This is the first of a series of short notes looking at the counterfeits of the shillings issued during the recoinage of 1816-1820. This will begin with a statistical analysis of a reference collection which, at the time of writing, contains 1,490 pieces. Subsequent notes will look at the metallurgy, methods of manufacture and ultimately a die study.
Author: BNS Blog Coordinator
An Act Touching the Moneys & Coyns of England – 17 July 1649 – Gary Oddie
This short note reproduces an original copy of the Act of Parliament that ushered in the coins of the Commonwealth, specifying the denominations, metal content and weights of the new coins along with the designs and, for the first time, English legends.
West Caicos Sisal Company Tokens – Gary Oddie
This note begins with a brief history and description of industries that have taken place on the Turks and Caicos Islands and in particular sisal growing. This is followed by a description of the West Caicos Sisal Company and a group of tokens issued to pay the workforce and redeemable in the Company Store.The style of the dies is quite unusual, with just a simple incuse legend. Thus when two specimens appeared of British half-pennies overstruck with the reverse die of the shilling token and more recently a British penny overstruck with the reverse die of the two shilling token, they were really quite obvious.The three new pieces all appeared in the USA and were sold without any reference to the original use of the dies. This and other features of the pieces leads to the suggestion that they were struck using the original reverse dies, but many decades after the original token issues, possibly even as late as 2010.
Henry III Long Cross Pennies – An Analysis of Class 2a and the Identification of Two Previously Unidentified Subgroups – Ian Heavisides
Coins of Class 2a, are relatively scarce yet the varieties that exist suggest that there was some degree of experimentation before the more consistent forms of 2bi and 2bii were arrived at. This has made any form of analysis or breakdown into sub-groups extremely difficult. This article suggests a means of dividing class 2a into two parts and identifies two further sub-groups 2ab1 & 2ab2, which could be confused with the coins of class 2b but which may well predate the issue. The article concludes with a brief table of the details of the four types identified.
Contemporary Counterfeit Shillings of the Commonwealth 1649-1660 – Gary Oddie
This short note presents some counterfeits of the shillings issued during the Commonwealth. A brief summary of the official coinage is followed by images and analysis of 44 counterfeit shillings from two accumulations – the Baldwin black museum and the author’s collection. Though a relatively small sample, that there are very few die duplicates between and within the two collections suggests there are many more yet to be found. However, considering the present-day scarcity of the official issues, counterfeit shillings with the anchor initial mark make up 25% of the specimens. This may be attributed to the short period around the beginning of the reign of Charles II where there is a documented increase in counterfeiting activity attributed to the uncertainty of the future acceptability of the Commonwealth coins. XRF analysis of one group reveals that one piece is likely a genuine coin (but very damaged) and another is a 20th century fabrication as the alloy contains Hafnium, a metal
read more Contemporary Counterfeit Shillings of the Commonwealth 1649-1660 – Gary Oddie
Willam Hebbs of Woburn, Bedfordshire – Gary Oddie
This note presents the first new Bedfordshire token to be added to the county list since 2002. The find location, Milton Bryan, is just two and a half miles south east of Woburn. A likely candidate for William Hebbs has been found in genealogical records but no other details have been found. The piece will be catalogued as W/D 102A.
John the Blind – New example for Arlon Mint – Simon Hall
John the Blind – Count of Luxembourg. Once the legends had been matched up it was clear to be a coin of the Arlon, Belgium Mint. Mayhew comments that there are only 2 known to him for this mint.
Die Sinkers Signatures on the Long Cross Coinage of Henry III (Update)
Almost immediately after publication of the original article on the use of a unique style of letter R by a die sinker to identify his work, two rare examples came up for sale on Ebay; one for Robert on Canterbury and one for Ricard L’Espec (le Specer, le Spicer) at the same mint. The coins of Richard L’Espec are all very scarce and he is one of the few moneyers for whom we have specific dates. His appointment was recorded in April 1268 and he was recorded as “Late” by 23rd September 1271 1 , giving us an approximate period over which R 2 coins were produced. As to Robert, there is some confusion over who he actually was as there were a number of Roberts who could have held the dies at the time 2 . However, thanks to the coin of Richard, it appears that the use of the unique R 2 to identify the moneyer’s work took
read more Die Sinkers Signatures on the Long Cross Coinage of Henry III (Update)
An Unusual James I Shilling – Gary Oddie
A 1658/7/6 Commonwealth Shilling – Gary Oddie
A brief look at a “double overdate” on a Commonwealth shilling.
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