Another little'un arrived today, an Edward IV Halfpenny, London with no marks by neck. Spink 2137. Circa 1475.




Cheers,

Clive.

Received another Philip and Mary groat this morning, got this one very cheaply from the Netherlands, described as "Early hammered coin", right up my street! A decent portrait which is scarce to see on these coins. Circa 1555.

Elizabeth I Groat, second issue 1560-1. M.M. Cross Crosslet. Spink 2556 with a decent portrait.

It has been defaced, it looks as if someone has attempted to put a rose behind the bust, perhaps to pass off as a sixpence which is a similar size?

Cheers,

Clive.

wow u have some very nice coins!

Thanks Dustin!


Two coins arrived today.

First up, another Elizabeth I Halfpenny. Mint mark escallop, 6th Issue, Spink 2581. 1582-1600.




Secondly, a halfgroat of Henry VIII. One of the best I've seen detail wise. Archbishop Warham of Canterbury. Uncertain Mint Mark, 1526-32.




Cheers,

Clive.

Picked out a few for myself from a Henry III collection today. Henry III ruled from 1216 to 1272.

First up, Henry III Shortcross Penny. Willem at Canterbury, class 7b. Spink 1356B.




Secondly, Henry III Longcross Penny, Nichole at London. It's a mule of Class Ib and II, Spink 1360. Ex. Spink 1996. I really like the portrait on this one.




Thirdly, another Henry III Longcross, Nicole on London. Class IIa, Spink 1361.




Penultimately, Henry III again, Nicole on London. Class IIb, Spink 1361.




Finally, Ion on Bury St Edmunds. Class IIIc (IIId1), Spink 1364. Eaglen Dies KK, Ex Brussels Hoard and Ex Robin Eaglen. Very good portrait on this one too with some neat toning.

Nice coins, Clive.

I'm going to the big show of the year for America on Wednesday. I haven't quite decided put to use my little money towards, but if I go for a nice hammered coin, is there anything I should look for when making a purchase? Certain things that signify a fake? Etc?

Cheers George!

Experience is the main thing that allows you to make good prices. First off, if it looks too good to be true then it probably is, no coin is perfect so take a magnifying glass to look for any peck marks.

Secondly, always hold Anglo-Saxon pennies up to the light as these were struck on thinner flans than most hammereds so there are often striking cracks. A crack in a coin will significantly lower its value as will piercings and pluggings.

Many people have bought what they believed to be a genuine coin but failed to notice the WRL stamped onto it. WRL means Westair Reproductions Limited and so are obvious fakes. Trevor Ashmores are also common, these were coins made by a Mr Trevor Ashmore but they bear no marks, only an collector of hammereds can tell these apart from the genuine examples and even then it is hard.

I also find that gently dropping the coin onto a hard metal or stone surface is good, as long as the coin has no cracks..., as you can tell if it "rings true".

Another tip is monarchs such as William I and Henry VIII demand prices which are much greater than they should do purely because people love the history of that monarch. So getting a coin of Henry VII will be much cheaper than VIII even though there are few years between them. Edward I and Henry III would probably suit your post-student budget as you can get a decent example of an Edward I Penny of London for less than $50.

Please email me if you want at Clive@HistoricCoinage.com as I'll be more than happy to answer any questions or provide further tips.

Thanks! You answered all my Qs! $50 ain't bad

Treated myself to a Henry I Quadrilateral Cross on Fleury penny that actually has a portrait unlike many of these coins which are notoriously poorly struck. This dates to around 1130.

nice

Thanks.

After a fortnight's holiday I'm back and have this new beauty to report!!



Edward the Confessor Sovereign/Eagles Type, King seated on throne with orb and sceptre. Iocetel on York with four eagles, one in each quarter and two with annulets above.

Strong VF and Ex. Spink. This example dates to about 1056.

Great coin, Clive. Welcome back. One question: what/who is Spink? I've seen the name thrown around a lot. I presume he is a collector that did a great deal of cataloguing - so he published a few books (which is why I see Spink numbers) and I guess that coin was one of the ones he owned during his cataloguing years.


Eh?

Good ole Spink...

Spink is a company that buy and sell coins over here in London, they bring out a reference book each year, a little like your Redbook I suppose, that has prices, information and keys to identifying the thousands of coins that exist.

Here's this year's:



The coin in my previous post was sold by Spink, so it has a good provenance. This particular coin is Spink Reference Number 1181.

Pick up any hammereds at the show?

Le non. The show was gigantic so I used the plethora of coins and notes there to find the notes I can't find at smaller shows or at the nearby dealers. I have a better chance of finding a nice hammered coin just a few miles down the road than I do finding a "very rare" note or two I'm looking for.

Thanks for asking though! I did look and still have my eyes out for them!

Glad to hear!

I have my eyes on several dozen at an upcoming auction...

Received an Irish Eddy I Penny today, Dublin mint. Looks like it is of the final issue.

Also received this, not too bad.




Charles I Shilling, Tower Mint, Star i.m., Spink 2799. 1640-1.

That realy is a lovely coin Clive

Now that I'm out of hospital, I found a nice selection of parcels at home for me!

Here are a few, will post rest later on in week.

First up, a milled Elizabeth I Sixpence of 1561. Small bust with large rose and cross fourchee on the reverse, mint mark star. This is of Eloye Mestrelle's coinage, of superior quality to the hammered coins but much slower to produce so it was discontinued and England returned to hammered coins. Mestrelle was hung in 1578 for counterfeiting... Perhaps Elizabeth really was not happy with him! This example is Spink 2593 with an aVF obverse and VF reverse in my opinion.





Secondly, another Bishop Bec penny for my collection. Cross Moline mint mark visible on obverse and of Durham mint, a good enough example and class 10cf3. Circa 1305.

Hi Clive, Welcome back. I hope nothing too serious put you up in the hospital. Either way, I hope all is ameliorated.

I have two questions:

1) What is the history of those two pieces? Like, from the minter's anvil to your collection. Were they typically buried in a hoard or did they circulate widely for hundreds of years?

2) What grade would you assign both of those? I'd say the QEI has significant wear. But does either suffer from poorly worn dies that do not give the grade/coin/design justice?

Unfortunately it was and will always be serious, thanks for your wishes though George.

Well, for the sixpence it was most likely a single find. So, someone probably dropped it and a metal detectorist came along and found it in a field. 85% of my coins are found this way and the Edward I penny was most likely found this way. But I do have some coins which have come from hoards and the occasional Stuart hammered which has been rumoured to have been handed down through the generations but I find this highly unlikely...

As for the grades, well I use the British grading system so this will probably differ from what you will find on the US slabs. But I'd grade the Lizzie as almost VF as the reverse is particularly strong for the issue but the obverse was most likely struck from worn dies and the scratches detract from the grade. The wear is apparent on her face but the rose behind her bust is still very strong for the issue, so a mixture of die wear and post-mint wear.

The Eddy penny clearly suffers from die wear as the left hand side of the coin is significantly worn but the other side still retains quite a bit of detail, this is evident by the sharpness of "TAS" in the bottom right of the reverse.



As for the Eddy I penny, I'd say a strong fine for the issue. It has quite a lot of wear but I bought it in a lot of mixed Eddies as I recognised this as being the rarer Durham mint of a Bishop rather than the bog-standard Durham pennies.

Ok, that's what I thought. I just figured that dies used during that era would catastrophically deteriorate (shatter, for example) before the die would become too worn from use. But at the same time, I guess that dies were so hard to craft that they'd just use it til they loose it.

Yeah, one has to remember that these dies were hand engraved in retrograde. So it would be like doing it in a mirror, incredibly hard to do! We have no way of knowing how long dies were in use but they must have been replaced frequently as there is so much variation amongst the coinage.

Also, back in the day, money was determined by the actual silver. So the wear on a coin would not matter much at all, as long as the populous could be sure that they were genuine silver examples life would go on as normal. Whereas if a shattered die made the King look like a wild boar then there could have been dire consequences...

Please show us this coin!

Also, can I see the coin in your signature? the gold one?

I shall PM you some pictures soon, it's made of silver but is as struck and so appears golden.

2 new Henries today.




As-struck Henry III Penny, Nicole on Canterbury, Class Vb with wedge tailed R.




VF+/EF Henry III Penny, Nicole on Winchester, Class 3C.

Well some coins yet to come.

Here are two that have arrived.




Henry III Penny, Class 5C, Randulf on Bury St Edmunds.

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Henry III Penny, Class 5A, Nicole on London.

Henry III Penny, Willem on Northampton. Class 3a.

Henry VIII Posthumous Halfgroat, Canterbury. Looks as if someone got a bit hungry with this coin...




1703 Queen Anne Vigo Sixpence, another coin to add to my side collection of Annes. Spink 3590.




1887 Queen Victoria Florin, couldn't resist at £3.99.

Clive that Queen Anne is stunning

Thanks Steve, I really like it too! Gave me a chance to test my new camera on some milleds for a change!

Very nice obverse on that VIGO....

Agreed! Cheers Matt.

Really great stuff Clive!

Cheers Tom!

Two arrived today.




Cannot resist a half-decent portrait of Henry VIII.




Charles II, Milled Twopence, undated. I'd say EF.

Two new'uns this week pour moi.





Haven't got many York pennies of Eddy so this is a welcome addition. Edward I Penny of York mint, Class 3e.




Aethelred II Crvx Penny, Byrhsige on the scarcer mint of Exeter.

Got a few today, namely a crown that I've been wanting for a while in half-decent condition!





Also got two booklets, "Viking Coins of the Danelaw and of Dublin" and "The Norman Conquest and the English Coinage", both by Michael Dolley.

Well I'm jealous of just about everything you have been showing off

Ties in with my hammered errors and Henry III, so thought "Why not?"

Wow. I really like that portrait! Excellent work for the time.

Cheers Bill! You can see a better portrait on one of my other Crvx pennies.

A Stephen cut half. Voided cross and stars type, B.M.C. 2. Walder on Norwich.

Bought the better coins of a detectorist's accumulation.

Here are a few:




Henri on London, Class 5c, as struck.

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Edward I Penny, London, Class 8c.

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Edward I Penny, London, Class 10cf1.

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Edward I Farthing, yet another Class 3de. Londoniensis mint.

Jeez, Clive. I've only found a few quarters with my detector and some guy is finding medievals worth 20-30 pounds?

Well the vast majority of hammered coins are found by metal detecting, for example there is one English coin that was found by a detectorist that sold for £230,000 which is about $400,000.

I would have a minute collection if there were no detectorists...

I guess most of coins in the US market are from either personal collections (traded/handed down through the generations since we've had a pretty healthy collecting base going back to the mid 19th C.) or from hoards.

I figured a good deal of your coins are from hoards. If most are from detectorists, how often do you hear of hoards?

Here's one I forgot to post here:




Edward VI Shilling, Tower mint, very base issue. A small chip behind the bust but a superb portrait. I like Edward VI's coins as they are quite scarce and it is if the infamous 'Boy King' Henry VIII's only son, so not a bad example for what I paid.