Oliver Cromwell

"The Commonwealth" (1649 - 60)

You may find this comprehensive information website useful: http://www.SunandAnchor.com

Oliver Cromwell (Milled) Read about Oliver Cromwell

WJC-9230: 1644 Oliver Cromwell MARSTON MOOR Military Reward Silver-Gilt Medal - Earl of Manchester; General. Obverse: bust of the Earl of Manchester (inherited his title in 1642, previous to that he was Edward Montagu, Lord Manderville, eldest son of the first Earl of Manchester), three-quarters, with bare, long hair falling on the collar, wearing armour, scarf across the body. Reverse: the Arms of Montagu in a garnished shield with the Earl's coronet above. Wreathed border both sides. Medallic Illustrations (i) 309/137, unlisted in Eimer. Extra image here. A military reward, issued by the General to his men during the Battle of Marston Moor on 2nd July, 1644. The Earl of Manchester's troops, in union with those under Tomas Fairfax and Scottish troops under the command of the Earl of Leven (although Manchester was commander-in-chief at Marston Moor), defeated the Parliamentary forces under Prince Rupert. The Battle of Marston Moor was a seminal conflict in what was the first of three English Civil Wars, not counting the one between Stephen and the Empress Matilda a few centuries earlier). An extremely important historical artefact from one of the most interesting and bloody periods of this country's history! £1,875

Provenance:

ex Drewry family collection (through decent)

ex Coin Galleries (1991)

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. £4,695

Provenance:

Baldwin's 2018

ex Christopher Foley Collection, dispersed 2014

Commonwealth (Hammered)

Crowns

WCom-7797: 1653 Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth Hammered Silver Full Crown. Initial mark Sun, S.R. 3215. Cromwell was adamant he wasn’t going to be “kinglike” so his portrait was absent on all hammered coinage (we’ll gloss over what happened with the new milled coinage of 1656 and 1658!) which made for a very different looking kind of currency. Points of interest are:

1. The reverse V in VS is very much a recycled, inverted (upside own) letter A. An accidental oversight? Just time & effort saving? Or a die sinker’s identification marker? There’s a Ph.D to be had there!!

2. There are a total of three obverse letter Os in OF, one atop the other, indicating that this coin had been struck at least three times. It’s a nice indication as to how these things were made – this was a lot of cold silver to get the die impression onto. I’d have thought that four strikes, each time rotating the die and planchet around by 90 degrees, hoping to not get a double / triple strike, would be a minimum. Maybe this employee was very good at what he did, or perhaps he really did hit the coin four times and we just can’t see the fourth time? Many of you will be aware of the bevelled appearance seen particularly on Charles 1^st halfcrowns, which again is an indication of this multi rotational strike process.

The inverted A in VS rates at R3 (“extremely rare”) in Spink’s ESC – remember that when you look in the standard S.R. price guide, everything is priced to the commonest possible variety. Being of close to full weight, this is a nice grade, unadulterated, honest example of the highest silver Commonwealth denomination. The toning is steely grey with hints of lustre, although I have to admit to metaphorically murdering this coin in my woeful photographic representation – this one is perhaps more illustrative. Commonwealth coinage was primarily London-centric with the Shires using whatever they could get their hands on, not that there was much wealth evident outside of London during those austere years. Everyday shire-currency was predominantly Charles 1^st and earlier. It is rare for metal detectors to unearth anything above a Commonwealth halfgroat but I’m fairly sure than there has never been a Commonwealth crown discovered in this fashion, just as there has never been such a coin discovered in a British hoard. This coin has been residing in an extremely long-standing collection and is thus fresh to the market. £4,375

WAu-9241: 1654/0 Commonwealth Hammered Gold Crown. Initial mark Sun, S.R. 3212. Generally, larger denominations such as this never really made it out of London into the shires; gold coins especially so - silver crown and all gold Commonwealth coinage was predominantly NOT in general circulation, rather being held as collateral in banks (although the Commonwealth period at this point were so bereft of money that there was very little, if any reserve in the vaults), or for use by the government or merchants, which is why Commonwealth crowns and greater did find their way over to the Continent. A coin falling within the Protectorship period (1653-59) under Oliver Cromwell. The date is a clear overdate of 1654 over 1650, meaning the dies were originally sunk for the enigmatic 1650 coinage, of which there was zero silver and one of the lowest quantities of gold (all three denominations combined in total) compared to all the Commonwealth years - even the exceptionally rare year of 1657 struck more gold than 1650. Thus it is not surprising to see that literally every 1654 gold crown, without exception, derives from the recycled 1650 die because it got but the briefest of outings in 1650. Interestingly, 1654, this coin, was the penultimate gold crown issued under the Commonwealth, the final being a 1658. So little gold coinage was able to be struck because the bullion just wasn't available. The gold coinage, unlike the later silver coinage, had to be maintained at exactly the correct fineness because it was this coinage, along with the silver crown, that as has been already pointed out above, was used for overseas trade. The gold coinage of 1654, that's all three denominations combined in total (crown, double crown & unite) is roughly equivalent to the total output of exceedingly rare 1649 silver crowns (Spink auctioned one of the two varieties off a few years back with a hammer price of £40,000+ before commission). There was perhaps slightly more combined gold struck but if you break down the gold and just look at gold crowns, 1654 gold crowns will have been struck in much less quantity than the 1649 silver crowns. In terms of extant silver 1649 crowns, there are less than 20 known, both in private and public collections, and it's almost certainly closer to 15. A very rare and interesting coin. £5,875 RESERVED

Halfrowns

WCom-9239: 1652/1 Commonwealth Hammered Silver Halfcrown. Initial mark Sun, S.R. 3215. Generally, larger denominations such as this never really made it out of London into the shires. Just prior to the Protectorship period (1653-59) but very much during the period of Oliver Cromwell. An interesting coin in that although you can't see it from the date itself, it is actually a 1652/1, meaning the reverse die was a recycled 1651 die. Further, the obverse is also a recycled 1651 die - note the x15 leaves, which was also a feature on the 1649 obverses, but in this coin we see the small initial mark Sun, meaning it can only be 1651. 1649 saw the new Commonwealth design emerge but whilst it looked good at first glance, there were problems with the cross hatching and other central elements that affected not only it's longevity in circulation but it's actual appearance fresh out of the mint. The coins were not as sharp as required. This was probably to be expected considering that this design was a million miles away from everything that had gone before. The 49 dies were generally discarded at the end of that year. There was no silver coinage in 1650 and so during that silver hiatus, the mint used the extra time well in perfecting the dies. 1651 witnessed much improved dies and also lots of them, particularly the obverse dies which was more than likely motivated by the famous 1651 Blondeau pattern (the 1651 Ramage coinage used a different set of dies). 1651 was not a huge year of output (similar to 52) and so clearly they sank way more dies that was required (actually, required is the wrong word - they literally didn't have the available bullion to make enough new coinage). Those dies were subsequently recycled for the majority of the 1652 coinage. Late in 1652, those recycled 51 dies eventually ran out and so a large batch of fresh, straight 1652 dies was prepared - again, those straight 52 dies would remain largely unused in that year, destined to be recycled as 1653 coins. It's worth stating again that 1652 was not a big year for coinage output. 1653 and 1656 were huge years of output (I say "huge", and so it was within the Commonwealth period, but compared to virtually any other year in history outside of this period, even 1653 and 1656 would be tiny), helped to a large extent by raids on foreign ships containing large quantities of bullion - similar to the VIGO and LIMA coinages to come later under Queen Anne and King George II, although unlike these later coins, the 1653 and 1656 Commonwealth coins were not marked as such in any way. The obverse is recorded on the accompanying ticket as having "OF over Of", which is nonsense - it's just down to a double strike. An extraordinarily nice, pleasing coin benefiting from actually being (in all but date) a 1651 coin both sides! £1,095

WCom-8153: 1655 Commonwealth Hammered Silver Halfcrown. Initial mark Sun, S.R. 3215. A contemporary counterfeit of the day from very good quality dies (this would pass as legitimate to most people then and now) and remarkably good weight. The lettering is good, albeit irregularly positioned in places, as is the initial mark. The cross hatching on the shield is flat but they at least had a go - this was hard even for the official die sinkers to get right (it was one of the main reasons why 1650 didn't happen for silver coinage). 1655 is an incredibly rare year for all denomination but particularly halfcrowns. There are about as many extant examples of this coin than I have fingers (and I don't include the thumb) on my left hand. They really are that rare. Obviously this is a contemporary counterfeit, albeit one from high execution dies with what looks like decent silver. It was and still is standard practice for counterfeiters to copy common coinage in order that their spurious coinage is swamped by it all - in this scenario, not seeing the single tree for the wood surrounding it. And yet they chose this date? Stranger still when you learn that the dies were modelled on the late 1651 coinage! Outstanding provenance, being part of the famous Blackfriars' 1997 hoard of Commonwealth and some earlier (Edward VI onwards) coinage - 1,582 coins, all found together on the Thames' foreshaw and subsequently sold via Baldwins. Although this is considered one of only three Commonwealth coin hoards ever found (the other two: 660 coins from the Stainton-by-Langworth, Lincolnshire hoard and 524 coins from the Laughton, Sussex hoard), it was actually only 25% commonwealth but that was still nearly x400 Commonwealth coins. The statistics make for interesting reading: there was only x1 1655 halfcrown in the entire hoard compared to x76 1653 halfcrowns and x42 1556 halfcrowns. Unbelievably, there were x2 1657 halfcrowns, even though 1657 is a much rarer year than 1655. An excessively rare coin - you will never see another. £1,375

Provenance:

ex Blackfriars' Hoard (1997)

ex Baldwins' sale, sold to

ex Haddenham collection

ex Spink

WCom-9198: 1658 Commonwealth Hammered Silver Halfcrown. Richard Cromwell’s Commonwealth, initial mark Anchor, 10.76g. This is a copper core, thickly silver plated contemporary counterfeit which we can be fairly certain was made in 1658 - it obviously couldn't have been struck during the Sun initial mark period of 1649-57 and equally clearly, you'd have to have been stark raving mad to strike this coin with the intention of passing it in the 1660 onwards Restoration period! The coin itself is of decent enough quality; a degree of double-striking hiding a few die-sinker's sins. The hatching is actually quite good, as is wreath. The reverse harp looks like it was engraved in the die whilst under the influence of something potent and the double-strike is a little over-egged on the mark of value where it actually reads IIII.vi, which makes this halfcrown very close to a crown, if the mark of value is taken literally! The reverse VS reads VVS and the T of COMMONWEALTH is lacking its bottom serif. There are numerous deliberate punches and scratches in the fields which were invariably added to the coin before entering circulation in order to give it an air of "circulated authenticity". September 1658: Oliver Cromwell was dead and Richard Cromwell had just become Lord Protector, which as we all know, didn't go too well for him. His resignation in '59 led to the dissolution of the Protectorate, a period of political instability, and the eventual restoration of the monarchy in 1660. Extra image here. This coin is almost certainly an 1800's ex River Thames hoard coin (sixpences upwards never really circulated much outside of London), based on the very high state of preservation. The silver content of Commonwealth coinage was on a continuing journey of gradual debasement even before this date: the Commonwealth economy was not in good shape and bullion was just not available for coining, thus recycled alloy was used. Clearly any impurities from what went into the melting pot, together with the much repeated process itself, would manifest itself in the end product - dull, sometimes brittle and white metal in appearance coinage. In 1658, this coin would actually have had the undesirable effect, from the point of view counterfeiters at least, of standing out from the crowd as an apparent coin of good silver content. An excessively rare contemporary counterfeit (how many would dared to have been made and more to the point, how many of that tiny cohort would have survived through to today?), being so much rarer than the real thing! Excellent provenance. £895 RESERVED (M.S. 1-9-25 Lay-Away)

Provenance:

ex The John Noel Simpson collection of English, Irish and Hiberno-Norse coins

ex Spink

Shillings

WCom-8154: 1649 Commonwealth Hammered Silver Shilling. Initial mark Sun, S.R. 3217. The very first date in the Cromwell Commonwealth period. An apparent eight strings to the harp and, most importantly, a sideways 6 in the date which is entirely unrecorded, both in ESC and the excellent Sun&Anchor.com. The date itself is wide, indicating a late 1649 reverse die. Whilst this coin is not part of the famous Blackfriars' Hoard of 1995 (some 1500+ coins all found on the Thames' Foreshaw), you may be interested to learn that of that hoard, only x2 were 1649 shillings (there were x72 1653 shillings to give you some context). If you look at the cross hatching on the shield, you'll note that it isn't up to much. The new regime, following on from the very different Charles 1st coinage, found it incredibly hard to get this cross hatching right. It was one of the main reasons why 1650 didn't happen for silver coinage - they were busy perfecting their dies. 1651 bore the fruits of their labour, especially on the silver crowns. S.R. grade this coin to almost VF. Rare thus. £895

Provenance:

ex Haddenham collection

ex Spink

WCom-7216: 1651 Hammered Silver Commonwealth Shilling. Initial mark Sun, S.R. 3217. A slightly better date and the rarer “no obverse stops” variety – see the excellent Sun & Anchor website (http://www.SunandAnchor.com) for a full list of varieties. When looking at S.R. for a price guide (and it’s very much a guide), their pricing is for commonest, non variety coins. £725

WCom-9197: 1653 Commonwealth Hammered Silver Shilling. Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth, initial mark Sun, 5.57g. This is the variety with the O of COMMONWEALTH being over an M - SH-195 on the excellent SunandAnchor.com site. In addition to that, and not recorded in the aforementioned reference work, is the reading ENGLLAND with the A being unbarred. No obvious overdate, the reverse hatching much better than on the '49 dies but still suspect on the obverse hatching where even though it was courser than in '49, it was still not defined enough to mitigate again an obvious central-wear point. On a generous, unclipped flan which, even though you'd imagine the clippers of this period to be wary in the extreme, especially given the strict nature of the Commonwealth as a whole, is something of a rarity in its own right re extant examples. A very nice coin. £895

Provenance:

ex The John Noel Simpson collection of English, Irish and Hiberno-Norse coins

ex Spink

WCom-8156: 1656 over 4 Commonwealth Hammered Silver Shilling. Initial mark Sun, S.R. 3217. A common enough year, although this is the 1656 over 1654 overdate variety. This coin, weighing in at a very impressive (almost full weight) 5.85g is all about grade. Commonwealth coinage, especially the stuff in mainstream circulation between the 1650's and 1696 - halfcrowns, shillings, sixpences and pence, were well used and as most Commonwealth coinage was London-centric, it got REALLY well used, to the point where what you mainly see today are very worn, often problematic and simply not very nice coins. Whilst there are better grade extant examples out there, you 're unlikely to be able to buy them unless you get lucky and have deep pockets. I'm a keen buyer of grade Commonwealth and I don't think I've ever had a better grade 1656 shilling. Not choice but a jolly good coin never-the-less. £895

Provenance:

ex Michael Trenerry (2023)

WCom-9056: 1656 Commonwealth Hammered Silver Shilling. Initial mark Sun, S.R. 3217. Both the obverse and reverse W letters look to be made from adapted letter Vs. There is clearly some double striking - the reverse lettering was originally a good character space to the left of where it is now. What really intrigues me is the date. It came to me as a 1656 over 1655 but it clearly isn't that. It's a plain 6 over 6 due to the double strike but if you actually look at what we have, it defies explanation; at least I can't explain it. The 6 on the left is the original 6 and is also in the correct position. However, the second 6 to the right, being clearly struck over the left 6, is the one they wanted at the mint. The circle of that second 6 is missing, seemingly stopped dead in its tracks at the boundary of the first 6's imprint. This is where the idea it was a 6/5 originated from. Further, the second 6 comes with some beading on the lower portion of the circle but that attached beading curves in the wrong direction; outwards rather than inwards to make a circle. Makes no sense! A most interesting coin. £435

WCom-9240: 1658 Commonwealth Hammered Silver Shilling. Initial mark Anchor, S.R. 3218. Generally, larger denominations such as this never really made it out of London into the shires; these later dated coins especially so because mintage was miniscule. 1658 falls just within the Protectorship period (1653-59) but now very much during the period of Oliver's son, Richard Cromwell. There were three years for Richard Cromwell, 1658, 1659 and 1660. Most 1658 coins were from straight 1658 dies and not recycled, earlier dies. This is a most interesting coin in that the obverse die is a mid 1654 die. Further, the reverse is also most likely a recycled mid 1654 die - the W is diagnostic but is unfortunately not clear enough. However, the large 6 in the date cannot be from a straight 58 die so the balance of probability makes this a 1654 coin with the 54 obverse having an altered initial mark (Sun removed, Anchor replacing it) and the 54 reverse having the date altered. This might at first glance appear that all the above makes this something a lesser coin, maybe even a counterfeit of some sorts but the reality is that it's a completely genuine coin (recycling is nothing new - the official and workers at the mint in the 1650's were certainly earning their green credentials back then!) but a far more interesting coin. The economy at this point was in dire straights and would decline further, partly due to the lack of leadership by Richard. Here's an interesting fact that you might not have know; an event that if the opposite decision had been made, could have changed history drastically: In 1657, Oliver Cromwell was offered the crown by Parliament as part of a revised constitutional settlement. Clearly he declined (although he did take a few days to think about it) and instead, Cromwell was ceremonially reinstalled as Lord Protector, with greater powers than had previously been granted him under this title. War always costs a lot of money and England had very little of it left in the coffers. 1656 was the final year of large coinage output (I say "large", and so it was within the Commonwealth period, but compared to virtually any other year in history outside of this period, even 1656 would be tiny). 1657 was a very hard year indeed for coinage and it never really recovered from that point. 1658 is a rare year for any kind of Commonwealth coinage. Further, bullion was in such short supply that the mint was forced to use everything and anything possible in terms of getting in the silver for coinage. Base metal counterfeits would have gone into the melting pot alongside earlier coinage, together with other silver objects that were perhaps less than .925. On that point, when you undertake this recycling process on such a regular basis, other foreign elements, not least dirt, are bound to be inadvertently included into the alloy, ultimately reducing the fineness and thus the quality of the coinage as an end product. This had the all too obvious outcome of trickling out coinage that was literally billon, ie less that .925 silver - not quite as bad as under the latter part of the Henry VIII years, an intentional debasement where they added base metals to the alloy in order to make coinage absolutely not worth the face value. On the rare occasions you do see Anchor Commonwealth coinage, it has a leaden, soft appearance which clearly attracts wear through circulation. Often the legends are incomplete or the date is not obvious. This coin is actually a very good example indeed with an apparent good alloy (rings beautifully when dropped). The reverse is sharper with the obverse being slightly pitted, indicating that this was perhaps a Thames river find, probably a hoard coin where the reverse had been protected by the stacking of other coins - maybe the 1995 Blackfriars Hoard of 1,582 hammered coins found on the foreshore of the River Thames in central London, lost by a trader around 1660, presumably overboard in the river? The all important Anchor and date couldn't be clearer on this coin. A couple of interesting features of the coin: the C of COMMONWEALTH not only appear at the start of the word but also in between the M and the O. The 6 of the date looks to be overstruck over something else. A very rare and desirable coin in much above average grade and condition. £2,395

Sixpences

WCom-9196: 1649 Commonwealth Hammered Silver Sixpence. Initial mark Sun, S.R. 3219. The very first date in the Cromwell Commonwealth period. Seven strings to the reverse harp with the sate obviously not an overdate although interestingly, the 4 of 1649 has been struck or entered twice compared to once for the other digits. If you look at the cross hatching on the shield, you'll note that it isn't up to much, ie it's worn but you can see from what remains that it had a very low definition courtesy of the die. The new regime, following on from the Charles 1st coinage (I wonder what the public would have made of this coin, following on from very different style that had been the norm for 100 years?) found it incredibly hard to get this cross hatching right. It was one of the main reasons why 1650 didn't happen for silver coinage - they were busy perfecting their dies. 1651 bore the fruits of their labour, especially on the silver crowns which were clearly harder to get the design off the dies and onto the planchet. A sought-after first date - 1649 being rarer in its own right anyway - on a problem-free good flan in very collectable grade. £895

Provenance:

ex Tim Owen (his iconic ticket)

WCom-7610: 1652 Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth Hammered Silver Sixpence. A most interesting coin being 1652 over 1651, over 1649 in date. S.R. 3219. Further, the 6 of the date appears to be a large 6 over a reversed smaller 6, which I believe is unrecorded. Further still, the right hand stop at the initial mark Sun is a small pellet over a large pellet. The detailed accompanying ticket, whilst mentioning none of this, does draw attention to the D of ENGLAND being re-entered and off to one side. This at first glance appears to be simply double striking but it’s actually not - if you look closely, the bottom D has a bottom right curving serif whilst the uppermost D has a corresponding angular serif. They are very different letter D’s. Again, unrecorded to my knowledge. 1652 is the year where many more shillings and halfcrowns were issued compared to sixpences. The coin itself has been bent twice in antiquity, as so many were (often done with the teeth to gauge silver content), and subsequently straightened out. Attractively toned both sides. As I initially said, a most interesting coin, not to mention grade. £765

WCom-5912: 1654 over 3 Commonwealth Hammered Silver Sixpence. Relatively full of flan – minimal clipping with an unusually clear date. S.R. 3219. 1654 is a rarer date and in a somewhat exclusive “less than 100 extant examples known” club. Better still, this is the rarer 4 over 3 variety which E.S.C. rates at R2, around 32 known examples. The coin has slight creasing probably due to the practise of biting the coin to see if it was genuine silver in the 1650’s. Some toning. £545 RESERVED (M.He 4-12-23 Lay-Away)

WCom-7928: 1656 over 52 Commonwealth Hammered Silver Sixpence - a most unusual coin! Initial mark Sun so struck under the Protectorship of Oliver Cromwell – later Anchor coins were under his son, Richard Cromwell. S.R. 3219. A 1656 sixpence but with only x6 harp strings, which simply can't be. There is a 1656 variety with x8 harp strings but definitely not x6. The answer is that this is actually a 1653 (or earlier) reverse that has been dug out of the used die bucket and purposefully altered (ie a Cromwellian form of recycling!) in date to become 1656. Looking at the date itself, there are very odd things going off with the "5" (there are two DIFFERENT "5" punches, one overstruck on the other, and possibly a third, although that third one may be simply down to double striking). Also, the second "6" looks to be a thin "6" over a fatter "6". The final "6" in the date has some residual evidence at the top of its ascender indicating the top diagonal of the original number, either a "2" or a "3". The excellent http://www.SunandAnchor.com kindly looked at this coin and offered 1652 as a reverse die (has to be pre 53 due to harp strings and reverse shields conform to 52) and 1652 on the obverse (can't be 51 due to large initial mark and COMMONWEALTH is typical of 52). So here we have just what I promised in the title - a nice, presentable 1656 Commonwealth sixpence that is actually from 1652 dies and even more unusually, when they randomly dug their hand into the bucket full of old, discarded dies, they actually pulled out same date old dies! Many thanks again to http://www.SunandAnchor.com. I know most of you will be familiar with this site but if not, please do pay them a visit. A very nice example from one of the most interesting periods in British history, not to mention the fact that this is an unrecorded 1656/2 coin. £695 RESERVED (M.He.3-12-23)

Halfgroats

WCom-7556: Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth Hammered Silver Halfgroat. 1649 – 60. No legend other than mark of denomination, which I think was the first and last time this had happened on a halfgroat? S.R. 3221. Very good grade for issue. £185

WCom-7594: 1649-60 Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth Hammered Silver Halfgroat. An issue actually spanning not just Oliver Cromwell’s stewardship but also that of his son, Richard Cromwell. S.R. 3221. Very good grade for issue. £185

WCom-7623: Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth Hammered Silver Twopence. Struck 1649-60. A centrally struck, problem-free attractive coin being much above average. S.R. 3221. A very nice coin from a somewhat interesting period of British history. £145

WCom-7929: 1649-60 Commonwealth Hammered Silver Halfgroat. A centrally struck, problem-free attractive coin being much above average. S.R. 3221. A very nice coin from a somewhat interesting period of British history. £165

Pennies

WCom-7351: Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth Hammered Silver Penny. Struck 1649-60 so of course, this could well be a later Richard Cromwell piece. A centrally struck, problem-free attractive coin being much above average. S.R. 3222. Ex Dr E. Birstall collection (sold with his ticket and paper envelope). A very nice coin from a somewhat interesting period of British history. £165

WCom-7622: Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth Hammered Silver Penny. Struck 1649-60. A centrally struck, problem-free attractive coin being much above average. S.R. 3222. Ex Shaun Aldom collection. A very nice coin from a somewhat interesting period of British history. £175

Halfpennies

WCom-7595: 1649-60 Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth Hammered Silver Halfpenny. An issue actually spanning not just Oliver Cromwell’s stewardship but also that of his son, Richard Cromwell. S.R. 3223. The rarest of the pence issues by some margin. £195

WCom-8069: 1649-60 Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth Hammered Silver Halfpenny. An issue actually spanning not just Oliver Cromwell’s stewardship but also that of his son, Richard Cromwell. S.R. 3223. S.R. consider this denomination a little commoner than the Commonwealth penny (which is ridiculous) and a little more commoner still than the Commonwealth halfgroat (bordering on the outrageous). In the real world, the halfpenny is the rarest of the pence issues and by some margin. A tiny coin that could easily have been lost but literally was what an actual halfpenny was equivalent to in silver bullion back in the day, so that dictated the size of the coin. Small though this is, it is not the smallest hammered coin ever to hit the streets of England - that was the second issue Henry VIII farthing and to be fair, that Tudor coin is smaller still!! This Commonwealth halfpenny is a superb example being unusually centrally struck as well as being high grade. Bordering on choice for issue. £325

WCom-7930: 1649-60 Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth Hammered Silver Halfpenny. An issue actually spanning not just Oliver Cromwell’s stewardship but also that of his son, Richard Cromwell. S.R. 3223. S.R. consider this denomination a little commoner than the Commonwealth penny (which is ridiculous) and a little more commoner still than the Commonwealth halfgroat (bordering on the outrageous). In the real world, the halfpenny is the rarest of the pence issues and by some margin. A tiny coin that could easily have been lost but literally was what an actual halfpenny was equivalent to in silver bullion back in the day, so that dictated the size of the coin. Small though this is, it is not the smallest hammered coin ever to hit the streets of England - that was the second issue Henry VIII farthing and to be fair, that Tudor coin is smaller still!! This Commonwealth halfpenny is a superb example being unusually centrally struck as well as being high grade. Darker toning. Bordering on choice for issue. £325

OTHER