Edward VI shilling or six-pence ??

[christopher]

Good day,

 

I'm having trouble trying to acurately discribe this coin (among others). I'm new to British coins as these are from my father's collection and he is at the stage of life where he remembers very few things. It has fallen upon me to dispose of his collections. But, enough of that.

 

From the legends on the coin, I've only found six-pence that are written - with the wording broken as such - this way and the Spink number associated is 2483. It appears to have a small crown and be of 'third period'. All this comes from comparison with other, similar coins. I haven't found any with the diameter given (this one is 32mm), but the part that is driving me to distraction is that it weighs 6 gm. I admit, I only have a moderately accurate scale, but it can definitely tell between 3 gm and 6 gm.

 

Would someone please share an opinion or point me in the direction of a definitive source for identifying British coins? And if the source had reference to Irish and Scotish coins, that would be of trememdous help - for things like a Robert II AR penny, etc.

 

(Sorry if this all sounds disjointed, but I'm in uncharted territory here)

[ccg]

The easy identifier is the roman numerals XII.

 

XII (12) pence = shilling

 

The weight would also be approximately right for a shilling.

[christopher]

The easy identifier is the roman numerals XII.

 

XII (12) pence = shilling

 

The weight would also be approximately right for a shilling.

 

Hello ccg,

 

Thank you. Yes, I see it is hidden in plain sight where the less-than-knowledgable would miss it. It looks like I've a very long way to go to get up to speed. You help is much appreciated.

 

Do you know of some reading I might find that would clue me in regarding the sizes and the basics of the various coinage?

 

Season's Best,

 

Chris

[Mat25]

The Spink catalogue would be the first book to get in my opinion, especially as all the pictures in there are actual size. You can also pick up quite a lot of other info.

 

http://www.coins-of-the-uk.co.uk/coins.html - this site also helped me when I was first starting out, lots of useful information and links.

 

If you are ever unsure though then just post a picture here and we will tell you what it is. Being coin collectors we never really get bored of looking at coins!

 

Hope that helps a bit

[YeOldeCollector]

As Mat says, we would be more than happy to help!

[christopher]

As Mat says, we would be more than happy to help!

 

Hello Mat25 and YeOldeCollector,

 

Thank you for your generous offers of assistance. It is not overly common to find such offers of help and, more over, knowledge, these days. I used to get 'in trouble' from other dealers when I was doing antique shows due to the fact that I would share knowledge with anyone who asked.

 

But, since you offered, A question about this piece ... Frances & Mary Hardhead/Lion. I see the term/denomination 'Lion' used on other coinage - including gold pieces. Why would this still be considered a 'Lion'?

 

I suppose I should have started another topic for this - I will next time - but I'm not overly familiar with forums and forum decorum :-)

 

Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for the Holiday Season,

 

Chris

[YeOldeCollector]

Chris,

 

I am always happy to help fellow collectors and get dozens of emails each week. Don't be shy.

 

However, I must confess that I do not know much about Scottish coinage as I focus primarily on English hammered silver and gold. I am hoping that the friendly and more knowledgeable user Scottishmoney/Saor Alba will be able to post here with some more useful comments.

 

Sorry about that.

 

 

All the best for the season,

 

Clive.

[christopher]

Chris,

 

I am always happy to help fellow collectors and get dozens of emails each week. Don't be shy.

 

However, I must confess that I do not know much about Scottish coinage as I focus primarily on English hammered silver and gold. I am hoping that the friendly and more knowledgeable user Scottishmoney/Saor Alba will be able to post here with some more useful comments.

 

Sorry about that.

 

 

All the best for the season,

 

Clive.

 

 

Hello Clive,

 

Fear not, nothing to be sorry about. I find it amusing when someone asks me a question and I tell them, in all honesty, that I have no idea what the answer might be. Frequently, there seems to be a pause in the conversation.

 

I feel certain I will have other things upon which I will look forward to getting your opinion. There is a gold? piece that I've shied away from even beginning work on, though it may be older than your area covers. It did have the word 'stater' on the back of the envelope. The 'British' coins in this part of the collection do go back into the Roman times and I haven't decided whether I will do them with the City/State coins or what. Oh well.

 

Best regards,

 

Chris

[christopher]

The Spink catalogue would be the first book to get in my opinion, especially as all the pictures in there are actual size. You can also pick up quite a lot of other info.

 

http://www.coins-of-the-uk.co.uk/coins.html - this site also helped me when I was first starting out, lots of useful information and links.

 

If you are ever unsure though then just post a picture here and we will tell you what it is. Being coin collectors we never really get bored of looking at coins!

 

Hope that helps a bit

 

 

Hello Mat25,

 

Thank you for the link and the nudge to Spink's. Right on both counts and definitely a good starting point - for me, at least.

 

I'm finding British coins to be quite interesting - much more so than American coins. For example, the stars on the back of some of the Scottish coins and then learning, not only are they not all the same number of points, but they identify the mint. The subtlities, differences and inconsistancies are quite interesting.

 

Thank you, again.

 

Chris