Tudors and Stuarts

Including Cromwell and The Commonwealth.

A Die Study of James I Shillings – Second Issue, mm Coronet – Gary Oddie and Michael Thompson

This note continues the die studies of James I shillings, working backwards through the mintmarks of the second issue. Here the mintmark Coronet is presented. On 17th May 1609 there was £67 2s 5½d of silver at the trial of the pyx, representing coins struck in the 16 months since the previous trial on 11th November 1607. This mintmark has the first appearance of the 5th Bust. Working through the previous die studies, six distinct varieties of the 5th bust have been identified, three of which can be found with mm coronet. This study includes 92 specimens struck from 68 obverse and 79 reverse dies, with just 6 die pair duplicates. The sample statistics are poor but suggest that this issue of shillings had 198 obverse and 477 reverse dies.

A Contemporary Counterfeit Irish Base Shilling of Elizabeth I, c.1559 – Gary Oddie

This note takes a close look at a counterfeit shilling found in a hoard possibly from Co. Tipperary in Ireland sometime around 1966. The hoard comprised exclusively the base coins (white money) that were circulating in Ireland prior to the introduction of a “fine” (11oz) silver coinage in 1561. These factors leave only a very narrow window for the manufacture of the counterfeit and the deposition of the hoard. A further piece, originally suspected to be another contemporary counterfeit, is shown to be a worn genuine coin.

A Die Study of James I Shillings – Second Issue, mm Key – Gary Oddie and Michael Thompson

This note continues the die studies of James I shillings, working backwards through the mintmarks of the second issue. Here the mintmark Key is presented – issued between 17th May 1609 and 11th May 1610 and when £11 4s 11d of silver was in the Pyx trial.The issue is of average rarity with 56 specimens found struck from 33 obverse die and 41 reverse dies. The sample is far from ideal, especially for the reverse dies. As a general impression, some of the dies continued to be used when they were in a very corroded state.

A Die Study of James I Shillings – Second Issue, mm Bell – Gary Oddie and Michael Thompson

This note continues the die studies of James I shillings, working backwards through the mintmarks of the second issue. Here the mintmark Bell is presented – issued between 11th May 1610 and 9th May 1611 when £9 12s 8½d of silver was in the Pyx trial.The issue is of average rarity with 54 specimens found struck from 32 obverse die and 31 reverse dies. As well as a single mm Bell over Coronet die, there are also an unusually high number of Bell over Key dies. For the obverse dies 14/32 are Bell over Key and for the reverses 5/30 are Bell over Key. Just two die sinker’s errors have been found, the first lacking a reverse mm, and the second has CONIVNIT for CONIVNXIT.

A Die Study of James I Shillings – Second Issue, mm Mullet – Gary Oddie and Michael Thompson

This note continues the die studies of James I shillings, working backwards through the mintmarks of the second issue. Here the mintmark Mullet is presented – issued 9th May 1611 to 22nd May 1612.In keeping with the £9 11s 4d of silver at the Trial of the Pyx, this issue is over average rarity and 49 specimens have been found struck from 26 obverse and 32 reverse dies. The six obverse legends include a die sinkers’ error with IACOBVS D G MAG BRIT FRA ET HIB “R” REX. A second specimen confirms that the extra “R” is not caused by double striking.

A Die Study of James I Shillings – Second Issue, mm Tower – Gary Oddie and Michael Thompson

This note continues the die studies of James I shillings, working backwards through the mintmarks of the second issue. Here the mintmark Tower is presented – issued 22nd May 1612 to 28th April 1613. With just 21 specimens found struck from 12 obverse and 11 reverse dies, including four legend variations, the coverage is 0.71 and there are likely to be a total of around 21 obverse and 20 reverse dies.

Contemporary Counterfeit Shillings of James I, 1603-1625, Circulating to 1696-7 – Gary Oddie

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

read more Contemporary Counterfeit Shillings of James I, 1603-1625, Circulating to 1696-7 – Gary Oddie

A Die Study of James I Shillings – Second Issue, mm Trefoil – Gary Oddie

This note continues the die studies of James I shillings, working backwards through the mintmarks of the second issue. Here the mintmark Trefoil is presented – issued 28th April 1613 to 20th October 1613. Though a scarce mintmark, six different obverse legends have been found (so far). With just one die pair duplicate the statistics are poor, suggesting there are many more dies to be found.