England (1595-98) half penny
This specimen was lot 2670 in Stephen Album sale 45 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2023), where it sold for $120. The catalog description[1] noted, "ENGLAND: Elizabeth I, 1558-1603, AR halfpenny, ND (1595-8), Sixth Issue, Tower Mint issue, portcullis // cross moline with 3 pellets in each angle, somewhat crude flan, VF, ex Joe Sedillot Collection." 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, this specimen 0.22 g.
Catalog reference: North-2018, Spink-2581.
- 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]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 45, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2022.
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