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.

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Additions to www.HistoryInCoins.com for week commencing Tuesday 25th March 2025

WTH-9109: Significant 1551 Edward VI Hammered Silver Sixpence. Third period, "Fine Silver" issue. Initial mark y so one of the very first coins struck (circa 1551). This issue, coming on the back of decades of Henry VIII coinage that didn't look like silver - and actually didn't contain much silver - took the populace by surprise. Many were suspicious at handling this unfamiliar looking coinage, often biting and bending it to test the silver. However, much more interesting than all that - this coin is a rare survivor of the 1696 Great Recoinage. The Great Recoinage was the first part in a two part process to remove all the old fashioned hammered coinage, most of it clipped, worn and underweight, from British circulation. The entire point of a coin back then was that the silver content represented the actual value, so a badly clipped silver hammered penny was actually not worth a penny anymore in real terms. Milled currency, featuring milled edges as proof against clipping, had started some 30 years earlier at the start of the Restoration. However, the earlier hammered coinage had been around for many, many centuries and thus couldn’t be removed overnight. In 1696, all hammered currency had to be assessed. Coins that were still “full weight, of a presentable nature, with a piercing that conforms to the Act – central, no metal loss; signs of having been in circulation for at least 50 years” (this last criteria presumably to protect against counterfeits), were certified and allowed to circulate freely alongside the new milled coinage post 1696. All other hammered coins were removed from circulation by exchanging them for the new milled currency. The sting in the tail was that the old hammered currency was exchanged by weight, not value! In actual fact, the majority of hammered coinage was effectively withdrawn from circulation under this process. This was, however, only a temporary stay of execution as under George II, just a few decades later, all hammered coinage was removed from circulation and legally made non-currency. There are no exact surviving records of numbers for this process but it was generally considered to be far from a success economically for the state. Many centrally pierced hammered coins probably ended up melted down as later collectors probably assumed the hole was merely damage, making these few survivors even rarer. Sixpences turn up less frequently than shillings, especially in this VF grade. That, coupled with the Great Recoinage association, makes this an extremely important and desirable coin. £445

Provenance

ex Baldwin's

WTH-9110: 1589 Elizabeth 1st Jetton or Medalet - DEFEAT OF THE SPANISH ARMADA. As ever, much imagery: a pious Elizabeth 1st, seated, holding a prayer book, and a reverse suggesting that England is an innocent green tree supporting young, nesting birds whilst being attacked by the hawkish Spanish. Medallic Illustrations 153/128, Dugn 3230. May 1588 witnessed a Spanish fleet consisting of about 130 ships with about 8,000 seamen and possibly as many as 19,000 soldiers leaving Lisbon en route for England. It was a formidable attack force - they termed it the Invincible Armada - which was four years in the making but which ultimately failed. Julius Caesar's two invasions of Britain in 55 and 54 BC failed mainly because of the weather but whilst the Spanish Armada failed in part due to bad weather, it was bad tactics with bad luck that defeated the Spanish Armada. It's quite surprising that it took a year to prepare the dies and even longer to get the medals out to the public. A high grade example - remember, this is 1589 and copper is a soft metal. £335

Provenance

ex S & B Coins (Simon Monks & Brian Reeds)1992

ex Baldwin's

WTH-9111: 1585 Elizabeth 1st Jetton or Medalet - ASSISTANCE TO THE UNITED PROVINCES. As ever, much imagery: Elizabeth 1st, enthroned, gives roses to two deputies - "THE SOUL IS SLAIN BY THE NECTAR OF THE (ENGLISH) ROSE". The reverse depicts two Spaniards eating hay along with a donkey and an ass: "I DESPISE AMBROSIA; I EAT HAY". Medallic Illustrations 133/86, Dugn 3044. Europe asked England to step in and help, which she did, and successfully - the Rose of England is compared to the immortalising nectar of the gods. The Spaniards, who refused the Ambrosia of England, were reduced to absolute want, being glad to obtain even the food fit only for cattle. A high grade example - remember, this is 1585 and copper is a soft metal. £335

Provenance

ex S & B Coins (Simon Monks & Brian Reeds)1995

ex Baldwin's

WTH-9112: 1586 Elizabeth 1st SILVER Jetton or Medalet - ASSISTANCE TO THE UNITED PROVINCES. As ever, much imagery: Elizabeth 1st, enthroned, attended by Leicester, presenting English swords to two attendants from the United Provinces. The Earl of Leicester was a staunch Protestant and was close to the queen. The reverse shows a sword piercing the clouds, meaning that no matter how good the sword of Elizabeth, a reliance upon the word of God must be their mainstay. Medallic Illustrations 133/87, Dugn 3096. Europe asked England to step in and help, which she did, and successfully - the Rose of England is compared to the immortalising nectar of the gods. The Spaniards, who refused the Ambrosia of England, were reduced to absolute want, being glad to obtain even the food fit only for cattle. A high grade, rare silver example - remember, this is 450 years old. £495

Provenance

ex S & B Coins (Simon Monks & Brian Reeds)1997

ex Baldwin's

WJC-9113: CHOICE 1646 Charles 1st Hammered Silver Shilling - BRIDGNORTH-on-SEVERN. Late declaration Civil War coin. Initial mark Plume over a very clear ligated BR, plumelet before the king, XII behind. Reverse with a scroll above the declaration. Bridgnorth-on-Servern. Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Bridgnorth-on-Severn mints have a close association with Bristol. It is thought that after Bristol surrendered in September of 1645, the moneyers upped sticks and ended up at the two above locations, first Ashby and then Bridgnorth, again plying their trade as moneyers but crucially, using altered Bristol dies. The halfcrowns adopted A and B initials under the horse. It should be noted here that both Ashby and Bridgnorth are tentative attributions - I refer the reader to the Ashby-de-la-Zouch shilling (WJC-8075) listed on this website and the accompanying write up. This example, benefiting enormously from its high grade, is actually Spink 3040, not 3039 (or 3039a) as stated. It is very much an altered Bristol obverse die, hence the initial mark Plume over a very clear ligated BR, but where Spink 3039A has nothing in front of the king's face, this coin has a somewhat crude plume added. As such, this would appear to have started out life as a Bristol obverse die, was then taken to Ashby-de-la-Zouch (or wherever mint "A" was, if indeed it even was a fixed location) when Bristol fell, where it probably had some use producing the Ashby Spink 3031. It was then transported to Bridgnorth-on-Servern (the same caveat as Ashby, but this time mint "B"), when Ashby fell on 26th April 1646, where it possibly saw some use producing Spink 3039A before finally being altered one more time to give both a plume before the face and a plumelet as an initial mark - Spink 3040. Quite a journey! Of equal significance, being already alluded to above, is the grade of this coin, especially after the die had been through so much. A bold VF (your bog-standard straight VF price in Spink is £3,500) being bright and lustrous with a hint of cabinet toning. That's erring on the conservative side - I rate this coin as being not far off EF in grade, albeit with a slight double strike on the obverse, as a lot of these Bridgnorth coins seemed to attract. If not the best example known by grade (I think the Brooker example was fairly comparable), certainly top three. It would be an interesting exercise to see how the likes of NGS assess the grade of this coin. Finally, the all important provenance. In 1913, immediately prior to the onset of World War One, Alfred Leonard Fuller of Bath (born 1870, died 1941) purchased this coin, by private treaty, for the princely sum of exactly one pound. Most unusually, that coin stayed within the same collection, within the same family, for well over 100 years! Choice, choice, choice! £3,375