This week’s fresh listings (scroll down):

 

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

 

Additions to www.HistoryInCoins.com for week commencing Tuesday 17th May 2022

 

 

Previous Weeks’ Listings (scroll down this page for “This Week’s Listings”):

 

WMH-7386:  Henry III Voided Long Cross Penny.  Phase II “Provincial” coinage, 1348-50: +WILLEM ON WILT – rare Wilton mint town.  Class 3b, Spink 1363.  You will see many hundreds of London, Canterbury mint etc coins before you’ll see a Wilton mint.  Rare coin.  £165

 

WMH-7387:  Richard II Medieval Long Cross Penny.  Type II, pellet above each shoulder, York mint, Spink 1692.  An Episcopal issue struck under Archbishop Thomas Arundal of York, 1388-96.  Pellets by shoulders, cross on breast, crude local dies.  Spink 1692.  Two things are of interest here:

1.     Lord Stewartby states that whilst production of gold throughout the reign remained constant, silver was somewhat erratic and far from prolific.  During the reign of Richard II (even at the end of Edward III), and most definitely going through the subsequent reign of Henry IV, silver was haemorrhaging out of England to the Continent at an alarming rate which was compounded by the fact that the country was far from awash with silver in the first place - the price of silver on the Continent was greater than in England and cross-channel merchants were quick to take advantage. 

2.     Potter suggests that York seemingly bucked this “lean” period as the York output was actually not small, even though London’s output was miniscule.  He postulates that rather than the shortage of silver being a limiting factor, it was the availability of die sinkers and therefore dies that was the problem.  There was either an insufficient quality of dies, or no dies were provided from London, thereby necessitating the production of “local” dies, something London clearly did not adopt.

The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.  The York pennies are usually grim and often verging on being unidentifiable through a combination of great wear due to a much reduced quantity of coinage in general circulation at the time, poor dies (see above) and the poor quality of the strike, possibly down to uncertainty over the longevity, or lack of it, of the dies.  Sold with an old auction slip and a much older envelope (see here).  This coin is a very nice example and is much above average for this notoriously poor issue.  £295

 

WTH-7388:  Elizabeth 1st Hammered Silver Tudor Shilling.  Initial mark Woolpack, 1594-96, sixth issue, bust 6b, Spink 2577.  A lovely grade example of a coin that is nearly always softly struck on the obverse.  All the shilling and below denominations were heavily circulated (and even the halfcrowns and crowns saw action) due to the growing economy of the time.  You’d struggle to find better.  £645

 

WTH-7389:  1576/5 Elizabeth 1st Hammered Silver Tudor Threepence.  Initial mark Eglantine, third & fourth issues.  Spink 2566.  A rarer year with only one straight 76 die and this modified 76 over 75 die according to Brown, Comber & Wilkinson.  £165

 

WTH-7390:  Elizabeth 1st Queen Under Canopy Copper Jetton or Medalet.  Struck under the reign of King James 1st, 1610-15, by Hans Krauwinkel at Nuremberg.  All “monarch under canopy” jettons are rare.  Ex Porter (1994), ex Walter Wilkinson.  £145

 

WSC-7391:  William 1st Medieval Scottish Hammered Silver Voided Short Cross Penny.  Phase B, 1205-30, Spink 5029.  Obverse: +LE REI WILI A, reverse: +hUIE WALTER.  Joint Edinburgh and Perth mints.  Choice.  £495

 

WSC-7392:  1697 Scottish Jacobite Medal – The Treaty of Ryswick.  Issued by the Stuarts, as part of a series, and likely intended for distribution in London to partisans of the Stuarts, so basically early propaganda pieces.  The son of James II was chosen in preference to his father, presumably to show succession and therefore legitimacy of the cause.  M.I. (ii)195/504 and listed as Rare.  Ex Bernard Paul collection, ex Spink.  £185

 

WSC-7393:  1708 Scottish Jacobite Medal – Restoration of the Kingdom.  Issued by the Stuarts and depicting the entire Union, the message being clear – not only should James III be king of Scotland but king of the United Kingdom, as indicated by the non too subtle inclusion of the map of the UK.  M.I. (ii)314/136 and listed as Rare.  Ex SNC (1967), Spink.  A rarer medal.  £295

 

WI-7394:  1690 Irish James II Emergency Pewter Money Penny.  Issued as part of the Gun Money Civil War coinage, but very much on the tail-end when the supply of “latten” or scrap base metal was very in dire shortage.  Things were getting so bad that a warrant was issued for the coining of two guns (presumably obsolete ones) from Dublin castle.  It then got worse still: writing to Mary of Modena, James II's wife in France, the duke of Tyrconnell (the lord lieutenant of Ireland) included in a list of 'things we cannot subsist here without' a request that 'forty guns may be sent us to coine into money'.  At the same time that brass latten was becoming almost impossible to source, the public were coming to the very end of their already thinly stretched patience with this non-money.  Their contempt for the coins and those who had issued them was unlimited, and they talked of 'their Tinkerly Treasure' and 'their brass imaginary coin made only valuable by the magic of their priests'.  This was never more so than during the Pewter Money period.  In January 1691, the Irish finally admitted that nothing was going to restore the value of their emergency coinages.  They announced that the brass & pewter would be withdrawn from circulation on 15 March. Those who had emergency coinage were to bring them to the treasury where they would be given receipts which would entitle them to full repayment when James was restored to his throne.  Most people knew that neither was likely to happen.  This pewter issue, the “successor” to Gun Money, had a copper alloy plug.  It was incredibly susceptible to both wear and corrosion.  Very few examples remain extant and hardly any of them are in anything like this grade.  Type II, Spink 6589.  Readers may be interested to know that the rare 1690 pewter money halfpenny in silver is all a later re-strike, probably done in France some time later.  What little precious metals they had at this time went to pay the troops in France because they refused to accept the Latten or Pewter coinage.  Further, all silver and gold Gun Money proofs are again later re-strikes using genuine dies.  This coin ex John Rainey collection.  Choice.  £2,950

 

WSax-7372:  Aethelred II Hammered Silver Late Saxon *Rarer Mint* Penny.  CRVX type, B.M.C. IIIa, AD 991-997 only.  Spink 1148.  +PVLFNOD MO DOR – rare Dorchester mint.  Clear legends, good portrait – a problem free coin from one of the rarer of the UK mint towns and for once, a mint that is rarer under the Saxons than the Normans.  £1,745

 

WMH-7373:  Edward 1st Rarer VOIDED LONG CROSS Hammered Silver Penny.  One of the very first Edward 1st penny struck, still using the late Henry III’s name.  1272-79.  IOH of Bury St Edmonds.  Class VI, Spink 1377.  Ex 1908 Brussels’ Hoard coin.  £149

 

WMH-7374:  Edward III Hammered Silver Long Cross Penny.  Pre-Treaty period of 1351-61.  Episcopal issue truck at York under Archbishop Thorseby.  Spink 1604.  A delightful coin.  £145

 

WMH-7375:  Henry V Hammered Silver Long Cross Halfpenny.  Class C, London mint, Spink 1794.  Broken annulets by hair.  £85

 

WMH-7376:  Henry VI **RESTORED** Hammered Groat.  October 1470 to April 1471 only. Bristol mint (in fact the ONLY Bristol mint you will find in either of the Henry VI reigns), initial mark Restoration Cross, Spink 2083.  Spink 2083, North 1619, Blunt & Whitton 3/1.  An exceedingly rare coin – Spink couldn’t even find an example to use as a plate coin.  £1,275

 

WTH-7377:  1571 Elizabeth 1st Hammered Silver Threepence.  Third and fourth issues, initial mark Castle.  Spink 2566.  A very pleasing example.  £185

 

WTH-7378:  1579 Elizabeth 1st Hammered Silver Threepence.  Fifth issue, initial mark Greek Cross.  Spink 2573.  Just the single die pairing being recorded by Comber, Wilkinson & Brown, although there was another pair prepared which were not used in 1579 but were overdated and used in 1580.  This coin is not far off being as struck, although the obverse strike quality could have been better.  £195

 

WTH-7379:  1596-99 Elizabeth 1st Hammered Silver Halfgroat.  Sixth issue, initial mark Key.  Spink 2579.  Three dies recorded but really, what a marvellous example of a halfgroat!  Collectors will be aware that of all the smaller denominations, the halfgroats suffered most in terms of clipping, wear and sometimes the quality of actual coinage leaving the mint.  Finding a really nice halfgroat is virtually impossible whereas pennies, and even the fractions, are relatively abundant.  This coin is full flan and actually doesn’t show much evidence of circulation.  £225

 

WTH-7380:  1583-85 Elizabeth 1st Hammered Silver Penny.  Ex Walter Wilkinson, ex K.B.Coins. ex Mike Vosper – tickets here.  Initial mark A, sixth issue, Spink 2580.  A rarer ”R variety – see WW ticket.  £125

 

WTH-7381:  Circa 1600 Elizabeth 1st Copper Jetton or Medalet.  Medalic Illustrations (1) 184/190 – struck by the famous Hans Krauwinkel at Nuremberg and depicting Elizabeth 1st on horseback.  The legend translates as “I have made God my helper”, which perhaps sounds a little arrogant today?!  Listed in MI as Rare.  Ex Christopher Foley collection.  £185

 

WI-7382:  1689 Irish Civil War Emergency Coinage “Gun Money” Sixpence.  Struck in Dublin July of 1689.  The sixpence is a rarer denomination than the shillings and halfcrowns – you seldom see them today.  After fleeing from England to France in 1688 – an effective abdication from the English throne – James II landed in Ireland March 1689 in order to promote his Catholic cause, something we are perhaps still living with today?!  He had insufficient funds to prosecute this war so the plan was to raise money by issuing base metal coinage in place of what would previously have been silver issues.  This was a less subtle example of the Quantitative Easing that we all witnessed a few years ago.  If today’s money had still been based on the value of the coin in your hand being worth its face value in precious metal, then the Chancellor in 2009 would perhaps have done something very similar!  This coinage was (perhaps) set up with an intention for them to be exchanged for sterling coinage once the dust had settled.  This never happened.  The metal for these coins came from old cannon, bells and various other scrap metals that were termed “Gun Money”.  Very nice grade, the rarer “no stop after DEI” variety, and benefiting from being ex John Rainey collection.  £145

 

WSC-7383:  James III Scottish Hammered Silver Groat.  Type II base (0.770 fineness) issue of 1471-83, Edinburgh mint.  Bust of James III half-right, in surcoat and armour.  Reverse shows thistleheads and mullets within the angles of a floriate cross.  Spink 5270.  An extremely rare issue.  Sold with a variety of old tickets, including a cabinet ticket – see here.  Not only extremely rare, but also a problematic issue: Spink’s plate coin is a touch better on the obverse but nowhere near as good on the reverse.  An important coin.  £1,495

 

WSC-7384:  Mary Queen of Scots Hammered Silver Scottish Testoon – First Period.  Type IIIa, dated 1556 and 1557 – a 1557 coin where for some reason, the 1557 reverse die either broke, thereby necessitating the utilisation of an old, discarded 1556 die, or they simply messed up!  Either way, it makes for a most interesting “mule”.  Edinburgh mint.  Spink 5404.  Rare in this grade a rarer still to find undamaged / unpierced.  See old tickets here.  A rare offering.  £1,695

 

WSC-7385:  Mary Queen of Scots Hammered Silver Scottish Testoon – Second Period.  1558-60, during Mary’s marriage to Francis – Mary would have been just 16 years old.  Dated 1558.  Edinburgh mint.  Spink 5416.  Contemporary planchet cracks but still a lovely, rare coin from this historically significant Scottish monarch.  £525

 

WTH-7370:  Rare Henry VIII Hammered Silver FIRST ISSUE Groat.  Initial mark Crowned T, 1513 – Tournai mint.  An extremely rare special issue – dies by Henry Basse (a London based goldsmith and future chief engraver at the Tower mint) – to commemorate the capture of Tournai (France) in 1513.  The coins were actually produced in 1514.  The coin has been professionally repaired to a remarkably high standard (images here of coin in unrepaired state).  Ex DNW 4th May 2021 where it sold for £682 with commission in it’s unrepaired state.  An incredibly rare issue that very, very rarely comes up for sale.  We’ve seen three over the past few years at coin fairs: two in poor to fair condition (one badly chipped in two places), both priced at more than this one, and a third nicer example in good fine at £3,250 which had nothing like the eye appeal of this one.  A rare opportunity to acquire an iconic coin in outstanding grade, albeit professionally repaired to a high standard, at an affordable price.  However, even if price was not an issue, you simply couldn’t go out and buy one in VF grade – they are that rare.  £1,095

 

WTH-7371:  Henry VIII Hammered Gold Crown of the Double Rose.  Initial mark Lis, second coinage, Spink 2572.  Extra image (cheap camera phone, harsh artificial lighting, here).  H and K both sides signifying Henry’s marriage to Katherine of Aragon, 1509 to the annulment on the 23rd May 1533.  Similar coins followed on from this commemorating Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymore before it was decided that the list of ex wives was perhaps looking rather too plentiful.  Anne of Cleves, Kathryn Howard and Catherine Parr were not lucky enough to have had their names immortalised on English coinage (the theory that Spink 2276 represents Kathryn Howard is spurious) although to be fair, the three of them, and in particular Kathryn Howard, probably had more pressing matters to worry about.  Interestingly, the Irish silver groats of Henry VIII start at Anne Boleyn, moving on to Jane Seymore and Kathryn Howard, missing out Katherine of Aragon altogether.  Ex Spink – see image here.  3.72g, better than VF.  An exceptional coin.  £5,995

 

WMH-7364:  Stephen Norman Kings Hammered Silver *Rarer Mint* Penny.  B.M.C. 1, Cross Moline “Watford” type: [+EVER]ARD [O]N PAR – Everard of Warwick.  Spink 1278.  Dark toning, full flan, well centred, strong portrait – a very rare coin, and for once Spink agree as they rate Warwick Norman pennies at £1,250, and that’s for the commonest type, which this coin is not.  £1,375

 

WMH-7365:  Henry III Medieval Hammered Silver Voided Long Cross Penny.  Phase II “Provincial” phase of 1248-50 only.  Class IIIb, Exeter mint – ROBERT ON ECCE.  Spink 1363.  A very rare Henry III VLC mint and even better - excellent grade.  £250

 

WMH-7366:  Henry III Medieval Hammered Silver Voided Long Cross Penny.  Phase II “Provincial” phase of 1248-50 only.  Class IIIb, Bristol mint – IACOB ON BRVST.  Spink 1363.  A very rare Henry III VLC mint and even better - excellent grade.  £230

 

WMH-7353:  Stephen Norman Kings Hammered Silver *Rarer Mint* Penny.  B.M.C. 1, Cross Moline “Watford” type: +[S]AMAR.[ON.]LEI – Samar of Leicester.  Toned.  A rare coin.  £1,375

 

WTH-7358:  Henry VIII Hammered Silver Testoon.  Third issue, 1544-47, Southwark (London) mint.  Initial mark S, Spink 2367.  Extra image here (didn’t turn out that well).  A rare coin.  £1,295

 

WMH-7350:  William 1st Norman Kings Hammered Silver *Rarer Mint* Penny.  B.M.C. V, Two Stars type: +PVLFPINE ON PERIC – Wulfwine of Warwick.  A rare Norman mint with the very commonest of all the Warwick mint Norman coins starting at £1,250 in Spink 2022.  This is clearly not a common type coin.  Only one example recorded on the EMC / SCBI database, making this the second.  £1,750

 

WSax-7341:  Harthacnut Late Saxon Hammered Silver Penny.  Sole reign of June 1040 – June 1042, “Arm & Sceptre” type, B.M.C. II.  +SCVLA MON EOEFRCI – York mint. Spink 1169.  This moneyer not recorded in North for Arm & Sceptre types (2006 Third Edition).  Double struck on the reverse otherwise a lovely problem-free example with a superb obverse.  £1,995

 

WCA-7344:  1687 James II Tin Halfpenny – High Grade – Choice.  Laureate and draped bust, right.  Date on the edge.  Ex Colin Cooke (1996).  Extra images here and here.  Spink 3419.  These tin coins had an alarming rate of wear from circulation. The Ferryman’s hoard of W&M tin coins from the River Thames in the 1970’s was made up of 1690 through to 1692 tin coins. There were no copper 1694 coins leading to the conclusion that the purse was dropped into the Thames 1693 or earlier. Of the many coins, the 1690’s were all very worn, the 1691’s quite worn and the 1692’s being at least somewhat worn. The 1690’s coins could only have been in circulation for three years or so but they were all very worn. Even the coins that had been in circulation for only up to a year or so were worn. This illustrates just how hard it is to find high grade tin coinage. As well as wear, the tin coinage corrodes in air and the soil (tin was far too reactive a metal to be used for coinage) so high grade examples are at a premium.  Counterfeiting was clearly a consideration as every tin coin that left the mint had a copper plug – designed as an anti counterfeiting measure.  Perhaps the Mint ought to have had similar considerations just a few decades on, during the mid to late 1700’s, when towards the end of the century, counterfeit (and we’re talking really obvious / very little effort re dies or even the final product) “copper” coins literally outnumbered the genuine coinage in circulation!  An outstanding coin and easily choice.  £1,995

 

WSC-7346:  1605 Scottish Hammered Silver SIX SHILLINGS.  Post accession to the English throne.  Virtually identical to the English James 1st sixpence but this issue with initial mark Thistle only, as well as circulating at very much over six pennies (ratio of 12:1, similar to other denominations of this period) at six shillings.  Another difference, other than the Scottish issues being much, much rarer, is that they were more crudely made in both style and production.  Spink 5507.  As good as the Spink plate coin – the very best example they could find with their vast resources and connections to collections.  Chris Comber (of Wilkinson, Comber & Brown fame) was a great collector of these extremely rare coins.  I sold him two over a very long period (the only two I'd ever had prior to this), both of which several grades below this coin.  They are a notoriously poor issue, if you are lucky enough to find one in the first place.  Choice.  £2,950

 

WI-7348:  1558 Irish Elizabeth 1st Hammered Silver Groat - Choice.  Base coinage of 1558 with 0.250 silver fineness.  Initial mark Rose, Spink 6504.  This first issue was very much a continuation of the previous base issues - it took until 1561 for the “Fine Silver” coinage to be issued.  This coin is mint state – virtually “As Struck”, although to the initiated, it may not appear that way.  This is an example of the finest known Irish 1555 Philip & Mary shilling to give you some idea as to how good this groat is.  The billon nature of this coin defeated my usual camera, although I still include that image here.  The main image is via a cheap camera phone in artificial light.  Choice.  £1,950

 

WAu-7326:  Charles 1st Hammered GOLD Double Crown.  Tower mint under the King, initial mark Rose over Plume / Rose, 1631-32.  Group C, third bust, bust 5.  Spink 2701, Brooker 158/159, Schneider 191.  An honest, untouched field-found coin with some commensurate unevenness to the flan.  Ex Spink (see various tickets here).  An interesting coin.  £1,985

 

WMH-7315:  Henry 1st “Norman Kings” Hammered Silver Penny.  B.M.C. ii, Profile / Cross Fleury type, circa AD 1102 only.  +GODFRIC ON LINC – Lincoln mint.  Spink 1263A.  Not an obverse crack, rather a surface stress fracture resultant from the hammering process at the mint.  Ex Gillis, CNG (2020), Maxwell, Lamplass collections (with a cabinet ticket from one of those collections).  Of the 100 Henry 1st Lincoln pennies recorded on the EMC / SCBI database, only three are B.M.C. ii.  One of those is a fragment, the other is moneyer Angier and the third is Godric, making this coin the second only recorded example.  Grades VF and obviously very rare.  £1,750

 

WAu-7311:  Henry VIII Hammered Gold Crown of the Double Rose.  Third coinage, initial mark none / WS monogram, 1544-47, Bristol mint.  Spink 2310.  Ex Spink (various tickets here).  Slightly wavy flan with minor edge splits.  A very popular coin and invariably a minimum of £5K in today’s market.  This one priced very competitively at £4,295

 

WSax-7304:  Aethelred II Late Saxon **Rare Mint** Hammered Silver Penny.  CRVX type – B.M.C. IIIc, circa 991-997.  +LEOFRIC MO LIMN – Lympne mint.  Old tickets here.  Spink 1158.  One of the rarer of the Saxon mint – I’ve never had another through my hands.  Lympne was a village three miles west of Hythe in Kent.  Interestingly, the Danes landed in Hythe in AD 893.  This coin spectacularly toned with attractive iridescence.  Some surface stress fractures.  Ex Trennery collection.  Very rare.  £1,550

 

WI-7307:  1681 Charles II SILVER Proof Irish Halfpenny.  Armstrong & Legge’s regal coinage issue of 1680-84.  The coinage was split into two types: large and small lettering.  This is a silver proof for the small letter 1681 issue – the only other silver proof in the entire series is the 1680 large letter halfpenny.  1681 small letters (Spink 6575) is extremely rare with, I think, only one example known, which may well be a copper trial piece using the silver proof dies.  Slabbed by PCGS and grade PR53, which I understand to mean “Proof , about Uncirculated” – the AU grading system goes down to 50, at which point in becomes “Extremely Fine”, eg EF45.  At the risk of disagreeing with an American multi national company, this coin is clearly not uncirculated, although don’t be fooled by the obverse and reverse flat areas because to a point, these were built into the dies.  It’s a bit better than VF.  Choice.  £2,985

 

WSax-7286:  Harold II Godwinesson Late Saxon Hammered Silver Penny.  PAX issue, B.M.C. 1, 5th January 1066 – 14th October 1066 only.  +ERNCETEL ON EOF – York mint.  Of the x33 York mint Harold Godwinesson pennies recorded on the EMC / SCBI database, there is only one for Erncetel (Arnketill), making only two recorded examples extant.  A very rare moneyer.  1.45 grams so a very healthy weight for issue.  Ex Elmore Jones collection so excellent provenance.  VF and toned with weak areas 6 o’clock obverse / 3 o’clock reverse (corresponding) due to an angled strike.  A hard coin for me to photograph so several attempts included, including one with a cheap camera phone.  A rare coin.  £5,895

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                      


This Week’s Listings

 

 

WSC-7395:  Robert 1st The Bruce Scottish Hammered Silver Hoard Penny.  1306-29.  Crowned head left, sceptre before, beaded circles and legend surrounding, +:ROBERTVS: DEI: GRA:, rev. long cross pattee, pierced mullet of five points in each quarter, beaded circles +SCO TOR Vm R EX, weight 1.32g (Burns 2; Spink 5076).  The star coin in the 2009 Drayton Hoard – over a kilo of predominantly English medieval pennies.  The hoard was likely deposited in 1353; the last issue to be found in the hoard was an Edward III pre treaty York penny.  Only 34 coins out of the many thousands were Scottish.  The British Museum undertook a cursory examination and cleanup of the hoard but were unable to devote the necessary resources and time for a full study.  The coins were thereby returned to the finder under the Treasure Act where they were later sold.  A direct descendant of David 1st, Robert Bruce was crowned in 1306, on the back of ten turbulent years with various armies moving backwards and forwards over Scotland.  In 1318, Bruce’s reign saw the gradual repossession of the kingdom, partly from the English and partly from Scottish rivals.  It is likely that no coinage was struck for Robert Bruce until 1320.  Only three recorded dies, this one being Burns 2: the barred A die.   All Robert Bruce coinage is very rare but interestingly, although his coinage basically copied that of Alexander III, whereas Alexander’s coinage is often found VF or better, Robert Bruce’s coinage (on the rare occasions you do actually see an example) invariably turns up worn or damaged / pierced.  This coin is much above average for issue.  That, coupled with the all important provenance, makes this coin extremely significant and desirable.  £2,200