WIth the development of increasingly sensitive metal detectors many small coins are now coming to light. With them are numerous issues of halfpence and farthings, and it is not surprising when coins from previously unknown issues come to light (cf Henry III round halfpence, farthings, Newcastle Farthings of Edward I etc). A recent discovery of a halfpenny that is probably a Henry VI Lis Pellet issue is described in this brief article.
Author: BNS Blog Coordinator
Summarising the corpus of ‘Watford’ type pence from the Sussex mint of Rye, with discussion of a newly discovered cut halfpenny – A.G. Bliss.
The BMC type I or ‘Watford’ pence of Stephen are his most commonly encountered issue, with hundreds known from old collections, museums and (more recently) as detecting finds. Though the greatest output of this issue is from the mint of London, there were also a large number of ‘provincial’ mints striking the type. One of the latter, only properly evinced as a mint in the mid 20th century, is Rye in East Sussex. In recent years, the number of coins struck at Rye has increased as a number of detector finds have been recorded on the EMC and PAS databases. This article seeks to achieve two objectives: first, to summarise the known examples of Rye mint ‘Watford’ issues and produce some small analysis into the number of dies alongside historical research concerning this mint. Secondly, to effectively publish a new Rye coin which has recently surfaced in the author’s collection.
A New Sub Variety of Edward I Penny Class 3a London Mint – D. I. Greenhalgh
A New sub-type of Edward I penny of London for Class 3a. The Early sub classes of class 3 are surprisingly scarce and so it is of note when a new die comes up especially when it is possible to place the coin right at the start of the Class 3a issue.
A Guide to the Long Cross Pennies of Henry III (and Edward I) – Rob Page
I have recently updated my online guide to the voided long cross coinage of Henry III and Edward I. The links below provide access to both a copy which can be read with the Calameo reader, and also a downloadable pdf version. The target audience comprises not only collectors and students of Plantagenet coinage, but also metal detectorists. Read the publication using Calameo
Dominica to Trinidad – A Potential West Indies Re-attribution – K. V. Eckardt
An attribution is always sought for coins created to meet the needs of local circumstances when officially minted coins are not available. Official documentation or contemporary accounts are often non-existent for the cut and countermarked coinage of the colonial West Indies. In the absence of proper coinage from the home countries crude measures had to be employed to allow for day to day business transactions and for the local marketplace to function. In many cases an attribution can be made from the countermark; for other more investigative work is needed. The attribution of the cut countermarked coin examined in the following paper has been previously assigned to two different islands and in this case contemporary documentation has actually resulted in a misleading direction. While the attribution now proposed cannot be taken as an absolute it has been arrived at on the basis of a detailed review of the published facts and a ‘reasonable scenario’ based on these facts.
A New sub-type for Elizabeth I 1572 Ermine Initial Mark Threepences – D. I. Greenhalgh.
Since the publication of ‘The Galata Guide to hammered and milled threepenny pieces 1551 – 1663’ in 2016 very few new dies for the coins have come to light. So when a new die is discovered it is worthy of note. Within the Elizabethan series of threepences there are a few that are notably rare, one such is the 1580 with no initial mark issue, so when a coin from a new pair of dies is discovered it became worthy of recording them as an adjunct to the Galata Guide. A coin purchased from ebay earlier this year is a possible similar issue but for 1572 (initial mark Ermine) that appears to omit the Initial Mark.
A New Die for Elizabeth I 1574 Acorn Initial Mark Threepence’s – D. I. Greenhalgh
Since the publication of ‘The Galata Guide to hammered and milled threepenny pieces 1551 – 1663’ in 2016 very few new dies for the coins have come to light. So when a new die is discovered it is worthy of note. Within the Elizabethan series of threepences there are a few that are notably rare, one such is the 1574 initial mark issue, so when a coin from a new pair of dies is discovered it became worthy of recording them as an adjunct to the Galata Guide. A coin purchased at the London coin fair earlier this year came from these new dies and was complemented by a purchase off EBay a month or so later with a second example of the reverse die. The following article records these new dies.
COIN PEDIGREES REVISITED: THE OXFORD CROWN – HUGH PAGAN
A note in vol.17 of the Numismatic Chronicle by John Brodribb Bergne (1800-1873), in which Bergne lists, together with their back histories, the ten or eleven specimens known to him of the famous Oxford crown of 1644, with a view of the city of Oxford under the horse on the obverse, turns out to contain similar information to that in an earlier list of the same character contained in a letter dated 20 December 1805 written by the banker and coin collector Thomas Dimsdale (1758-1823). Dimsdale’s list is one of the earliest to list coin by coin, together with their back histories, examples of a rarity in the early modern series, and is as such of some significance in the history of the methodology of British numismatics.
A Rare Rune Combination on R8 Sceatta by Chris Timms.
I have interpreted the runes on the R8 Sceatta featured in this article as HHL. The runes HH appear to be ligate or bind. The rune graphs are discussed. Many different combination of runes were used on the obverse flans of the R series, EPA, GEPA, EA, EP, ER, RHY and SPI were the most common, ES is quite unusual. I have only observed EAP on one coin, presumably an error by a die cutter. The later Wigraed (R10) and Tilberht (R11) coins had their names in runes. I have only seen the combination of runes HHL on two coins I own and one more registered on the Early Medieval Corpus database at the Fitzwilliam. The symbols outside of the standard on the reverse of the “Angry Face” coins are also discussed.
Further Notes on a False Plantation Token – Adrian Lansen, Koen Helling and Gary Oddie
The die used to strike the Goerach Batoe 1 Dollar Reis 1890 “Proof” plantation token has recently been discussed in a blog article by Gary Oddie. That the die was found along with other dies known to have produced modern fantasy transport tokens casts serious doubt on the authenticity of specimens of this particular plantation token. This note adds further detail to the history of this issue.
