Allocating an issuer for a merchant countermarked dollar, where only the issuer’s initials are present, will always be a complicated task. At the same time questions must be raised for the reasons to use initials, where a full name would assist with the acceptance and distribution of the countermarked coin. The example of the countermark J D over 5•6 is discussed at length in this article.
Author: BNS Blog Coordinator
King John’s Pellets: Die-cutter Signatures? – Robert Page
Observations of the reverses of 48 King John pennies of the moneyer Roberd at Dublin has revealed the presence of pellets on many of the coins. This brief article illustrates the different varieties observed and speculates on their meaning. Reader comments and suggestions are encouraged, as are comments on additional pellet configurations, including those from other moneyers or denominations.
The Laxfield Hoard: Some puzzles explained but not yet resolved – Hugh Pagan
A discussion of the evidence for an intriguing early nineteenth century coin hoard from Laxfield, Suffolk, which may or not have had both a Carolingian denier component as well as an Anglo-Saxon element. The note also draws attention to the fact that the late Tony Merson possessed a parcel of Carolingian deniers which he believed to derive from the hoard in question.
Henry III – Long Cross Penny – A Challenging Piece – A striker’s foible or just an undetected error? – Ian M. Heavisides and Robert Page
An unusually thin and lightweight Henry III penny is described; the authors are hoping to receive reader suggestions as to what this coin may represent.
Correction of an Ownership Misconception – Tom Ward & Eric C. Hodge
It is easy to use information that has already been published, but wherever possible recourse to primary source documents is preferable. In the case of the Adelphi Cotton Works this has been proven with three business concerns being discovered with the same name. This in turn has led to confusion regarding ownership. Hopefully this article will clarify the position of the Twigg brothers regarding their involvement in the cotton trade during the period of the Industrial Revolution in Glasgow.
A new Crockard type for John of Avesnes – Glenn Schaap & Denis Martin
It is now almost forty years since N. J. Mayhew published a masterly study of the coinage produced in Northern Europe in the late 13th and early 14th centuries imitating the English sterling. Inevitably new variations of his existing types have turned up in hoards or as detector finds. Seldom have the new finds revealed a coin which could be considered as a distinctive new type. The joint authors of this article have discovered a coin which they feel worthy of such a description.
A Newly Discovered Cut Halfpenny Struck for Henry of Anjou, and some Observations on Die Variants for Mack’s type 253 – A.G. Bliss
During the 1140s, an unusual series of coins began to be produced in the Southwest of England. These pieces effectively combine an obverse design utilised on the ‘Watford’ pence of Stephen with the reverse of Henry I type XV pieces (quadrilateral on cross-fleury). Encountered in the names of Earls William/Robert of Gloucester and Patrick of Salisbury, these coins were also struck in the name of Henry of Anjou (the future Henry II) – son of Henry I’s daughter Matilda and Count Geoffrey of Anjou. This article brings to light a new cut halfpenny struck for the latter, and demonstrates that the type (those struck in the name of Henry) in fact encompasses several different die-groups.
A New Reverse Type for Edward III Reading Halfpenny – D.I. Greenhalgh
A new variety of a Edward III halfpenny from the Reading mint is described.
The 1943 East Africa Shilling – Gary Oddie
This article looks at the shilling coins issued by the East African Currency Board struck at various mints between 1921 and 1952, and especially the scarce 1943 pieces struck at the Bombay mint. The existence of contemporary counterfeits of the 1943I shillings confirms that the pieces circulated and also highlights the poor state of the circulating medium at the time.
Two Unusual Counterfeit Victorian Shillings – Gary Oddie
Contemporary counterfeits of Victorian silver coins are typically cast from pewter-like metals, more rarely silver plated brass and very unusually silver. This note presents two shillings dated 1863 and 1882 which are of good weight and good silver and struck from hand engraved dies. The pieces also share the same obverse die. Being rare dates it is speculated that they are not contemporary but were manufactured in the third quarter of the twentieth century. This issue is compared with the halfcrowns that have been noted with dates 1861, 1866, 1868, and 1871 which were first discovered in the 1960’s during the change checking that accompanied decimalisation.
