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 12th January 2021
Previous Weeks’ Listings (scroll down this page for “This Week’s Listings”):
WSC-6995: Alexander III Scottish
Hammered Silver Penny. Second coinage, 1280-86.
Edinburgh mint town. Class E, Spink 5056. A rare 20 point reverse but of much more
interest are the three pellets in two of the reverse quarters and the obverse
pellet after ALEXAND. You see this on
the late Saxon Ecclesiastical issues from the east of England but it is exceedingly rare
to see this deliberate die sinker’s marker on early Scottish coins. The Bodleian Museum holds a single example of
one pellet in the second quarter and two in the fourth, as do the Ashmolean, Christchurch, Edinburgh National and Hunter Museums. Of all the thousands of second issue
Alexander III pennies held by all the main institutions, I can only find five
museums, each holding a single example.
All are the Steward E, class two, twenty point types. £195
WMH-6996: Edward II Hammered Silver
Durham Penny. Class
11a, 1.27 grams, rarer Durham mint town. Spink 1467. Sold with
an old ticket and an information slip stating the coin was found on the Thames
Forshaw, London. £75
WTH-6997:
Edward VI
Hammered Billon Silver Penny. Issue of 1551, York mint.
Initial mark Mullet, 0.6 grams. Spink 2475. An excellent grade example
of this notoriously poor issue. Sold with an old ticket and an information slip. Choice. £225
WCA-6998:
Charles II
“Restoration” Period Hammered Silver Halfgroat. This is the rarer first issue, having no
inner circle or mark of value and as such, was struck very early on in that
brief window of 1660-62, after which hammered coinage was officially superseded
my milled coinage. Spink
3310. Very nice
grade with toning. £185
WSC-6993:
David 1st
Early Scottish Medieval Hammered Silver Penny. Period / Phase D (Burns’
class II), dies being of “local” and “lesser workmanship”. 21.6 grains. Crowned bust right with lis-tipped
sceptre to right, Cross Moline, pellets in quarters. Spink 5009, Burns’ 16, SCBI
(Ashmolean & Huntarian)
35. The legends on this issue are
invariably blundered (meaningless symbols) or if not, retrograde. Here you have “AVIT” of AVIT IAIT as clear as
you could hope for, which is most unusual and exceedingly welcome! The mint is thought to be Roxburgh although
the academics are not certain. Better than the Spink plate coin. Ex Lessen collection. Sold with an old ticket and annotated
coin display as well as a detailed information slip. Rare. £2,250
WMH-6994: Edward 1st Medieval
Hammered Silver KINGSTON-upon-HULL Mint Penny. Class 9b, VIL’ KYNCESTON. Kingston-upon-Hull is, contrary to what
Spink suggests, one of the two rarest mints for Edward coinage. Spink 1426. £155
WMH-6990: Richard II Hammered
Silver London Penny. The London pennies are many, many
times rarer than the York issues. Type 1, Spink 1686. Lord Stewartby states that whilst production of gold throughout
the reign of Richard II 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
“Northern” coinage (usually York)
worn and clipped to within an inch of its life.
Ex Lesken, ex DNW – see old tickets here. Any decent grade Richard II is hard to find
in today’s market. This coin (I’m fairly
sure I’m right in saying it’s the only example I’ve ever had) is very nice
grade and the rarer London mint. £495
WTH-6991: Philip & Mary High
Grade Hammered Billion Silver Penny. 1554-1558, “P.Z.M. etc”. Initial mark halved rose and castle. Spink 2510A. Sold with an old ticket and
a separate information slip. The
best I’ve ever seen - better than VF for issue and choice. £365
WSC-6992: James III “Bust
Half-Left” Hammered Silver Scottish Groat.
Main issue of 1484-1488, Edinburgh
mint. Initial mark Cross Fleury
(reverse only) and the rarer variety with the annulet on the inner circle
before the bust. Spink
5288. There is a fair amount of
dirt and crud on this coin which could easily be removed by a professional to
make this coin look a lot better.
Personally I never get involved in that side of things, preferring to
sell “as is” and let the collectors make that decision. Sold with a detailed
information slip. £575
WMH-6986: Edward II (2nd)
Medieval Hammered Silver Penny. Rarer Bury
St Edmonds (East
Anglia) mint town, class 15b,
Spink 1462. A really
good portrait on this coin, being far better than usually seen on Edward II
coins and actually a fair bit better than you see on the much commoner Edward 1st
coins. It is interesting to note
that although the reign was some 20 years in length – not that much more than
that of his father, Edward 1st – Edward II coins are far, far rarer
in numbers. Sold with
an old ticket and an information slip.
£125
WMH-6983: Stephen Norman Hammered
Silver Penny. B.M.C.
1, Cross Moline or “Watford”
type, circa 1136-45. +STIE[FNE
REX] and +R[ICA]RD:ON:SAF – the rare Shaftsbury mint
town. Spink 1278. Sold with an old ticket –
see here. Ex Spink. Very rare, obviously for
the mint town but also because of the grade. £785
WAu-6973: Henry VIII Hammered Gold
Angel. First
coinage, initial mark Castle (with an unusual pellet above the left side), 1509
– 1526. 28mm,
5.05 grams. Tower
mint, Schneider 557-8 for type. Spink 2265. Ex El Medina collection.
Henry VIII was a very different man and king in this first coinage. Later in his 38 year reign (it always seems
like it was much longer to me!), events centred around
the king became undoubtedly more interesting, but far less pleasant. The Portcullis initial mark is usually seen
on these first coinage Angels so this is a slightly rarer coin. Another point of interest in the h and rose
either side of the mast on the ship.
This signifies the ship on the reverse of the coin was the Mary Rose;
Henry’s flagship for 34 years until it sank in July 1545 in the battle of the
Solent, as Henry VIII looked on. The
wreckage of the Mary Rose wasn’t discovered until 1971 and not raised until
1982. I’m giving my age away here when I
tell you that I went down to Portsmouth in the sixth form to
officially visit Portsmouth Polytechnic but unofficially go and see the Mary
Rose shortly after the display was put on.
I recall that I had absolutely no intention whatsoever of signing up to
that institution – in those days not only did the government give you money to
attend university, they also paid you to go and visit
such places. I remember the Mary Rose
display vividly, even after all these years – I genuinely can’t remember if I
even bothered to go to Portsmouth Polytechnic that day! Sold with a couple of
tickets. A very interesting,
hammered gold coin from one of England’s most iconic
monarchs. £1,975
WSax-6968: Cnut
Late Saxon Hammered Silver Penny. B.M.C. VIII - Quatrefoil type (1017-23), “+AELFPI MO LEHR”. Spink 1157. Rarer Leicester mint. £595
WSax-6969: Edward The Confessor
Saxon Hammered Silver Penny. Late Saxon – small flan type (1048-50). B.M.C. II.
Sandwich mint - LIFPINE. Very rare mint town.
The obverse mark by the king’s face is a difference in height of the
silver and the reverse stress mark is surface only. This was clearly not a good blank that they
used. £635
WAu-6967: Charles 1st
Hammered Gold Unite. Tower mint
under the king, initial mark Crown / Crown over Bell (1635-36), class D,
bust 5, Spink 2692. A
very good grade, problem-free coin.
The weight is 8.95 grams, which is virtually full weight and all the
more interesting when you bear in mind that around 1630, the mint initiated a
policy of issuing reduced weight unites in order to save money. This coin, a good five years into that
process, survived remarkably unscathed.
£2,795
WMH-6956: Unique Stephen Norman
Penny – Tutbury Castle, family seat of Robert de Ferrers, second Earl of Derby. Unique Tutbury mint
coin. Obverse: [STEPH]ANVSX, crude crowned bust right holding sceptre. Reverse: WALCMI.[INVS]
TVT, voided short cross with annulet in centre, martlets
in angles, reminiscent of the Edward Confessor Saxon Sovereign / Eagles B.M.C.9
coin. Struck in the summer of 1141 when
Stephen was held in captivity, at a time when royal control had all but broken
down and chaos (anarchy) prevailed,especially
amongst the King’s supporters. Spink 1298 var and Mack 175 var. Listed as a Southern Variant in Spink and not
an East
Midland’s variant – Derby is in the East Midlands and Tutbury Castle is a short distance
south east of Derby in East Staffordshire. Mack (the definitive work on Stephen coinage)
states that “…all known coins are from the same die pairing” with
the reverse having the legend: +WALCHELINVS DERBI. There were three coins and a cut half of this
type found in Ashby-de-la-Zouch in 1788 and one other found in London at a
similar although unspecified date. The
obverse and reverse of this coin are definitely not
a die pair to the other 4 ½ extant “DERBI” examples. This is a unique coin, from the hitherto
unrecorded mint of Tutbury. Walkelin, the
moneyer at both Derby and Tutbury, was a family name of the de Ferrers
and so it is likely that the family itself struck this coinage. The dies were local, in their crudity and
workmanship, and were cut by the local seal cutter (see BNJ, v, p.439 and Carlyon-Britton sale catalogue note under lot 1482). There is obviously no research as to why the
family changed the mint town on the coins from Derby to Tutbury
(or vice versa) – Tutbury Castle was in the hands of
the Earls of Derby throughout this period – as this is the first and only
example of a Tutbury coin known. There is only a single coin of this type
listed on the E.M.C database, it being this exact same coin. This coin made the news some 10 years ago
when it was found as a “£10K coin find”, which is remarkable in itself but
possibly more so that I can actually remember it making the news, even though I
can’t remember what I did last week, never mind what happened ten years
ago! 0.97g / 90 degree die
rotation. Ex DNW auction 2014 and ex another
auction (see later entry here). The coin is described as VF in that
entry. The coin has been professionally
repaired at 6 o’clock to a remarkably high
standard; only apparent under a loop, or the all-revealing camera / lighting
setup that I employ for photography.
There is a Castle Rising Watford type Stephen penny doing the rounds of
dealers at the moment for £4,000+. It is
not as clear on the legends, not as good a bust, is a rare mint but there are
well into double figures of that mint known, and is a just Watford type. I think that puts this coin into context
rather nicely, especially as any discount you may have been awarded previously
will be valid on this coin. £8,850
This Week’s Listings
WMH-6999:
Edward II
Medieval Hammered Silver Penny. Rarer Bury St Edmonds mint.
Class 11a, Spink 1455. Sold with an old ticket and an information slip. The coin has an
unusually strong portrait. Edward II
coinage is much scarcer than Edward 1st, which is partly accounted
for by the general lack of prosperity during this reign, as well as the
increased military action, mainly directed towards the Scottish. Interestingly, the mints of Edward II were
more prolific at the start of the reign, tailing off somewhat after class
XIV. Bury St Edmonds is the only mint to
have gone the opposite way – weak output initially with class XI and XII, with
volume gradually building until class XIII. 
£79
WMH-7000:
Henry VI
Medieval Hammered Silver Penny. First reign, Calais mint.
Rosette-Mascle issue of
1430-31 only. Spink
1865. The
town of Calais in what is now Northern France was under English rule
from 1347 until 7th January 1558, being a bit of a
vanity statement for the English monarchs in their claim on the French crown.
It cost almost 1/5th of all the revenue collected in England to maintain Calais as an English
possession. The mint closed in 1440
after really only producing limited coinage under Edward III, a tiny amount of
gold under Richard II and Henry IV, a miniscule quantity of farthings under
Henry V and some of the earlier coinage of Henry VI. A nice grade coin which,
contrary to my somewhat suspect photographic skills, is actually evenly matched
in colour and tone in the hand. Sold with an old ticket and an
information slip. £95
WMH-7001: Edward IV Medieval
Hammered Silver Penny. Second reign, Episcopal issue at York under Archbishop Neville (1471-72)
with a G & Key by the neck. Spink 2125. A much
above average example of this usually poor issue, being in my opinion slightly
better in detail than even the 2021 Spink plate coin, which was presumably the
best example they could lay their hands on to photograph. Note the strong key right of bust and the
vertical nature of said key – something we usually associate with the Richard
III coinage (Spink 2166-7). A very nice coin indeed. £165
WTH-7002: Elizabeth 1st Hammered
Silver Groat. Initial mark Cross Crosslet, second
issue, 1st
December 1560 to 24th October 1561. Spink 2556. Old tickets here. Second issue Cross Crosslet hammered groats were
only struck for a total of 10 months (1st December 1560 to 24th October 1561)
– the Martlet and Cross Crosslet were the last Groat
issues even though Elizabeth reigned for a further 40+ years. Spink 2556. This coin is from the magnificent Walter
Wilkinson collection. As many of you
will probably be aware, not lest because I keep going on about it, Walter
Wilkinson was an outstanding researcher, a wonderful gentleman (one I was
fortunate enough to have some correspondence with before his sad passing), and
a man who had over the years put together one of the finest known Elizabeth 1st
coin collections. Throughout those long
years of fruitful collecting, he was constantly striving to upgrade the
individual coins in his collection in order that he had the best possible. This groat is
testament to just that. Choice. £595
