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
Previous Weeks’ Listings (scroll down this page for “This Week’s Listings”):
WSC-7698:
Scottish James
III Hammered Copper Three-Penny Penny.
Formally regarded as an Ecclesiastical “Crossraguel” issue of Bishop Kennedy. Spink 5309. If you’re interested, the Scottish had a
penchant for naming coins from the actual coin legends (the Nonsunt
under Mary springs to mind) and this is no exception. James III was an interesting individual. Crowned aged 9, the Scots lost Berwick to
keep the peace with England but gained Orkney and the Shetland Isles as a part
dowry (which makes you wonder what the other part of the dowry was!) when James
married Margaret of Denmark (she was just 13).
James III was so unpopular due to his lifestyle and blind insistence
upon a policy of pursuing an alliance with the
WSC-7699:
Scottish James IV
Hammered Billon Silver Penny. Type III with a larger bust, Spink 5361.
WSC-7700:
Scottish James V
Hammered Billon Silver 4d Plack. First coinage, 1513-26,
Spink 5381.
WSC-7701:
1575 Scottish
James VI Hammered Silver Half Merk or Noble. Second coinage, 6s 8d,
Spink 5478. A
better date. Ex Mark
Rasmusson. Very nice grade. £395
WSC-7702:
1594 Scottish
James VI Hammered Silver Five Shillings.
Seventh coinage, Spink 5478. This is a much rarer denomination that the
ten shillings – London Coins state they’ve only ever handled one example in x20
years, which is this coin. Excellent grade. £495
WMH-7703:
Henry 1st
Hammered Silver NORMAN Penny. Small profile / cross & annulets type, B.M.C. XII, circa
1119 only. Spink
1273. Mint and moneyer uncertain
– if it wasn’t for the questionable slabbing
on this coin, I suspect something could be gleaned. Ex B. Tregen collection,
ex Mike Vosper (that ticket originally lost but now found and thus
sold with the coin). Hard
to photograph but actually good central detail with peripheral weakness in the
strike. I’m told it’s easy to
remove the plastic slab. £885
WTH-7704:
1561 Elizabeth 1st
Hammered Silver Tudor Three Halfpence (1 1/2d). Third issue, initial mark Pheon, rarer large flan, Spink 2568. Ex Chris Comber collection. Outstanding grade. £265
WTH-7705:
1568 Elizabeth 1st
Hammered Silver Tudor Sixpence. Third issue, initial mark Coronet, Spink 2562. Ex C. Martin 1981, ex Chris
Comber collection. 1568 as a date
represents a frequency of 4.6% for the 2,716 recorded single finds of Elizabeth
1st coins and 5.1% for all 5,588 recorded Elizabeth 1st hoard coins. Outstanding grade. £285
WTH-7706:
1576 Elizabeth 1st
Hammered Silver Tudor Sixpence. Third issue, initial mark Eglantine, Spink 2563. 1576 as a date represents a frequency of 0.8%
for the 2,716 recorded single finds of Elizabeth 1st coins and 1.0% for all
5,588 recorded Elizabeth 1st hoard coins.
1576 is the sixteenth rarest of all forty two dates. Strong reverse, especially
date. £125
WTH-7707:
1588 Elizabeth
1st Hammered Silver Tudor Sixpence. Sixth issue, initial mark
Crescent, Spink 2578A. 1588 as a
date represents a frequency of 0.2% for the 2,716 recorded single finds of
Elizabeth 1st coins and 0.2% for all 5,588 recorded Elizabeth 1st hoard
coins. 1588 is the fourth rarest of
all forty two dates. The famous
Spanish Armada date and although only 4th rarest in the “league
table”, this date is arguably the most sought after of all dates. If you check prices in previous (proper) coin
auctions, you’ll see some very high prices, especially in the States, and don’t
forget there’s 30% buyer’s commission on top of those prices. Interestingly, this coin looks to have been a
158- die where the final 8 has been added, presumably because this was a time
of austerity where relatively few coins were struck; the thought being that
these dies could be used over several years without the need to
overdate. RESERVED
WTH-7708:
1589 Elizabeth
1st Hammered Silver Tudor Sixpence. Sixth issue, initial mark
Crescent, Spink 2578A. 1589 as a date
represents a frequency of 0.5% for the 2,716 recorded single finds of Elizabeth
1st coins and 0.5% for all 5,588 recorded Elizabeth 1st hoard coins. 1589 is the seventh rarest of all forty
two dates. Very
nice grade for such a late issue.
RESERVED
WTH-7709:
1597 Elizabeth
1st Hammered Silver Tudor Sixpence. Sixth issue, initial mark
Key, Spink 2578B. 1597 as a date
represents a frequency of <0.04% for the 2,716 recorded single finds of
Elizabeth 1st coins and <0.03% for all 5,588 recorded Elizabeth 1st hoard
coins. 1597 is the rarest of all
forty two dates. I have only had one
better through my hands in many, many years.
That was the Walter Wilkinson coin which now forms the backbone of a
very impressive, growing collection and definitely not available. A great rarity, especially
in this grade. £950
WTH-7710:
1589 Elizabeth
1st Hammered Spanish Armada Jetton or Medal. Issued the year after the
famous defeat of the Armada in May 1588.
30mm, 8h, 5.89g. Eimer 63, MI(i) 153/128. About as historically significant for this period in history as is
possible. £235
WAu-7694:
Henry VI
Hammered Gold First Reign Noble. Annulet issue of 1422-30.
Initial mark Lis,
WAu-7695:
Charles 1st
Hammered Gold Crown. Initial mark Lis, Tower
mint under the King. Group A, first bust of 1625 depicting the king in his coronation
robes. Excellent
grade, being the very first gold crown to be issued under Charles 1st. £1,795
WSC-7696:
Mary Scottish
Stuart Hammered Billon Silver Bawbee. First period, 1542-58, before her marriage -
remember, Mary was born December 1542.
Issue of ¾ alloy.
WI-7697:
Irish Edward IV
Medieval Hammered Silver Penny. Clear mint signature CIVI TAS DVB LIn -
WMH-7689:
William “Rufus” II Norman
Hammered Silver Penny. Cross in quatrefoil issue (B.M.C.
II) of 1089–92 only. COLBERN ON PALI – Kolbjern of
WTH-7690:
1601 Elizabeth 1st
Hammered Silver Halfcrown. Seventh issue, Spink 2583.
The Edward VI crowns and halfcrowns – primarily just eye-catching big
coins to promote Edward’s restoration of the sterling standard (after Henry VIII’s escapades) in 1551 – didn’t really take off. The German thaler,
which was introduced actually before Elizabeth 1st was even born,
and the Spanish dollar or piece of eight, was brought to the attention of the English
mint towards the very end of the reign as a bullion coin for use with the East
India Company. Prior to 1600, the
company had used foreign coinage and then the testern
or Portcullis pieces for transportation of bullion, neither of which were well
received by the monarchy, particularly the latter as it did not bear the
queen’s portrait. The large flans of
these new crowns and halfcrowns were ideal for the engraver Charles Anthony to
display his ionic portrait which pleased the queen enormously compared to the
non portrait testerns. This was either luck or great foresight as
within 50 years, the halfcrown was the principle circulating coin in the
English economy! An interesting die
variation with the sceptre pointing to the I of
WSC-7691:
1560 / 1578
Francis and Mary Scottish Stuart Hammered Silver HALF Testoon. Second period, 1558-60, type II, dated 1560,
Spink 5420. Weight 2.83 grams and die rotation
11h. A rare later issue HALF Testoon but
elevated to being much, much rarer with the addition of the 1578 crowned
thistle counterstamp under James VI, officially
revaluing this coin from its original 2s 6d to a heady 3s 8d – see page 76 of the most
recent Scottish edition of Spink. Coincraft are usually good for useful bits of information –
see here. The third issue coin that they allude to, the only other recorded example on their
database, is Spink 5423 – Third Period.
An exceptionally rare / likely to be unique coin which would be one of
the highlights in any Scottish collection; national or private. £5,875
This Week’s Listings:
WMH-7711:
William 1st
Hammered Silver Norman Penny. B.M.C.
1, Profile left, cross fleury
issue of 1066-68. +BRIHTNAR ON PIN – Britmar of 
£2,450
WTH-7712:
Henry VIII
Hammered Silver Tudor Halfpenny.
Second coinage, 1526-44, RESERVED
WCA-7713: Charles 1st Hammered
Silver Civil War Era Hafcrown. Group III third horseman, initial mark (P), 1643-4. 3a3 and importantly for the Civil War link, struck at the Tower Mint under Parliament. Spink 2778. A high grade example of this often poorly
struck issue – the dies of 3a3 were all of cruder workmanship, presumably as a
result of the troubled times. Two point
of interest: a) At
14.53g, this is clearly underweight (should be 15g) but there is no evidence
whatsoever of clipping. Again, this is
either down to the preoccupation of the war or even deliberate
cost-cutting? b) There is a bevelled
area on the obverse, where the ground line should be, and a second,
perpendicular to this one, running vertically up through the horses head. These (and two others which are not apparent)
show us that this coin was struck x4 times.
You might be thinking why the extra three? Well, pennies could be struck with a single
hit but thick silver planchets such as this required multiple strikes to get
the die cuttings onto the coin. In my
opinion, it’s nice to see such indicators.
A stunning coin. RESERVED
WCom-7714:
1651
Commonwealth Hammered Silver Sixpence.
Initial mark Sun so struck under the Protectorship of Oliver Cromwell – later Anchor coins were
under his son, Richard Cromwell. 2.92g. Spink 3217. ESC lists three varieties: 51/49, 51 with no
stops at the initial mark and a straight 51.
This is none of those. Three
point of interest, other than the obvious high grade nature of this coin: a) The obverse is a 1649 die and the
reverse is a most interesting 1650 die with a modified date of 1651 (thanks to
the wonderful and very knowledgeable Sun&Anchor
for this), meaning that this coin was struck using a die from a year that
doesn’t exist!! They did prepare
1650 dies but no silver coins were struck.
b) The obverse (non dated side), has a little bit of double striking
going on but really, only apparent on the N and H of COMMONWEALTH. The N is very
localised, not affecting the two letters either side. The H, however, is a different matter
altogether – the H is literally UNDERNEATH the F of OF
(how would that work for double striking?!) and further, the F over the H is a
SMALLER F than the F of OF! See image. c) The reverse S of VS is struck over a
V. There is no indication of double
striking on this side. See image. A superb coin - high grade,
interesting and choice. RESERVED
WSC-7715:
James V Stuart
Hammered Billon Silver Bawbee or Sixpence. Third coinage, 1538-42. Struck at 0.250 silver fineness (earlier
silver issues under “normal” times were struck at 0.833 silver fineness)
although looking at this coin, you’d perhaps question if it really is that
low. Annulet over
obverse I so Spink 5384. Old ticket here – ex
B.A. Seaby (August 1982), ex £435
WI-7716: 1601 Irish Elizabeth 1st
Hammered Copper Penny. Initial mark Trefoil and on a generous planchets. Most of these coins come out of the ground
(it is interesting to note that examples have been unearthed from the £335
