Tudors and Stuarts
Including Cromwell and The Commonwealth.
Contemporary Counterfeits of Durham House Shillings of Edward VI – Gary Oddie
Contemporary counterfeits of the base shillings of Edward VI are well known struck in brass or copper. Almost all display the Timor Domini Fons Vitae legend. This note presents two specimens of a contemporary counterfeit shilling displaying a version of the legend that is found exclusively on the second issue base shillings struck at the Durham House mint – Inimicos Eius Induam Confusione. Interestingly the plating is tin or zinc based, with only a small trace of silver on one side of one of the pieces.
Charles I – The coinage of Newark,1645-46 – Alan Worby
A new study of the dies used at Newark during the English Civil War. Hopefully this will act as a useful referencing tool for all..
An Undated James I Sixpence – J. Davidson
A 2018 metal detecting find has revealed a previously unrecorded variety of James I sixpence, with no date present on the reverse. Although described in the Portable Antiquities Scheme as a probable contemporary copy, evidence is presented here that the coin is, in fact, genuine. As such, the coin is most likely due to a die-sinker’s error, and provides an interesting addition to the coins of this reign.
A New Type of Shovel Board Shilling – Gary Oddie
Some years ago I wrote a short article on hammered shillings that had an extra silver rim added, probably for use in the game of Shovel Board Shilling. Contemporary references from the Tudor and Stuart period were identified along with a surviving original table that was 27 feet long at Astley Hall, Lancashire.Since the original article, an image of another shovel board table has been found and several more shillings have come to light, including two pieces with a different design. This note presents details of the 15 pieces known to the author.
A Modern Copy of an Edward VI Fine Shilling – Philip Mernick and Gary Oddie
Copies of low grade hammered silver coins are quite unusual and when they are released slowly, no suspicion is raised. When die/mould duplicates appear showing the same features the game is given away. This note presents details of an Edward VI fine shilling with i.m. y. It is now known from five different specimens all showing the same flan crease, damage, and die/mould flaws.
The Publications of Thomas Violet – Gary Oddie
Thomas Violet was a goldsmith and writer on trade. He published several books and tracts, especially during the Commonwealth. One of his works “The Mysteries of the Mint” (1653) provides the earliest printed reference to the coinage trials of 1651 between David Ramage and Peter Blondeau. The recent publication by Amos Tubbs “Thomas Violet, A sly and dangerous fellow” revealed a colourful story of an interesting character and cited 15 works authored by Violet. This note provides a brief introduction to Violet and tracks down a further 9 tracts and provides links to where almost all of them can be found online either as pdf or plain text copies. The British Library catalogue gives Thomas Violet as the author of “The Great Trappaner”, which was certainly not the case as it is a stinging attack on the man himself and his activities! It is hoped this bibliography will be of use to others working in this interesting period of numismatics and
New Dies for Elizabeth I 1573 Acorn Initial Mark Threepence’s – Dave Greenhalgh
Since publication of The Galata Guide to Hammered and Milled Threepenny Pieces 1551 – 1662, published in 2016 by Galata, another two obverse dies, 1vi and 2ii, and one reverse die, Bvi, have come to light. These are briefly described here.
Tumbledown Dick or Richard IV? – The Story Behind the Coin – Barry Lord
For those interested in the coinage of the Commonwealth this reprint from Caesaromagvs, the journal of the Essex Numismatic Society, should prove interesting; it provides an overview of Richard Cromwell.
A Search into Rarity (2) – The Testoons of Henry VII – Gary Oddie, David Holt and Colin Pitchfork
In 1962 W. J. W. Potter and E. J. Winstanley provided the most recent study of the profile coinage of Henry VII, including the issue of testoons in 1504. Whilst adding provenances of known specimens, CP expanded upon this list and identified a new reverse die in 1968. This short note revisits the die study, removing one obverse die from the corpus and providing illustrations of each of the known obverse and reverse dies and an example of every known die combination.
