England (1592-95) half penny
This specimen was lot 75416 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, September 2025), where it sold for $125. The catalog description[1] noted, "GREAT BRITAIN. 1/2 Penny, ND (1592-95). London Mint; mm: Tun. Elizabeth I. PCGS EF-45. From the Richard August Collection." This undated type was struck with various mintmarks 1582-1600. Half pence had been struck sporadically in the reigns of Elizabeth, James I and Charles I, always in silver. Their miniscule size made them a nuisance to make and to use. When Charles II reintroduced the half penny in 1672, common sense finally prevailed and the coin was made of copper.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 4 grains (0.27 g), 0.925 fine silver, 11 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: S-2581; N-2018.
- 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.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, September 2025 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, including Selections from the Richard Margolis Collection and Selections from the L.E. Bruun Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.
Link to: