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 25th February 2020

 

 

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

 

WMH-6844:  Henry III Hammered Silver Voided Long Cross EXTETER Mint Penny.  Class 2b2, WALTER ON ECCE (Exeter) with reverse ligation on the AL of WALTER.  The mint may have been located in Rougemont Castle, Exeter.  The moneyer on this coin was Walter Okestone.  It is interesting to note that of the 192 Henry III coins found in the Colchester Hoard in 1969, hardly any were Walter and none were from this early class.  Of the 603 coins found in the Brussels hoard in 1908, only about 15% were from classes 2b2, 3a1 and 3a2, and the remaining, almost 85%, were from classes 3ab1 and 3b, with none for class 3c.  For Walter, class 2b2, there were only 6 examples.  Class 2b2 was the very first issue under Henry III at Exeter and the rarest by some margin, if you discount class 3c which has hardly any extant examples.  A very rare coin.  £125

 

WTH-6845:  Henry VII Hammered Silver Tudor Halfgroat.  Initial mark Tun, 1495-98, Canterbury mint.  Spink 2211.  An interesting coin, being jointly issued between the King and Archbishop Tunstall of Canterbury.  £65

 

WCom-6846:  1649 Commonwealth Hammered Silver Sixpence.  Initial mark Sun, Spink 3219.  If you take out the anchor coins (58, 59, 60) and the 55 and 57 (both of which are excessively rare dates with only 2 and 3 examples recorded respectively), the 49 is the rarest of the lot and by some margin.  It is estimated that there are less than 15 extant examples of the 1649 sixpence.  Further, there are roughly the same number of 1658 (anchor) sixpences extant as there are 1649s so you can see this is a very rare date in the series as well as being full flan (2.96 grams / 45.9 grains) and very nice grade.  £825

 

WMH-6841:  Henry 1st Hammered Silver Norman Penny.  B.M.C. X, facing bust / cross fleury, 1117 only.  Mint and moneyer:  NEELVS of Bedford.  Spink 1271.  Official test cut at 1 o’clock (obv) which is entirely as expected.  There are only five Bedford pennies for the entire reign of Henry 1st recorded on the EMC or SCBI databases (this coin being one of them) with only a single example (this coin) for BMC X – there are only 26 recorded for the entire Norman period!  Spink rate the commonest Norman Bedford mint penny at £800 and this is by no means the commonest Norman penny.  A very rare coin.  £885

 

WMH-6837:  Henry 1st Hammered Silver Norman Penny.  B.M.C. VII, quatrefoil with piles type.  Moneyer:  SPIRLING of London.  Spink 1268.  The official test cut at 3 o’clock is as expected - this was to reassure the public that the coin was genuine (ie silver) and not a plated counterfeit.  Type 7 coins are rare coins.  £995

 

WMH-6838:  Richard II Hammered Silver Penny.  York mint using local dies which were cruder than the London dies.  Spink 1692.  A very nice coin from a scarce and nearly always poor issue.  Lord Stewartby states that whilst production of gold throughout the reign remained constant, silver was somewhat erratic and far from prolific – silver coins headed for the Continent in huge numbers as silver was worth more there than in the UK.  Of the meagre coinage left, what you tend to see, along with Henry IV coinage, is coinage worn and clipped to within an inch of its life.  This coin is ex Rayman and ex Carlisle-Briton collections.  £175

 

WSC-6840:  1557 Mary “Queen of Scots” Hammered (Billon) Silver Plack or Fourpence.  First period, before her first marriage, 1542-58.  Spink 5437.  Uncommon.  £115

 

WSC-6834:  Robert II Scottish Hammered Silver Groat.  1371-90, Perth mint.  Spink 5136.  VILLA DE PERTh.  Star at the base of the sceptre.  An appealing coin from a rarer mint town.  £275

 

WTH-6835:  1564 Elizabeth 1st Hammered Silver Sixpence.  Initial mark Pheon, much rarer large 3E bust – Spink 2561B.  1564 as a date represents a frequency of 2.2% for the 2,716 recorded single finds of Elizabeth 1st coins and 1.8% for all 5,588 recorded Elizabeth 1st hoard coins.  A rare type coin with a high book price.  £265

 

WCA-6836:  Charles II Silver “Royalist” Supporters’ Badge.  Charles II (issued during Charles's exile - Commonwealth period, 1649-60) Silver Medal, listed in Medallic Illustration (M.I.(i)440/9) as RARE.  These were Royalist supporters badges issued to supporters or potential supporters of the monarchy, of which there were a great many, during the dark period of the Commonwealth.  They were often sewn into clothing to hide them as to be caught displaying affection and support for the monarchy under Cromwell would not go down too well.  A nice piece of tangible English Civil War history.  £355

 

WSax-6831:  Aethelred II Hammered Silver Saxon Penny – Very Rare Mint.  B.M.C. IIIa.  Late Saxon, 991 - 997AD.  Crux type.  Dorchester mint town.  Moneyer PVLFNOD.  Spink 1148.  Ex Elmore-Jones collection (1971), DNW auction (2014).  Dorchester rate at £1,500 in Spink 2020.  The coin has a slight edge crack (3 o’clock obverse).  The marks on the obverse and reverse that look like cracks are do NOT go through to the other sides.  They are either die cracks or minor surface stress marks.  The coin rings good and true when lightly dropped.  A very rare coin with excellent provenance.  £885

 

WTH-6832:  Edward VI Hammered Billon Silver Penny.  Rare LONDON Penny, Third Period, 1551, Spink 2474.  London is a lot rarer than York, contrary to what Spink suggest.  I don't recall ever having had a London third period penny before.  £175

 

WSC-6830:  Alexander III Rarer 1st Issue St Andrew’s Mint Cut Halfpenny.  Long cross & stars, 1250-80.  TO(MAS.ON.)AN – Tomas of St Andrew’s.  Type IV, Spink 5044.  One of the rarest of the Scottish mints.  The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has only a single example (a poor coin) whilst the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow holds no examples.  The National Museum (Edinburgh) holds two.  There were only two dies in use - one with AN the other as ANDER as the mint signatures.  This is a very rare coin.  £249

 

WTH-6820:  Henry VIII Hammered Silver Groat.  Third issue, no initial marks.  Bust 3 (Laker bust E).  Southwark int, Spink 2371.  Excellent portrait for issue.  £295

 

WAu-6826:  1679 Charles II Full Gold Guinea.  Fourth laureate bust, rounded truncation; crowned cruciform shields with sceptres in angles.  Spink 3344 (£2,650 VF in 2020).  8.33 grams.  Not from a mount.  £1,995

 

 

 


This Week’s Listings

 

 

WTH-6848:  1568 Elizabeth 1st  Silver Sixpence – “Screw Press” Machine Made Issue.  Small bust, initial mark Lis, Spink 2599.  Think how many 1562 milled sixpences you see compared to 1568 and then look in the 2020 Spink price guide to be amazed.  £295

 

WI-6849:  Henry VIII Posthumous (struck under Edward VI) IRISH Hammered Silver Threepence.  In the name of Henry but struck after his death, under his son, Edward VI.  Dublin mint.  This is the last issue, type IV, with the Tower bust – it is thought a lot of these Irish coins were actually struck using dies made in England.  Spink 6491.  A rarer denomination and a coin in very nice grade indeed, especially considering this was the billon or “watered down silver” period (it actually got worse in Ireland in 1552 with some coins being so debased that they looked like copper coins!).  £700 in VF in the very outdated Spink price guide.  £385

 

WMH-6847:  Henry V “Transitional” Hammered Silver Halfgroat. Very late class G obverse (class H if you use Stewart over Spink) with the frowning bust.  A very early London mint Annulet reverse from the reign of Henry VI.  Old tickets state that this is not a mule, rather the very last Henry V halfgroat, struck in August 1422, using annulet reverse dies that were intended to be used for Henry V, not Henry VI.  Spink 1775 / 1839.  A very rare and interesting coin.  £325