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 19th November 2019

 

 

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

WSC-6801:  Robert III Scottish Hammered Silver Groat.  Heavy coinage issue of 1390 – 1403.  First issue with tall, rough facing bust and three pellets at the cusps.  Spink 5165.  Edinburgh mint.  £275

 

WSC-6802:  1557 Mary “Queen of Scots” Hammered Silver Testoon.  First period, before her first marriage.  Five shillings with 0.916 fineness.  Type IIIb and the rarer of the only two dates.  Spink 5406.  The coin has been pierced and crudely plugged in antiquity.  Mary was an interesting character – far more than was shown in the recent Mary Queen of Scots film – being queen at 7 days old, married several times, implicated in the suspicious death of her second husband, Henry Stewart, the Lord Darnley, abdicated, and finally beheaded.  £195

 

WSC-6799:  James V Scottish Stuart Hammered Billon Silver Bawbee.  Third coinage, 1538 – 1542.  Annulet over the obverse 1 so Spink 5384.  1.89 grams, 23mm.  Rarer monarch.  £235

 

WCA-6800:  1714 Queen Anne Copper Farthing.  No copper was struck during the entirety of Anne’s reign other than minuscule amounts in the form of patterns.  This farthing is the only copper coin making it into Spink’s Coins of England so for farthing or monarch collectors, this is a must.  Spink 3625, Peck 741 (obverse 2, reverse E, small flan variety at 22.5mm diameter and 4.22 grams).  Anne was the last of the Stuarts, being the daughter of James II.  Anne became pregnant seventeen times but ultimately died in 1714 without surviving issue.  This led to a trawl throughout Europe to find a successor to the British monarchy which ultimately pulled in a very distant second cousin in the form of George from the House of Hanover who, incidentally, could not (and never really did) speak English.  A very rare coin.  £545

 

WMH-6797:  Edward IV Hammered Silver DURHAM Penny.  Local dies with a rose in the centre of the reverse voided quatrefoil.  First reign, heavy coinage, 1461-4.  Unusual mint signature of CIVI TAS DON ELM (should be DVN ELM) together with crude lettering – note the obverse W and all of REX.  It is interesting to note the obverse legend reads EDWARD- REX ANGLIE when all later coins are EDWARD DI GRA REX ANG(L).  It is an altered (local) Henry VI die with EDWARD in place of HENRICVS, hence the space before the saltire stop.  It is actually rarer to have the new king’s name as most are simply left as Henricvs.  Spink 1988A.  The best example I have ever seen.  £185

 

WTH-6798:  Elizabeth 1st Hammered Silver Groat.  Initial mark Lis, rarer first issue, Spring 1560 to 8th November 1561 only.  Spink 2551A.  First issue hammered groats were only struck for approximately 6 months.  This is a really interesting and somewhat rare coin as both the obverse and reverse dies were literally the much smaller first issue halfgroat dies.  £245

 

WJC-6796:  1642 Earl of Essex (Robert Devereux) Military Reward Silver-Gilt Medal.  Designed by Tomas Rawlins.  The reverse shows BOTH Houses of Parliament and the King speaking.  Robert Devereux (1591 – 1646) was the third Earl of Essex and was Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentary General.   After a long but undistinguished military career fighting for the Protestant cause in Holland and Germany, the Earl of Essex was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Parliamentary army under Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War. These badges were issued in gold and silver and given as rewards for commendable action by various ranks in his army. Though the army was fighting against the king, he is still represented on these medals for Essex hedged his bets somewhat by swearing to promote the Protestant religion, the security of the king and freedom of parliament. He thus found himself in a difficult position regarding treason but squared his action in that he was fighting, not against the king but against the king’s ‘papist and malicious advisors’, so effectively for the king!  A very similar medal with virtually no original gilding remaining is currently on sale (October 2019) at £4,500 by a leading London dealer (see here).  That same link shows you the Medallic Illustration entry (M.I.296(i)/114).  It is rare for so much gilding to be present, as it is for BOTH rings to be intact.  I have illustrated the medal on different backgrounds and under different lighting conditions.  Rare and choice.  £2,275

 

WSC-6793:  Alexander III Rarer 1st Issue STIRLING Mint Penny.  Long cross & stars, 1250-80.  hO(N) RI. ON^S TR – Henri of Stirling.  Type III, SCBI 35, 137/A, Spink 5043.  Old collection piece.  A rare Scottish mint.  £395

 

WSC-6794:  Alexander III Rarer 1st Issue FORFAR Mint Penny.  Long cross & stars, 1250-80.  SIM ON^D O(N F) O^R – Simond of Forfar.  Type III, SCBI 35, 115/A, Spink 5043.  Old collection piece.  A rare Scottish mint.  £595

 

WSC-6795:  Alexander III Rarer 1st Issue INVERNESS Mint Penny.  Long cross & stars, 1250-80.  IEFR (A) IO^N I^N(V) – Gefrai of Inverness.  Type III, SCBI 35, 123/A, Spink 5043.  Old collection piece.  A good quality repair on what is an intriguing coin – there appears to be only a single letter in the second quadrant on the reverse.  A rare Scottish mint.  Cheap.  £345

 

WCom-6792:  1655 Commonwealth Hammered Silver Shilling.  5.82 grams / 89.8 grains, 30mm at its widest.  Of the sun initial marks, 55 and 57 are many, many times rarer than the other dates with 57 being twice as rare as 55.  1655 is actually rarer than both 58 and 60 anchor shillings – as usual, Spink fail to reflect this in their pricing.  There are less than 20 extant 1655 shillings in national and private hands compared to getting on to 30-40 each of the 1658 and 1660.  The problem with this issue is that the 5 looks remarkably similar to a 3 and so when these coins are clipped, 1653 can look for all the world like 55.  There are many “1655” shillings residing in date collections all over the world that are actually the much more common 1653 dates.  This coin is in excellent grade, nicely toned and although slightly clipped – more likely just a thick, small flan due to the good weight – there is enough of the 55 showing to unambiguously attribute it to 55 – see here.  If you go onto http://www.SunandAnchor.com (an excellent reference site), you wouldn’t even need to see the date to attribute this coin to 1655.  An extremely rare coin that seldom comes up for sale – in fact I couldn’t find a true 1655 that has been sold, recently or otherwise – and in outstanding grade.  I can only locate three other examples, this one being better than all those three coins in terms of grade.  £1,875

 

 

 

 


This Week’s Listings – below this Special Offer text:

 

OK, we’re now into November and like it or not, with only about seven weeks to go, it’s time to start thinking about the C word.  So just what do you get the person in your life who has everything?  Simple – a tangible piece of our history, namely a coin or two (or more – see below!) from HistoryInCoins.com

 

We’re doing out bit at HistoryInCoins by offering the following Christmas offers:

 

1.      Buy anything from this site, pay via BACS, cheque, cash (ie anything but PayPal), and receive a maximum 15% discount as well as free postage.

 

2.      Buy any FOUR items from this site in one transaction, pay full ticket price on the most expensive THREE and receive the FOURTH item ABSOLUTELY FREE.  Again, postage will be free, as it always is.

 

A couple of years ago, one lucky customer received a rather nice Charles 1st declaration half crown, priced at £675, absolutely free!!

 

(HistoryInCoins reserves the right to withdraw this offer at any point before Christmas so please, get your orders in expeditiously!!)

 

 

 

WMH-6803:  King John Hammered Silver Penny.  Class 5b, SAMVEL.ON.CAN.  Spink 1351.  Canterbury mint town.  Very nice grade.  £165

 

WMH-6804:  Edward III Hammered Silver Halfgroat.  London mint, Treaty Period, 1351-61.  Spink 1621.  Annulet preceding EDWARDVS.  Attractively toned and very nice grade indeed.  £225

 

WJC-6805:  James 1st Coin Weight for a Hammered Gold Thistle Crown.  Second coinage only.  The actual crown circulated at four shillings – so not really a crown but that’s what it was called.  This coin weight, clearly an official output for the short-lived thistle crown, is actually to check the weight of four shillings and four and a half pence of gold.  I can only assume that at some point beyond 1619, the thistle crown was re-valued at 4s, 4 1/2d.  An interesting and uncommon Stewart coin weight.  £85