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.
Tudors and Stuarts
Including Cromwell and The Commonwealth.
The Dies and Chronology of Charles I Oxford Mint Sixpences – J. Davidson.
This note serves two purposes. Firstly, to rationalise and update the die designations of this series, and secondly to provide new insight into a possible chronology of the coins and the die usage. Updated version: February 2024
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
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.
An Unrecorded Anne Shilling Overdate – 1703/2 – Gary Oddie
This note presents a 1703 VIGO shilling of Queen Anne with an unrecorded overdate 3 over 2. My thanks go to Alan Worby of MH Coins for the images and permission to publish. This prompted a quick search to see if any other specimens could be found. Online archives produced images of 74 specimens of sufficient quality to allow a die study of the reverse dies. A statistical analysis of the 16 different dies suggests that the die count is likely almost complete.
A Die Study of James I Shillings – Second Issue, mm Cinquefoil – Gary Oddie
This note continues the die studies of James I shillings, working backwards through the mintmarks of the second issue. Here the mintmark Cinquefoil is presented – issued 20th October 1613 to 17th May 1615.
Confirmation of a Charles I Tower Sixpence Sub-Variety – John Davidson
This short note shows that Charles I sixpence variety S2812 can include mintmark harp inaddition to portcullis. This had been suggested previously; here, a further coin using the samereverse die confirms the identification.
A Die Study of James I Shillings – Second Issue, mm Tun – Gary Oddie
This note continues the die studies of James I shillings, working backwards through the mintmarks of the second issue. Here the mintmark Tun is presented – issued 17th May 1615 to 15th November 1616.
A False Greyhound Countermark Revisited – Gary Oddie
The coin presented here is a base shilling of Edward VI with a greyhound countermark that was recently offered for sale at auction without provenance and then withdrawn. The author recognised the piece as ex R.C. Lockett and traces its earlier provenance back through H. Webb Jr, T. Bliss and R.A. Hoblyn in 1906. Genuine countermarks are presented for comparison and other specimens with the false countermark are presented from F. Pridmore, the Forgery Cabinet at Baldwin’s and the British Museum. The latter has a ticket connecting the piece to the well-known counterfeiter and creator of concoctions in the early 1840s, Edward Emery.
