England (1549-50)-Y 1/2 crown Fr-183
This specimen was lot 1083 in CNG Triton XXVIII (New York, January 2025), where it sold for $3,062.50. The catalog description[1] noted, "TUDOR. Edward VI. 1547-1553. AV Halfcrown. Second period. Southwark mint; im: Y. Struck January 1549-April 1550. Crowned and armored bust right / Crowned coat-of-arms. Edge chip, wavy flan, a few marks. Near VF. Very rare. Ex Spink Numismatic Circular C.1 (February 1992), no. 100; D. Dupree Collection." The gold crown was tariffed at five shillings. The young king was governed by regents throughout his reign, whose bungling of a war with Scotland caused unrest and economic distress. The silver coinage was debased to pay for the war, a practice continued from Henry's reign. "Second issue" gold coinage included sovereigns, half sovereigns, gold crowns and half crowns. The half crown came with the king's bust crowned (shown here) or uncrowned (Fr-183a). All are rare but the uncrowned bust obtains a slight premium over the crowned bust. This example realized less than half the catalog value, probably because of the planchet chip.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 1.6 g, 0.917 fine gold, this specimen 19 mm diameter, 1.44 g, 2 h axis.
Catalog reference: Fr-183, Schneider –; North 1916; SCBC 2444.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Lobel, Richard, Mark Davidson, Allan Hailstone and Eleni Calligas, Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK Coins, 1066 to Date, London: Coincraft, 1995.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 46th edition, London: Spink & Son, 2011.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- [1]Gasvoda, Michael, Victor England, Eric McFadden, Dave Michaels, Bill Dalzell and Lance Hickman, Triton XXVIII, Lancaster, PA: Classical Numismatic Group, LLC, 2024.
Link to:
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- (1547-51) penny, London mint
- (1547-49) penny, Bristol mint
- (1547-51)-WS halfgroat, Bristol mint
- (1547-49) halfgroat, Canterbury mint
- (1547-51) groat, bust of Henry VIII
- (1547-53) shilling
- (1547-49) half crown of the double rose, struck in the name of Henry VIII
- (1547-49) crown of the double rose, struck in the name of Henry VIII
- (1547-49) crown of the double rose, struck in the name of Henry VIII
- (1547-51) half sovereign, titles of Henry VIII
- (1547-49) half sovereign, titles of Edward VI
- (1547-51) sovereign, titles of Henry VIII
- MDXLIX (1549) shilling, London mint, arrow mintmark
- MDXLIX (1549)-t shilling, Canterbury mint
- (1549) gold half crown, arrow mintmark, Tower mint
- (1549)-Y gold crown, Southwark mint
- (1549-50) half sovereign, crowned bust
- (1549-50) half sovereign, uncrowned bust
- England (1549-50) sovereign Fr-180
- Coins and currency dated 1549
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