was some sort of homage to Elizabeth?), this is the one that most captures the essence of who Mary really was, or at least who I think Mary really was - the history books are sometimes less than accurate on such matters, especially those written south of the border! A very interesting coin and with a price tag of £20,000+ for the silver issue coin in a similar grade to this one, a very attractive alternative. £995

Provenance:

Unknown collection (old coin cabinet ticket)

ex Spink