In 2000 an unusual coin was found muling a Short Cross obverse of class VIa1 with a previously unrecorded reverse die reading +IOHANNESOND. The note publishes the coin and suggests the coin could be a pattern for King John’s Irish REX coinage. The author also discusses documentary evidence that leads him to suggest revised dates for the REX coinage.
Author: BNS Blog Coordinator
Cartouche Countermarks Revisited – Gary Oddie
This note will take another look at the Stuart hammered silver coins that have been countermarked with a cartouche containing various Roman numerals; III, VI, VII and VII above a horizontal I. The five previously published specimens are presented and discussed along with a further piece that might be attributed to this group. The weights of the pieces are found to correlate with the numeral in the countermark, but no plausible explanation for the issue has been found. All of the pieces should be considered as unsolved until new evidence appears.
A New Bust Type for James I Shillings – Gary Oddie
The silver coins issued during the reign of James I have received very little attention since Morrieson’s publications over a century ago. The scarce crowns have been revisited with extensive die studies, but the lower denominations have had nothing more than the occasional notice of a die sinker’s error or a new overstruck initial mark. A new transitional bust for the first issue shilling was first noticed in 2007 and this short note presents a new bust for the second issue shillings with initial mark key.
An Overlooked Series of English Card Tickets c.1811 – Gary Oddie
The chance find and revisiting of the Lauderdale report of 1813 has revealed a previously unrecognised series of low denomination printed tickets that must have once been commonplace throughout mainland England at around the same time as the silver token issues of 1811-12. There are a few tantalising hints of other card and paper replacements for small silver, with proofs of a 1774 card issue by John Wilkinson and assignats from Gilbert Gilpin amongst others, but all circulated pieces appear to have been lost to history. Along with the illustrations from the Lauderdale report another piece of contemporary evidence of a now lost piece, helps date the series.
Counterfeit Shillings of George III 1816-1820 (iv) A Contemporary Mould Revisited – Gary Oddie
A short note looking again at a contemporary mould for counterfeit George III shillings.
The Treason Act – 17 July 1649 – Gary Oddie
Tuesday 17th July was a busy day in Parliament. Along with the previously noted Act defining the denominations, weights, and designs of the new Commonwealth coinage, an act was also passed declaring what offences shall be adjudged treason.This act is just five pages long, but the last page and a half refer to all aspects of the circulating gold and silver coinage. A brief summary is given along with a reproduction of the whole act.
Some recent discoveries of Henry III Class 5g Long Cross Pennies for John of Burnedisse (IOhS/ION) of Bury St Edmunds – Bob Thomas
Illustration and discussion of some of the rare Henry III class 5g coins of John de Burnedisse at the Bury Mint.
St. Kitts Cut and Countermarked Coins: A Re-examination – K.V. Eckardt
As a whole the cut and countermarked coinage of the West Indies has suffered from a lack of contemporary documentation and incorrect attributions. Of course this series is not unique in this respect. However, closer study and the uncovering of contemporary sources has greatly assisted in our understanding of the series and in correcting past errors of attribution. The action taken on the island of St. Kitts is interesting in that proper local legislative processes were followed and a quantity of coins were cut and countermarked in accordance with the local Act, however, they were not released into the local economy. Action taken on the island of Tortola in February 1801 created a potentially embarrassing predicament for the Leeward Island Governor-General, Lord Lavington (Sir Ralph Payne). The Tortola Act had been passed onto Whitehall and was disallowed putting Lavington in a situation preventing him from allowing the St. Kitts countermarked coins entering circulation on the island. However, a clever solution
read more St. Kitts Cut and Countermarked Coins: A Re-examination – K.V. Eckardt
Henry III Class 7 Pennies – Part 5, Dies of Phelip of London – Addendum – Robert Page
Since uploading the article on Phelip dies in June, and updating it in September, three more coins of Phelip have emerged, and these are described in this brief article. Two are examples of known dies, and one represents newly discovered dies, with some unusual features. An update is also provided on the number of known class 7 coins and dies. Earlier article: Henry III (Posthumous) Class 7 Pennies – Part 5, Phelip of London – Die Illustrations, updated Sept.’21.
Counterfeit Shillings of George III 1816-1820 (iii) Metallurgy – Gary Oddie
The previous notes have presented details of the reference collection of counterfeit shillings of George III dated 1816-1820 and a description of the pieces in terms of the appearance of the metal. This note will present a few typical pieces from each group along with a few outliers and determine the metals using XRF analysis. The results confirm the three main groups of counterfeits; (1) ‘tin’ based, (2) the ‘copper alloys, brass and copper’ pieces and (3) the ‘silver’ pieces that are genuine coins. Two odd-coloured silver pieces have been found to contain significant amounts of nickel, a metal not used in coinage applications until after the 1850s. Many of the pieces show traces of mercury (200-500ppm) likely from previous silvering, though is only just above the Limit of Detection using this XRF machine. Those pieces with complete silvering show the highest mercury contents (>3000ppm) suggesting the silvering was created using evaporation of a mercury-silver amalgam.
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