This note takes a small detour from the die studies being carried out for the shillings of the various issues and mint marks of James I and looks at contemporary counterfeits of the shillings of this reign. The pieces turn out to be somewhat rarer than those of the following reign (Charles I) with images of just 30 pieces being found. This includes the 12 pieces accumulated in the Baldwins forgery cabinet accumulated over the past 140 years.
A contemporary counterfeiter’s die is also presented, with images thanks to the Royal Mint Museum, along with the rediscovery of a likely later striking in lead sold in the R. Carlyon-Britton and H.M. Lingford collections in 1949 and 1951 respectively.
As the James I shillings would circulate through the civil war and up to the recoinage of 1696-7, there were plenty of opportunities for counterfeiting, especially as the official hammered coinage deteriorated. A simple correlation between weight (wear) and diameter (clipping) is suggested as a means to roughly date the counterfeit issues.
BNS Research Blog 