Charles I (1625 - 49) Read about Charles I
Charles 1st Silver Pattern
WJC-9184: 1625 Charles 1st Silver Pattern
Halfcrown - reportedly one of only four known. Engraved by either Thomas Rawlins or, more likely, Abraham van der Doort. Obv: Bust of Charles, lovelock on shoulder, falling lace
collar and armour, rev: cast and chased Royal Arms in garnished shield, the
style imitating engraving, very much along the lines of the work De Passe was producing around this time. Listed in Medallic Illustration as (i)373/267 as a pattern for a half
crown. The internet yields this:
The Charles I pattern half-crown is one of the rarest examples assumed
to be by Abraham Van der Doort.
It shows the bust of King Charles I with no crown and a lace collar on the
obverse. Additionally, the Royal Coat of Arms is on the reverse. In 1625 this
coin was produced as a prototype before beginning full-scale production. This
was due to the intricacy of the design and the decision that it would slow down
coin production. Ultimately the design for the 1625 half-crown is King Charles
on a horse holding a sword, with the other side depicting an oval quartered
shield of arms. The 1625 Charles I
pattern half-crown is spectacularly rare, with possibly only four currently
recorded. It would be a remarkable addition to any numismatic collection.
and
also this:
Abraham Van der Doort
and the 1625 Charles I Pattern Half-crown
A talented artist from the early 17th century. He is known for painting
and designing medals and coins. His documented catalogue of the King’s
paintings, sculptures and coins is impressive.
Not much is known of the Dutch artist before he moved to England, but once here his
talent was recognised and sought after. He first worked with the royals,
creating medal and coin designs, through which his working relationships
flourished.
In 1609, Abraham Van der Doort
was tasked with being Prince Henry’s ‘Curator of his cabinet of Medals and
Coins’. After Prince Henry’s death, he worked for Prince Charles I. Once
Charles ascended to the throne, Van der Doort started producing new designs of the King for the
Royal Mint. Charles instructed the Dutch artist to make the designs for ‘his
majesty Coynes and his assistance to the engravers’.
The King entrusted Van der Doort
with two posts for life: Provider of Patterns and Life Keeper of the Kings
Coins Collection.
Van der Doort was
the first Surveyor of the King’s Pictures. This meant that he was responsible
for the care of the Royal Household’s collection of pictures, specifically
Charles I’s art collections.
Sadly, there is only a small number of Abraham Van der
Doort’s work in today’s market. His most famous work
is with the Juxon Medal. This medal has very similar
imagery to the rare 1625 Charles I pattern half-crown, however, the designer of
which is uncertain. The style techniques and imagery however suggest that it
had been designed by Van der Doort
rather than Thomas Rawlins.
Another example of the
Abraham Van der Doort
pattern halfcrown sold in 2024 for £1500 + buyer's commissions on top. Here, there is no such buyer's commission and
you probably won't even have to pay the full asking price either! An extremely rare and important coin from this most interesting, not
to mention vast area of numismatics. £1,975
Provenance:
ex
John Williams collection
ex HistoryInCoins (2024)
Hammered Silver
Pontefract
Besieged
WJC-7639:
1648 Charles 1st
Civil War Pontefract Besieged Silver Shilling. Cut from silver plate literally inside Pontefract castle
whilst it was under attack by Cromwell’s forces, June 1649 – March 1649. Issued to pay the garrison defending the
castle, it was made by cutting any available silver bullion and plate. The
inscription 'DVM SPIRO SPERO' translates as “Whilst I breathe, I hope”. Struck the year prior to
the execution of Charles 1st. The rarer of the two varieties with no mark of value – S.R. 3148. Ex Fred Rist,
ex DNW, ex M.H. Coins.
Particularly high grade – these suffered quickly from wear, often being
kept as touch-pieces by local and bereft supporters during the dark days of the
Commonwealth that followed. 5.59 grams,
43mm tip to tip. There is a slight Z
bend to the coin which has resulted in minor wear to those corresponding high
points. Equally as good grade as the
S.R. plate coin, bar the contemporary piercing, but interestingly from a
different obverse die – this coin has obverse pellet stops with no stop after
SPERO. The reverse die is the same. Find another for sale in such high grade! £3,995
Other Civil War Provincial Issues
Pounds
WJC-7474: 1642 Charles 1st
Shrewsbury Declaration Civil War Pound of Twenty Shillings. King on horseback, plume
behind; Declaration between two straight lines, three Shrewsbury plumes
above, five pellets to the left of the declaration. S.R. 2917, North 2361, Brooker 796. A
most interesting (unique?) coin struck in lead alloy, but being almost of the
correct weight (or at least it would have been if the silver plating was still
intact) of the silver example, which it needed to be in order to pass as the
real thing. However, lead is nearly 10%
heavier than silver, so there must have been some clever metallurgical
manipulation of the alloy in order to get this so precisely to just under 120g
with the correct diameter (54mm) and thickness (5mm)! Sold with an old auction
information slip as well as a collector’s cabinet ticket. I have never seen anything like this before –
it was certainly an ambitious undertaking by the counterfeiter. £575
Halfcrowns
WJC-7964:
Choice 1644
Charles 1st Hammered Silver Bristol Declaration Halfcrown. Initial mark Plume, Tower mint under the Parliament
- Civil War provincial Bristol mint. Brooker (obverse D) 985, S.R. 3009. The generic reverse "Declaration",
deriving from the one Charles 1st made at Wellington, Shropshire in September of 1642, basically continues to promise
to uphold three things: the Protestant religion, the laws of England and the liberty of Parliament. I imagine that in hindsight, when this coin
was struck, just two years after he made that promise, Charles would have had
serious doubts as to how wise he was to include the last bit of the promise although
to be fair, he probably had more important things going on in his head at the
time (something else he would lose in January 1649)! A most interesting feature of this coin is
the reverse BR overstruck on an inverted BR! It is a single die-corrected error. Brooker had but a single example (#985) at
15.60g. Most group D Bristol halfcrowns
were struck on slightly over-generous planchets even though anything over the
15g face value was literally giving money away for free. The Brooker examples are: 14.53g, 15.08g,
15.59g and 15.60g, but this coin at just under 16g (15.89
grams) is something else! Most
halfcrowns, discounting any form of clipping, are by definition going to be
just under 15g due to circulation and wear taking off hundredths of grams. 15.89g, together with the high grade of this
coin, indicates practically zero loss, if not literally zero loss of
weight through circulation. Ex T.
Matthews, sold to the Haddenham collection in 1984
for £210, ex Spink. High grade,
exceptional weight, the desirable and sought-after BR overstruck on an inverted
BR variety and excellent provenance. To
give a comparison as to where the market is right now (and if the past is
anything to go by, this coin will quickly appreciate even more as time goes
by), and to really show how cheap this coin actually is, I highlight an example
from a 2024 US fixed
price list. The grade is just about
comparable (the US coin, even though it's graded "nEF",
is a tad below the grade of the coin listed for sale here, but we'll let that
pass) and the VF price for both in S.R.
is identical. So far,
so good. Now, the US coin is underweight, and by some margin (clipped),
has no desirable sought-after feature (ie is not a rarer variety), doesn't have
as good a provenance and is much more expensive. I think the point is made. As I said at the start, this is a choice
coin. £2,395
Shillings
WJC-7782:
Charles 1st
Hammered Silver Provincial Civil War Shilling. Initial Mark Book, Aberystwyth mint, 1638/9-42. Larger plume before king’s
head - S.R. 2883. The mint at
Aberystwyth had its beginnings in July 1637 when Thomas Bushell
had the idea of coining at the source rather than sending the mined silver for
coining to London.
He petitioned that it would stimulate the Welsh mining industry with
predictions of increased output if the adits to drain
water from the mines reached their capacity, and suggested it could lead to
other mines in England being used for coining in a
similar fashion. The Mint in London was against the idea, but King
Charles asked for Bushell to visit and was persuaded
by his charm to back him. The agreement was to set up a mint in Aberystwyth Castle with the Crown taking a 10% share
with overall supervision from the Warden of the Mint, Sir William Parkhurst. Coins were struck at 0.925 fineness with Welsh
plumes at Halfcrown, Shilling, Sixpence, Half-Groat and Penny. Excellent provenance -
original Hulett ticket. Rare. £1,395
Provenance:
ex Hulett collection
WJC-7758:
Charles 1st
Hammered Silver Civil War Declaration Shilling. Civil War Oxford Declaration issue, S.R.2972. Three Oxford plumes above the
declaration. At 6.27 grams, this is an OVERWEIGHT
coin. A quick look at data from other Oxford shillings (I recommend Brooker)
will show you that it is indeed rare to find coins at 6g or over. Even if they weren’t clipped and even if they
didn’t deliberately issue slightly underweight coins, then general wear through
circulation would reduce the weight by a few hundredths of a gram. This coin is not clipped, rather struck on an
irregular flan. It is about as it left
the mint – don’t forget there was a war on at the time and quality of coinage
was virtually irrelevant compared to the silver content. £945
Sixpence
WJC-7979:
1646 Charles 1st
Hammered Silver Civil War Declaration Sixpence. Initial mark B - Bridgenorth on Severn. A
single denomination issue (there were x4 variations of the halfcrown and x3 for
the shilling), with only two recorded dies for both obverse and reverse. S.R. 3041. During the Civil War, Bridgnorth was one of
the Midlands' main royalist strongholds, and in
1642 many royalist troops were garrisoned there. On April 26,
1646,
following on directly from the taking of Ashby, Cromwell's Roundheads arrived with
orders to take Bridgnorth for the Parliamentarians from the garrison led by Sir
Robert Howard. After a short three-week
siege, even though Bridgnorth was always expected to hold out for much longer,
Cromwell was successful and he ordered that the castle be demolished. For those interested, these "A"
(Ashby) and "B" (Bridgnorth) coins are subject to some discussion as
to whether the geographical attributions are actually correct or not. A and B mint coins are certainly linked
(following the fall of Ashby on 28th February 1646, the garrison then marched
to Bridgnorth which fell on 26th April 1646), although saying that, there are
no recorded, unambiguous B over A coins, which we might expect. Bridgnorth produced a relatively large number
of different dies for such a short siege - at least 3 halfcrown obverses, 5
reverses; shillings 2 obverses & 3 reverses; sixpences 2 of each; groats 1
obverse and 2 reverses; threepences 1 of each; half groat 1 of each. This may have been forward-planning, based on
the above expectation that the garrison would not capitulate so quickly. It is the "A" coins that are the
biggest problem: most examples (and admittedly they are very rare indeed) turn
up along the Welsh Borders or in Wales (I'm cognisant of an unsubstantiated
tale of an Ashby shilling being found literally in the church wall at Ashby by
workmen last century but it may well be apocryphal), which is nowhere near
Ashby. Abergavenny
has been put forward as an alternative but with nothing other than circumstantial
evidence, so far. However, the silver
content of A and B mint coins have a higher than required silver content -
metrology indicates that the silver is finer than .925 and so the source could
well be captured and subsequently recycled ducatoons
which were .950 fine. This would require
the mint to be at or near a port, a box Ashby most definitely does not
tick. Toned VF for
issue. £1,995
Provenance:
ex T.
Matthews, sold to the ...
ex Haddenham collection 1985, ex Spink.
Groat
WJC-9185:
CHOICE 1646
Charles 1st Hammered Silver Groat - BRIDGNORTH-on-SEVERN. Late declaration Civil War
coin from the provincial mint of Bridgenorth-On-Severn. Initial mark Plumelet
(the reverse i.m. has a pellet over), plumelet before the king, IIII behind. Reverse with a scroll above the
declaration. A single
denomination issue. S.R. 3042. During the
Civil War, Bridgnorth was one of the Midlands' main royalist strongholds, and in 1642 many
royalist troops were garrisoned there. On April 26, 1646, following on directly from the
taking of Ashby, Cromwell's Roundheads arrived with orders to take Bridgnorth
for the Parliamentarians from the garrison led by Sir Robert Howard. After a short three-week siege, even though
Bridgnorth was always expected to hold out for much longer, Cromwell was
successful and he ordered that the castle be demolished. For those interested, these "A"
(Ashby) and "B" (Bridgnorth) coins - the initials seen only on the
higher denominations - are subject to some discussion as to whether the
geographical attributions are actually correct or not. A and B mint coins are certainly linked
(following the fall of Ashby on 28th February 1646, the garrison then marched
to Bridgnorth which fell on 26th April 1646), although saying that, there are
no recorded, unambiguous B over A coins, which we might expect. Bridgnorth produced a relatively large number
of different dies for such a short siege - at least 3 halfcrown obverses, 5
reverses; shillings 2 obverses & 3 reverses; sixpences 2 of each; groats 1
obverse and 2 reverses; threepences 1 of each; half groat 1 of each. This may have been forward-planning, based on
the above expectation that the garrison would not capitulate so quickly. It is the "A" coins that are the
biggest problem: most examples (and admittedly they are very rare indeed) turn
up along the Welsh Borders or in Wales (I'm cognisant of an unsubstantiated
tale of an Ashby shilling being found literally in the church wall at Ashby by
workmen last century but it may well be apocryphal), which is nowhere near
Ashby. Abergavenny
has been put forward as an alternative but with nothing other than
circumstantial evidence, so far. If you
look at the 1963 Seaby ticket, they thought these coins were from Lundy
back then! However, the silver content
of A and B mint coins have a higher than required silver content - metrology
indicates that the silver is finer than .925 and so the source could well be
captured and subsequently recycled ducatoons which
were .950 fine. This would require the
mint to be at or near a port, a box Ashby most definitely does not tick. Graded on the old Seaby ticket as Good VF. I have certainly never seen better. £2,250
Provenance:
ex Seaby (1963)
ex Tim
Owen
Threepence
WJC-9178: 1644 Charles 1st Civil
War Provincial Hammered Silver Threepence. Initial mark Rose, Exeter mint, S.R.3090.
Attractively toned, although as this coin-in-hand image
from a camera phone shows, the colouring is somewhat exaggerated in the main
image. It is an interesting fact that all
the Exeter denominations have an oval or
round shield on the reverse, including the twopence. The threepence is,
for whatever reason, the only Exeter denomination to utilise a square
shield and so the only denomination to have the date above the shield. An outstanding example of what is really an
exceedingly challenging denomination to source in anything other than
problematic grade. £695
Provenance:
ex Tim
Owen
Standard
Issues
Halfcrowns
WJC-9224:
Rare and
Singular Charles 1st Civil War Hammered Silver Halfcrown - Royalist's Mount. Tower (London) mint under the king, initial mark
Tun (1636-8), group III,
type 3a2 with the king's cloak flying from his shoulder - S.R.2775. A fairly standard
halfcrown, although clearly better than the slightly later Gp.
4 types. The king's flying cloak
adds drama and the lack of ground under the horse makes for a cleaner, less
cluttered depiction, both of which I'd imagine were traits chosen intentionally: this coin has been modified in antiquity as a
Royalist mount. Based on the above, and the fact that it was a single field-find by a
metal detector, this was almost certainly a Royalist's mount for the tail-end
of Charles 1st's reign or, perhaps more likely, the stark Commonwealth years of
1649-60. The coin would originally have
been struck on an irregular flan, as they all were, but has been carefully
clipped down to make it a very near perfect circle - ideal for mounting. We occasionally see Charles 1st silver medals
used as touchpieces - these had the king's portrait and so were ideal as
"pocket pieces" for the king to be fondly touched during those
austere years when the British monarchy was in hiatus. We also know that smaller medals were sometimes
sewn into the lapels of clothing - hidden from everyday site but upon meeting a
fellow Royalist, easily flipped over to show allegiance. I've even seen Cromwell shillings worn
smooth, presumably as a touch-piece for those anti-monarchists who were not
best pleased at the 1660 Restoration.
Here we have something that, if you think about it (as the Royalist
supporter who fashioned it all those centuries ago surely did), is better than
just a portrait of the king - it is the king in full, atop his charge, sword
drawn, ready for battle. Surely this
coin, mounted, was symbolic of the battle for the Royalist cause? At 11.93g we can see that the individual who
fashioned this had very little thought for its future use as currency - it was
all about the cause. It is perhaps
difficult for people today to appreciate just how polarised people were over
this back in the day: you literally picked your side, performed your duty
enthusiastically because you believed whole-heartedly in what you were fighting
for and, ultimately, you really would have been willing to die for what you
believed in. High
grade, cleaned but beginning to re-tone.
Such an important piece of British history! 
£395
Provenance:
Single
metal detecting field-find
Sold at
auction
ex
Alan Cherry
WJC-7962:
Charles 1st
Hammered Silver Halfcrown. Initial mark Triangle-in-Circle, 1641-3, Gp.
IV, fourth horseman, 15.07 grams.
Tower
mint under the king. S.R. 2779. Issued
right at the very end of the period where Charles 1st had any kind of
association with the Tower Mint - Parliament took control in 1643 and the rest
is history! Civil War was about to break out in England and as such, the quality of the coinage was as
nothing compared to simply rushing coinage out of the mint as a vehicle for
paying for the war. Hastily sunk dies
with a workforce not all at the top of their game, together with the frenetic expeditious
production of coinage leading up to the Civil War resulted in poor quality
currency being dumped into circulation, although it is important to understand
that the silver content was very much up to standard. This coin is slightly over full weight - it
is actually quite rare to see halfcrowns at 15g or more as any extra silver in
the coin was literally giving money away for free. This coin must indicate practically zero loss
of weight through circulation, it being an irregular flan, not clipped, as
explained above, and the high grade certainly backs that up. Brooker had x6 initial
mark Triangle-in-Circle halfcrowns (weights: 14.98g, 15.5g, 15.23g, 13.58g,
14.66g and 15.29). This coin is as good
(or marginally better) than the best of the Booker six (#373) and much better
than the other five. Remember, Brooker
was a serious collector with deep pockets who was on the lookout for the very
best examples of Charles 1st coinage for his collection. A rare offering
indeed. £545
Provenance:
ex Lloyd Bennet,
ex Ian Davison.
WJC-7963:
Charles 1st
Hammered Silver Halfcrown. Initial mark Tun, 1636-8, Gp. III, third horseman, type 3a1. Tower mint under the king. Very good weight at 14.89
grams. S.R.
2773. Brooker had x6 type 1 initial
mark Triangle-in-Circle halfcrowns (weights: 14.88g, 15.11g, 14.52g, 14.70g,
14.96g and 14.67). This coin is actually
better grade than ALL of the Booker six, and by some margin. Remember, Brooker was a serious collector with
deep pockets who was on the lookout for the very best examples of Charles 1st
coinage for his collection. A rare offering indeed.
£495
WJC-7361:
Charles 1st
Hammered Silver Stuart Halfcrown.
Tower mint (London) under the king. Group III, type 3a1. Third Horseman, initial mark Tun: 1636-38. S.R. 2773. £255
WJC-7757:
Charles 1st
Hammered Silver Civil War Halfcrown.
Initial mark Triangle, class 3a2: rough ground under the horse, S.R.
2776. A remarkable coin in that the
weight is exactly as it should be – 15.00 grams. A quick look at data from other 3a2
halfcrowns will show you that it is indeed rare to find 15g coins. Even if they weren’t clipped and even if they
didn’t deliberately issue slightly underweight coins, then general wear through
circulation would reduce the weight by a few hundredths of a gram. This coin is about as it left the mint and
you won’t find many of those, either individually or from hoards. £365
WJC-7921:
Charles 1st Hammered
Silver High Grade Halfcrown. Initial mark Triangle-in-Circle, Tower (London) mint under the king. Group IV, fourth horseman, type 4, foreshortened
horse. S.R. 2779. Slabbed by PSC and graded XF45 which means EF
in the UK. Clearly this
is not an EF coin, even "EF45", whatever that means, but it is still
a remarkably good grade coin in terms of lack of wear through circulation. The grading system was brought about for
milled coinage, specifically milled US (ie virtually everything 1800 onwards
but realistically, 20th century) coinage, and was never designed or intended
for these hammered coins. Re this coin:
Civil War was about to break out in England and as such, the quality of the coinage was nothing
compared to simply rushing coinage out of the mint as a vehicle for paying for
the war. Hastily sunk dies with a workforce
not all at the top of their game, together with the frenetic expeditious
production of coinage leading up to the Civil War resulted in poor quality
currency being dumped into circulation, although it is important to understand
that the silver content was very much up to standard. What is key with
this coin is the remarkable 15.34g weight.
The weight was supposed to be 15g when a halfcrown left the mint. It rarely was (and if it was over, someone
would be in trouble) but whatever the weight, it soon diminished through wear
and tear, albeit only by hundredths of a gram.
To see something of this weight, whilst not entirely unprecedented, is
extremely rare indeed. It must indicate
practically zero loss of weight through circulation. A rare offering indeed. £595 RESERVED (J.W.7-10-24)
WJC-8163:
A+ Charles 1st
CIVIL WAR 1645 Hammered Silver Stuart Halfcrown. Group III, third horseman with no ground under the horse, type 3a3. Tower (London) mint under Parliament. Initial mark Eye, 1645.
S.R. 2775. A slightly irregular flan, typical of Civil
War issues but unbelievably, way more than full weight at 15.37g. Even allowing for absolutely no clipping or
reduction in weight through the minimal amount of circulation this coin has
had, it was still a third of a gram overweight which, especially in 1645 when
the Civil War was at its height and money was in short supply at the mint, was
giving money away - this coin was literally worth MORE than its halfcrown face
value. Brooker had only x3 in his extremely impressive and comprehensive
collection (one of those was a strange anomaly - halfcrown dies struck on a
shilling flan of 5.91g), so he effectively only had two. Neither is a patch on this one and both of
his were 14.80 and 14.40 grams respectively.
Incidentally, the old Spink slip states that the coin is bent. It most certainly is not bent. When the moneyers struck these larger
denominations, it was two dies, a COLD silver disc of 15g and a hammer swung by
the moneyer's arm. There could never be
enough force exerted with one single strike to make a good coin, especially as
moneyers were churning out coins all day long, so the practise was to hit the
coin x4 times, rotating through 90 degrees each time. You can literally see the x4 rotations on
this coin if you look at the obverse, starting at the C of CAROLVS. If you look carefully, you will see this
repeated on a great many better grade Commonwealth and Charles 1st higher
denomination coins. An
outstanding coin with everything going for it and one that I rate highly
indeed. £695
Provenance:
ex Spink (their ticket)
WJC-9200: Charles 1st Hammered
Silver Halfcrown with Outstanding Provenance. Group IV, fourth horseman, type 4,
foreshortened horse. Tower mint: initial mark obverse Star with the reverse
being Star over Triangle - during this frenetic period of English history, it
was not uncommon for still serviceable old dies to be reused. 1640-41. Of good weight at 14.51g. S.R.2779. Excellent provenance - see old tickets here. Approaching VF for issue. £675
Provenance:
ex
H.M. Lingford Collection (purchased March 1944 - sold
with his original ticket)
ex
Tim Owen (his iconic pink ticket)
Shillings
WJC-7894:
Charles 1st
Hammered Silver Shilling. Tower
mint under the king. Initial mark Harp, 1632-3.
Group D, 4th bust, type 3.1. The official S.R. reference is S.R. 2789, but
the portrait style is seemingly unrecorded, as evidenced by the very early Tim
Owen ticket which states it is unrecorded in Brooker. It is indeed a remarkable portrait! A rare thing, worthy of
further research. £365
WJC-7108:
Charles 1st
very late Civil War Hammered Silver Shilling. Initial mark ®, 1644-45, Briot bust, group F, S.R. 2800. Struck under Parliament, not the
King. Crudely made, reflecting
the turbulent times of the English Civil War.
£155
WJC-7115:
Charles 1st
1639-40 Hammered Silver Shilling. Tower mint, initial mint Triangle-in-Circle, type 4:4, S.R.
2799. £185
Provenance:
Ex North York Moors’ collection.
WCJ-7557:
Charles 1st
Hammered Silver Tower Shilling.
Initial mark Portcullis: 1633-34. Group D, fourth bust, type 3.1, Sharpe D5/1, S.R. 2789. £385
Provenance:
Ex Carlton Coins (£36 in Sept 1996),
ex
Alan Morris collection.
WJC-7756:
Charles 1st
Hammered Silver Civil War Shilling. Initial mark Sceptre, 1646-48. The final Tower mint under Parliament issue and struck
very much within the Civil War conflict.
Class 4(6) with a short, broad bust. Sharp H3/2. S.R. 2804. Considering the great rarity of this initial
mark, there are actually two varieties with this coin being the very last and
rarer issue. Charles 1st was
imprisoned for virtually the entirety of this initial mark: the end was nigh
with the Parliamentarian New Model Army very much in the ascendancy. A rare coin. £335
WJC-7788:
Charles 1st Hammered Silver
Civil War Shilling. Initial mark Sceptre, 1646-48. The final Tower mint under
Parliament issue and struck very much within the Civil War conflict, albeit
towards the inevitable (perhaps unfortunate?) conclusion. Class 4(6) with a shorter,
slimmer and altogether better proportioned bust. Sharp H2/2. S.R. 2803. Considering the great rarity of this initial
mark, there are actually two varieties with this coin being the first. Charles 1st was imprisoned for
virtually the entirety of this initial mark: the end was nigh with the
Parliamentarian New Model Army very much in the ascendancy, resulting in
Charles being beheaded in January 1649. A rare coin. £385
WJC-7920:
Charles 1st Hammered
Silver CIVIL WAR Hoard Shilling. Initial mark Tun, Tower (London) mint under the king. Group E,
Aberystwyth bust, type 4.3. S.R. 2796. From the famous Ewerby Civil War Hoard of
2016. The hoard was deposited in Ewerby
during the Civil War. It comprised
(roughly) 50% Elizabeth 1st coinage, 30% Charles 1st and the rest mainly James
1st.In relation to this particular shilling, it was one of exactly 237 to come
out of the hoard. It is really
interesting to note that the earlier coinage (Henry VIII onwards) was very worn indicating great circulation up until the hoard
was deposited in the ground. It is of
perhaps greater interest to learn that the Charles 1st coinage, obviously in
circulation for only a very few years, was itself pitifully poor. This had very little to do with wear through
circulation, rather the rushed dies and the frenetic expeditious production of
coinage leading up to the Civil War.
Information supplied by kind prior permission of Silbury
Coins who initially handled the hoard. A
booklet will be included with this coin, if so desired. This coin is one of the very best from the
hoard - I personally have not seen better and I've seen and handled a great
deal of this hoard. A
rare opportunity. £495
WJC-8099: Charles 1st
Hammered Silver Shilling. Initial
mark Tun (1636-8), group E, Aberystwyth bust, single
arched crown. Tower mint under the
King, S.R. 2796. Ex Tim Owen. £325
WJC-8141:
Charles 1st
Hammered Silver Shilling. Initial mark Bell, 1634-5, Tower (London) mint under
Parliament. Group D, fourth bust, type 3a with no inner
wire circles - S.R. 2791. A good grade,
centrally struck, unclipped coin from the very start of the troubles: the
unpopular "Ship Money" taxation was imposed in 1634 and just three
years later in 1637, under the influence of Archbishop Laud, Charles tried to
impose the English Liturgy on the Scots who, true to form, raised an army to
resist the imposition. So much history
followed on from when this coin was struck.
£295
Sixpence
WJC-7961:
1625 Charles 1st
Hammered Silver Sixpence. Initial
mark Lis, Tower mint under the king, Gp.
A, first bust, type 1: small bust with double arched crown. S.R. 2805. Issued right at the very
start of the reign, so much so that the king is literally depicted in his
coronation robes on this coin.
These early dated sixpences are all fairly rare, although 1625 is not
the rarest date. What elevates this coin
is the grade. Collectors will be aware
that nearly all dated Charles 1st sixpences turn up worn or damaged. This one is exceptional for issue. £495
WJC-8061: 1626 Charles 1st Stuart
Hammered Silver Sixpence. Initial mark Cross Calvery, the rarer
1626 date, Group B, class 1a1, second bust, S.R.
2807. The king in ruff, armour
and mantle - they didn't change the portrait throughout the short dated
series. Some double striking. Ex Ian Davison, the go-to
expert on sixpences. £385
"Other"
WJC-8038: 1643
Charles 1st Civil War PEACE OR WAR Silver Medal MI(i)308/134, Eimer 142. Struck as a direct response to the defeat of Waller, which led to
the capture and reduction of Bristol by
the Royalists under Prince Rupert. It was
Charles 1st himself who ordered the medal after he summoned his council and
asked them to “consider how these great blessings in war might be applied to
the procurement [sic] (of) a happy peace”. Interesting as that is,
and it is undoubtedly extremely interesting and historically significant, from
a numismatic POV it’s even more interesting: although a Thomas Rawlins’ design,
there are a number of “short-cuts” in the execution of the dies which leads one
to believe that this was a somewhat rushed job, which indeed it must have been
when you consider what was going on in the country at that time. However,
it’s always nice to see confirming evidence and the following, albeit
implicitly, does serve to illustrate that:
1. The cross barrings on the obverse A’s in particular look to be
additions to inverted letter V’s, although not the specific V’s used in the
legends.
2. The T of ET (obv) is very much a modified letter I gone wrong. Someone
looks to have lightly tapped either side at the top to attempt a top
horizontal, although clearly it’s manifested on the medal as incuse.
3. The E of Rex was
clogged up by silver so is not fully struck up – another indication of haste?
4. The reverse T’s are
again modified letter I’s.
5. The reverse P is yet
another modified letter I.
There are other issues with most of the
remaining lettering. First impressions upon seeing the reverse might
be that Charles is asking a question, but in actual fact it was simply a
statement of fact, stating that they were ready for both eventualities and
given Charles’s quote to the council, one option appeared to be favoured over
the other! Just in case you need
yet another interesting fact, these medals were sometimes circulated as
shillings, although at 8.14g, it would have been something of a fiscally inept
road to go down. £485
WJC-9001: Charles 1st Silver
Royalist Supporters' Badge. Side profile of King Charles 1st,
reverse incuse crowned Royal arms.
Importantly, the suspension loop is intact. Medallic Illustrations (i) 233/235, Eimer 173. Probably by Thomas Rawlins. Cast and slightly chased. The solid gold die pair of this medal resides
in the British Museum.
Charles 1st was likely deceased at this point as this was a Commonwealth
period Royalist badge - something tangible for Royalists to focus on during the
disagreeable rule of Cromwell. They were
often sewn into the inside of clothing so as not to be on show, for obvious
reasons. A very nice
example. £595
WCom-9043:
1642 Robert Deveraux English Civil War Silver-Gilt Military Reward
Medal. 3rd Earl of Essex (1591-1646), Captain-General and
Commander-in-Chief of the Parliamentary army. Oval,
silver-gilt military reward (given out personally by Deveraux
to one of his commanders for outstanding conduct in battle), c.1642. Obverse: armoured bust, almost full-facing,
sash over shoulder, broad lace collar; reverse: oval, garnished shield of the
arms of Essex. 31.5 x 22mm. MI(i) 298/117, Platt II, type G
pp. 84-85. Robert Devereux was the third
Earl of Essex, born 11th January 1591, died 14th September 1646. Serving in the first Scottish Bishops war in 1639 in the capacity
of Lieutenant general under Charles 1st, gradually becoming disillusioned and
eventually deserting the Royalists.
As was the case with so many, he joined the Parliamentarians becoming an
opponent of Charles I. Essex
had integral roles in the Battle of Edgehill
October 1642, Battle of Brentford and Turnham Green, November
1642 and the first battle of Newbury in September of 1643. Devereux for the most part is inextricably
linked to his role in the English Civil Wars, chief commander of the
Parliamentarians, known colloquially as the 'Roundheads.' He was eventually overshadowed by Cromwell
and Fairfax. VF. Good provenance - the Christopher Foley
collection was one of the best ever put together. Of the highest historical
importance and very, very rare indeed.
See Commonwealth section
Provenance:
Baldwin's 2018
ex Christopher Foley Collection, dispersed 2014
WJC-9094: Stuart De Passe Token - James 1st with Charles 1st. Circa 1625 -
1629/30. From a series
of Medalets issued by Simon van de Passe (1595-1647) depicting the kings and queens of England.
It is generally accepted that they were issued as gaming tokens. The dies were cleverly sunk to imitate a
hand-engraved appearance and indeed, the uninitiated even today will readily
state hand-engraved when asked. They
were not; they were machine-pressed. There
is a commoner Charles 1st De Passe token with his
wife, Henrietta Maria, on the reverse but this token, issued when Charles 1st
was on the throne, is unusual in that it depicts two
monarchs. Mitchener 4784. Rare. See
James 1st section
WJC-9208: Charles 1st and James II
Double-Sided Excessively Rare Huge Stuart Silver
Medal. 45 grams, 81 x 94mm, en medaille,
of hollow construction. Obverse:
armoured bust of Charles 1st, right.
CAROLUS D :G : MAG : BRIT : FRA : ET : HIB :
REX . GLORIA . MEMO. OBIT IA
30 1648 . ATAT . 49. Reverse: laureate,
draped and cuirassed bust of James II, right.
IACOBUS . II . D . G. MAG . BRIT
. FR : ET . HIB . REX . NAT : OCT : 17 . 35 . OB : SEP : 4 . 1701 . AETAT . 67. Medallic Illustrations (ii) 215/538 (listed
VERY RARE) and Medallic Illustrations (i) 347/202
(listed EXTREMELY RARE). Issued as part
of a series of plaques depicting the Stuart monarchs in 1702 at the coronation
of Queen Anne - herself being very much of the Stuart line; the last of the
Stuart's as it turned out. Dies by John Roettiers, father of Norbert
Roettiers.
Individually, ie uniface, the rare silver
medals / plaques were intended for framing or for being inset into furniture,
but collectively as one medal (extra image here, showing
the medal in the hand), excessively rare, if not unique . A rare opportunity. £895
