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.
Most sold coins are now
accessible via a new link on the front (index) page category grid.
Additions to www.HistoryInCoins.com
for week commencing Tuesday 23rd June 2026
WI-9359: **Choice** 1558 Irish
Elizabeth 1st Hammered Silver Groat. Base coinage of 1558 with 0.250 silver
fineness. Initial mark
Rose, S.R. 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.
Coupled with the fact that this first issue was only
25% silver, it was also a poorly struck issue with the relatively few known
examples invariably being of lower grade. This coin is about mint state – virtually “As
Struck”. Examine the obverse carefully
and you'll see fantastic detailing to the Queen's chest, crown and face. A quite remarkable coin and incidentally,
much superior to the S.R. plate coin. Choice. 
£1,850
WI-9360: **Choice**
James 1st Irish Hammered Silver Shilling.
First coinage, fine silver issue, 1603-4, first bust with short
square-cut beard, initial mark Bell, S.R.6512. Actually minted in London, the reason being that James
wanted uniformity of currency throughout his realms of Great Britain and Ireland.
An admirable concept, and one that James did in
fact achieve - the Irish coinage became progressively poorer up until 1607,
when silver coinage stopped abruptly, but so did the corresponding English
issues. On the mainland though, they did
not end minting at 1607 but continued through to the early 1620's, following
that same steep, downward trajectory of quality of coinage, until a substantial
recovery ensued towards the very final years of the reign. The coin for sale here is exceptional, even
allowing for it being first coinage. It
is much superior to the S.R. plate coin, presumably the best grade example they
could source from the mighty list of collectors and collections that they (and
Spink) hold. Coincraft (who could only
locate a second coinage shilling as plate coin, which is clearly not like for
like but never-the-less, this coin still much better than that example) best
sum up just how good a coin this is:
"Coins are often damaged and the king's bust is weakly struck
on most of them. Coins in better than
Fine condition are rare."
This coin is near EF grade, which really says it all. Choice. £1,675
WI-9361: **Much
Above Average** Henry VII Irish Hammered Silver Three
Crowns Groat. Early "Three
Crowns" issue of 1485-87. No mint stated,
but it was Dublin.
Also, no monarch's name on this particular issue; instead we have REX
ANGLIE FRANCIE on the obverse and DOMINVS HyBERNIE on
the reverse. S.R.6414. The lack of a monarch's name, on
official coinage of a size able to take the name (some fractional denominations
had to omit the regnal name for reasons of space, but even they tended to at
least give the monarch's initials) is remarkable. The reason is that in Dublin, Gerald, the
Earl of Kildare, held what was virtually a Royal Court with him as a
demy-monarch, whereas Waterford did indeed go with the king's name on the
obverse of their coinage as their overseer was very much a supporter of Henry
(and a strong anti-Yorkist) - in fact they were so
pro the king in Waterford than as well as the king's name, they even added an
"H" to the coin below the smallest reverse crown! "Coins are rarely found in better
than Fine condition" - Coincraft.
This is a lovely example, being the best I've seen in many a year. £845
Provenance:
ex Spink, sold for £100 in February 1985 (41 years ago!)
to...
ex David Bianchi collection
WI-9362: **Excessively
Rare** Henry VII Irish Hammered Silver Three Crowns PENNY. Early "Three Crowns" issue of
1485-87. No mint stated, but it was Dublin.
Also, no monarch's name on this particular issue; instead we have REX
ANGLIE FRANC on the obverse and DOMINVS VRERNI (Lord of Ireland) on the
reverse. The lack of a monarch's name,
on official coinage of a sizeable to take the name (some fractional
denominations had to omit the regnal name for reasons of space, but even they
tended to at least give the monarch's initials) is remarkable. The reason is that in Dublin, Gerald, the Earl of Kildare, held
what was virtually a Royal Court with him as demy-monarch. There is actually a second issue three crowns
penny with the king's name resplendent on the obverse legend meaning, as is so
often the case, size is not an issue here.
S.R.6424. These
silver three crown pennies were struck in miniscule numbers, probably because
there were enough pennies still remaining in circulation from Edward IV's
issue. In many decades of being involved
in this hobby, I don't recall ever seeing one before - they really are that
rare. There were two issues of penny -
the Early Three Crowns variety of 1485-87 and the Late Three Crowns variety of
1488-90. The former has the DOMINVS
legend whilst the latter has the DOMINOS legend. Even though this coin is chipped (and you
rarely, if ever, get the legends anyway), you can clearly see the VS
differentiation here, cementing it into that early first period. Of the greatest rarity.
£995
WI-9363: **Choice**
Charles 1st Irish Hammered Silver Ormonde Money Halfcrown. The Great Rebellion in Ireland.
Issued by the Lords Justices at Dublin and termed Ormond Money due to the
Earl of Ormonde being appointed Lieutenant of Ireland in 1643. This was the final coinage of the rebellion
period to be issued. This issue demonstrated
allegiance to the monarch by incorporating the king’s crown on the
obverse. Issued
1643-1644. Obverse: a large C•R
with a much flourished R, crown above; all within a linear and beaded border /
reverse: a large II with a small S above and large VI with small D above (2
shilling, 6 pence); all within a linear and beaded border. S.R.6545. Very much along the
lines of the English Newark, Pontefract, Carlisle etc siege pieces; the Ormonde
Money was crudely cut from flattened silver plate and hammered with the
die. These dies were not engraved to
anywhere near the quality of regular coinage, resulting in a coin far from what
we might expect a professional moneyer to produce working out of an official
mint. As a result, Ormonde coinage is
usually poor, as ever summed up eloquently and concisely by Coincraft: "This
[halfcrown] issue is scarce but obtainable, although coins are rarely found in
better than Fine condition."
The Coincraft plate coin is not as good as this coin. The S.R. plate coin is a decidedly odd
example with the II and VI bizarrely being of equal height. Very similar to the Baldwin example, even down to the slightly
angled strike creating matching flat areas, which sold for north of £2,000 if
memory serves. The London Coins example
was a lesser grade coin, also being off-struck, which sold for £1,500 after
commissions in 2017. This same coin sold
14 years ago (2012) in a CNG featured auction for $1,950 before add-ons. Choice. £1,975
Provenance:
ex
C.J. Denton, sold to the...
ex Innisfree Collection, sold by...
ex
CNG, January 2012, sold for $1,950 to the...
ex
David Bianchi collection
WI-9364: **Choice**
Charles 1st Irish Hammered Silver Ormonde Money Shilling. The Great Rebellion in Ireland.
Issued by the Lords Justices at Dublin and termed Ormond Money due to the
Earl of Ormonde being appointed Lieutenant of Ireland in 1643. This was the final coinage of the rebellion
period to be issued. This issue
demonstrated allegiance to the monarch by incorporating the king’s crown on the
obverse. Issued
1643-1644. Obverse: a large C•R
with a non flourished R, crown above; all within a linear and beaded border /
reverse: a large X.II with a small D above (12 pence); all within a linear and
beaded border. S.R.6546.
Very much along the lines of the English Newark, Pontefract,
Carlisle etc siege pieces; the Ormonde Money was crudely cut from flattened
silver plate and hammered with the die.
These dies were not engraved to anywhere near the quality of regular
coinage, resulting in a coin far from what we might expect a professional
moneyer to produce working out of an official mint. As a result, Ormonde coinage is usually poor,
as ever summed up eloquently and concisely by Coincraft: "This
[shilling] issue, whilst scarce, is obtainable but rarely found in better than
Fine condition." Emanating
from the famous Marshall collection, renowned for the
exceptional quality of the coins it contained.
Enthusiastically graded to EF on the old, accompanying
ticket, but still a solid VF for issue.
Choice. £995
Provenance:
ex
Marshall Collection, dispersed...
ex
Spink, 2004
WI-9365: Charles
1st Irish Hammered Silver Ormonde Money Groat. The Great Rebellion in Ireland.
Issued by the Lords Justices at Dublin and termed Ormond Money due to the
Earl of Ormonde being appointed Lieutenant of Ireland in 1643. This was the final coinage of the rebellion
period to be issued. This issue demonstrated
allegiance to the monarch by incorporating the king’s crown on the
obverse. Issued
1643-1644. Large
C•R; crown above; all within a linear and beaded border / Large IIII; small D
above; all within a linear and beaded border. S.R. 6548. Very much along the lines of the English
Newark, Pontefract, Carlisle etc siege pieces; the Ormonde Money was crudely
cut from flattened silver plate - in this case the person charged with cutting
the blanks or planchets from the silver plate had seemingly lost the will and
had deteriorated into cutting out squares! - and
hammered with the die. These dies were
not engraved to anywhere near the quality of regular coinage, resulting in a
coin far from what we might expect a professional moneyer to produce working
out of an official mint. As a result,
Ormonde coinage is usually poor, especially so the smaller denominations, this
example being a grade or so better than is usually encountered. £425
WI-9366: **Choice**
Charles 1st Irish Hammered Silver Dublin Money Crown. Also termed "Money of
Necessity". S.R.6542. The Great Rebellion
of the three kingdoms in Ireland.
Issued by the Lords Justices at Dublin.
In 1642, Dublin and its hinterland was surrounded – it was a siege in
all but name – with Dublin being cut off from the rest of Ireland but still
linked to their political masters in England by sea. The massive influx of the
20,000 soldiers in the “English Army for Ireland” caused economic problems for Dublin – they had to be paid and they
needed to spend money on essentials – and they needed money to do this. Similarly, the Dublin merchants needed coins for
change. There were three separate
emergency issues in 1642 – struck from cut and flattened silver plate collected
in around Dublin by supporters of Charles I on the outbreak of Civil War in
England. The plate was at first donated
(£1,200 worth) and later received in exchange for promissory notes. The Dublin Money issue of 1643 was struck in
crown and halfcrown only. The preceding
1642 Inchiquin Money and the following 1643-4 Ormonde
Money were comprised of crowns down to the smaller denominations. At 29.00g, this issue is just about full
weight - being an extremely rare issue with very few extant crowns, it has been
historically difficult to gauge just how close to the standard 30g this issue
was. NGC have slabbed a halfcrown at
11.25g but there is ambiguity as to whether that coin was clipped or not, even
though it's some way off it's standard 15g. Of that miniscule cohort of Dublin Money full
crowns, this would appear to be the best grade example - clearly that grade is
based predominantly on the small Vs punch, although the actual silver plate
will form part of that overall grade: there is an example with a deep scratch
one side, far away from the stamp, but on the coin never-the-less. The Coincraft plate coin is not as good as
this example and the S.R. plate coin, whilst one side is equivalent to this
coin, has a poorly struck stamp the other (not shown in the reference
guide). From the
outstanding collection of author and member of the Numismatic Society of
Ireland, John Noel Simpson. The
best grade example I can source of one of the rarest Irish coins of any
period. Choice.
£8,450
Provenance:
ex
John Noel Simpson Collection, dispersed...
ex
Spink
