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 18th June 2019

 

 

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

WMH-6741:  Richard II Hammered Silver Penny.  York mint.  Class I.  Spink 1690.  A very nice coin in a scarce and nearly always poor issue.  Interesting mint device proceeding CIVI.  £300 in Spink 2019.  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.  Rare in this grade.  £195

 

WMH-6742:  Henry VI Hammered Silver Penny.  Cross-Pellet, Durham mint 1454-61.  Spink 1942.  Durham mint pennies rarely turn up.  £145

 

WMH-6743:  Edward IV Hammered Silver Penny.  First reign, heavy coinage, Durham mint, 146-701.  Initial mark is a Plain Cross.  Spink 1899a.  Durham mint pennies rarely turn up.  £75

 

WTH-6744:  Henry VIII Hammered Silver Halfgroat or Twopence.  Profile bust of the famous Tudor king.  Episcopal issue – struck under Archbishop Warham at Canterbury.  Initial mark Cross Patonce, 1526-32.  Spink 2343.  Very nice grade.  £195

 

WSax-6745:  Aethelred II Hammered Silver Saxon Penny.  B.M.C. iva.  Late Saxon, 997 - 1003 AD.  Long cross type.  London mint town.  Moneyer SIBPINE or Sibwine.  Spink 1151.  An unusual coin in that the three reverse Viking peck (test) marks, done with the tip of a very pointed Viking dagger in the +SIB quarter, are actually raised up as opposed to incuse or cut, which is what you’d normally expect to see.  An excellent obverse portrait with good, strong legends.  £325

 

WJC-6737:  Charles 1st Hammered Silver Half Penny.  Rose each side, no initial mark, Spink 2581.  Nice grade.  £49

 

WSax-6738:  Aethelred II Hammered Silver Saxon Penny.  B.M.C. iva.  Late Saxon, 997 - 1003 AD.  Long cross type.  York mint town.  ÐVRVLF.MO.EOFR (Thorulf of York).  Spink 1151.  Viking test cut to obverse.  Cheap.  £285

 

WCA-6739:  James II Coin Weight for a Charles 1st, Commonwealth or Charles II HAMMERED Gold Unite.  1685-88.  Exact weight:  9.13 grams / 140.9 grains.  The image isn’t the best so the following is a montage using a cheap camera phone in daylight only.  James 1st unites were slightly heavier, or Charles 1st reduced the weight to around 140 grains, depending on which way you look at it.  Remember that hammered gold unites were legal tender up until 1696 (the Great Re-coinage under Isaac Newton) and technically beyond that date until part way through George II's reign.  I’m sure this is recorded in a coin weight reference book somewhere but I have never seen the like before.  An interesting go-with for your late hammered gold or just a nice thing from the very short reign of James II.  £185

 

WTH-6733:  1582 RARE Elizabeth 1st Hammered Silver MULE Threepence.  Initial mark Latin Cross.  Latin Cross (or Long Cross) was in use 1st June 1580 to 31st December 1581.  This coin is clearly dated 1582 - the last ever date for Elizabeth 1st threepences.  I have NEVER seen this before.  Spink 2573.  Not a particularly pleasing coin on the eye but a great rarity none the less.  £79

 

WTH-6734:  Henry VII Hammered Silver Groat.  Initial mark Escallop, 1493-5, Spink 2198A, type IIIb.  A very nice coin, being from of a long-held, now deceased collection so fresh to the market.  £185

 

WMH-6735:  Henry 1st Hammered Silver Norman Penny.  B.M.C. XV, quadrilateral on cross fleury type, 1125-35.  +ROGIER ON LVND.  London.  Spink 1276.  From an old deceased collection so very much "fresh to the market".  A very nice portrait of this interesting Norman king, even though the coin was struck at an angle thereby creating corresponding flat areas.  £395

 

WAu-6736:  Charles 1st Hammered Gold Double Crown.  Initial Mark Plume, 1630-1.  Ex Spink (see old ticket here).  Group C, 3rd bust, Spink 2701.  A high grade (note the crispness of some of the lettering), unclipped coin with corresponding weak areas obverse and reverse, possibly down to an overenthusiastic strike at the mint.  £1,095

 

WMH-6727:  William “Rufus” II Hammered Silver Norman Penny.  B.M.C. v – cross fleury & piles type, 1098-1100.  +GODPINE-ON-PINE.  Godwine of Winchester.  Spink 1262.  BMC 5 is, contrary to what Spink say, the single rarest of the five types for Wm II.  Of all recorded examples (BMC, EMC, SCBI etc), the results are as follows:

 

BMC i - 19%

BMC ii - 35%

BMC iii - 27%

BMC iv - 10%

BMC v - 9%. 

 

Ex Commander R.P. Mack collection (famous for his research on Norman coinage, particularly Stephen and the Anarchy), 1929.  Comes with a variety of paperwork - see image.  A rare coin.  £1,750

                                                       

WSC-6726:  Exceptionally Rare Robert III Scottish Hammered Silver Halfpenny.  Second issue, very rare Perth mint, Spink 5188.  +ROBERTVS DEI REX / +VILLA DE PERTH.  0.45 grams / 6.9 grains.  A high grade example of this very rare issue with unusually full legends.  Atypical obverse reading which I am unable to find elsewhere - it's usually ROBERTVS REX SCOT or rarely ROBERTVS  DEIG.  Possibly a mule of Spink 5188 and 5188A as the obverse of 1558A is similar to this coin (see Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles, 35, Scottish Coins).  Perth examples rarely come up for sale on the open market.  The ticket accompanying this coin states “Finest known?”.  A very rare coin in excellent grade.  £875

 

WMH-6718:  King John Rhuddlan (WELSH) Mint Hammered Silver Short Cross Penny.  Group II, class iii, SIMOND.NO.RVLA, initial mark Cross Pommee, Spink p.167.  Wren, in his book on short cross coinage, states of the Rhuddlan mint coinage: “These coins are considerably cruder than the normal issues and the legends are sometimes retrograde, with reversed lettering”.  Being very loosely based on the English class 5 penny, this coin is certainly struck from a crude obverse die but contrasted sharply with an excellent quality reverse die that is clear, well struck with no reverse lettering and the only sign of being retrograde the NO for ON.  An excellent example of the only Medieval coin to be struck in Wales.  £325

 

WCom-6720:  1656 Commonwealth Hammered Silver Halfcrown.  A very nice grade coin struck on a round flan with minimal, if any, clipping.  The coin has most likely been sat in water for all of its life which would account for the surface pitting and weight of only 14.07g (15g was the standard).  Spink 3215.  An interesting coin in that the obverse is an earlier 1654 die and the reverse die is not 1656, rather an altered 54 or 55 die.  Technically, this is not a 1656 coin!  Thanks as ever to Sun&Anchor for their excellent research which they have generously made freely available to all.  £545

 

WMH-6716:  Henry VI Restored Hammered Silver Groat.  London mint, hENRICV DI GRA REX ANGL FRANC, clear initial mark, Restoration Cross.  Spink 2082.  Henry VI was no longer king in 1461 when Edward IV took over.  However, for a very short period of only seven months, right in the middle of Edward IV’s reign (October 1470 to April 1471), Henry VI was very briefly reinstated or restored to the throne.  Extra (camera phone) image here.  An extremely rare coin.  £425

 

WSC-6717:  1695 Scottish William II Silver 40 Shillings.  A large Scottish silver coin in remarkably good grade for the issue.  Spink 5679.  Ex Spink, ex Coincraft (their ticket here).  Rare in this grade.  £445

 

WCA-6694:  1685-88 James II Stuart Gold Touchpiece – guaranteed to have been touched by the king.  This was the official gold coin that the king (James II) personally gave to invited sufferers of Scrofula (TB) at special "Touching Ceremonies".  These ceremonies were performed weekly throughout the year, except on hot days.  The gold touch piece was designed by the famous John Roettier.  This is the first example of a James II gold touchpiece that I have ever seen.  This recent silver gilt on base metal touch piece caught my attention as it passed through a major auction house recently.  It gives an indication of just how collectable these things are.  Read THE SOVEREIGN REMEDY by Noel Woolf for further information.  (E) £1,675

 

WAu-6691:  1701 William II of Scotland Milled Gold Half Pistole.  A single year issue of this excessively rare Scottish gold coin which was current at £6 in Scotland.  Spink 5677.  Both the full and half pistole were struck from gold dust imported by the Darien Co. (The Scottish African Company) from the Central American colony of Darien.  The company asked that its crest, a sun rising from the sea, should be placed on the coinage as an acknowledgement to themselves and to the “Rising Sun”, the ship which had carried the gold.  That emblem is under William II’s bust.  The half pistole is rarer than the full pistole in terms of availability although find either for sale and you’re doing better than nearly everyone else.  £2,950

 

WSC-6689:  Scottish James III Copper Farthing.  IACOBVS D G R with a crown over IR.  Spink 5312.  One of the great rarities in Scottish coinage – rarer than David 1st pennies; rarer even than David 1st pennies in David’s own name!  The Huntarian Museum has no James III farthings at all; the National Museum in Edinburgh also has no farthings.  The Ashmolean has a single James III farthing and although all J.III farthings are very rare, theirs is the trefoil type (Spink 5313) which is not in the same league as crown over IR.  Also, the condition of their example is poor whereas the condition of this coin is very good indeed.  £795

 

 

 


This Week’s Listings:

 

WMH-6746:  Richard 1st Hammered Silver Short Cross Penny.  ++RICARD.ON.LVN – London mint.  Class 4a, S.1348A.  £95

 

WMH-6747:  King John Hammered Silver Penny.  +RAVF ON LVNDE.  London mint town.  class 6b, Spink 1354.  A high grade example with as good a portrait of King John as you’re likely to see.  £129

 

WJC-6748:  1609 James 1st Hammered Silver Sixpence.  Second coinage, fourth bust, im Key.  Spink 2658.  1609 is a rare date, being rarer than the entire 1603-08 range.  It is also rarer than 1621 and 1623.  "+IP" light graffiti on king's head.  This is a rather glaring example of a Spink error or oversight: Spink 2658 (2019 edtn) gives 1605 to 1616 inclusive as equal rarity at £65 F, £250 VF.  1605 is fairly common.  To the best of my knowledge, 1616 is unique and 1612 & 1614 probably don’t exist.  1609 is a very rare date.  £145