England (1600-01) 4 testerns
This specimen was lot 31064 in Heritage sale 3073 (Chicago, April 2019), where it sold for $11,400. The catalog description[1] noted,
"Elizabeth I silver Trade "Portcullis Money" 4 Testerns ND (1600-1601) AU55 NGC, Tower mint, 'O' mm. An absolutely fascinating piece of economic and colonial history, and an extremely rare survivor from the Anglo-Spanish war. This famous conflict erupted in 1585, primarily through religious disputes between Catholic Spain under King Philip II, and Protestant England under Queen Elizabeth I. However, it would be naive to omit the role played by the massive commercial disputes between the two countries, both of whom were at the time heavily occupied with colony building and the creation of trade routes. The present coin represents this economic facet of the war. Spain was enjoying huge success with its popular trade currency of 1, 2, 4, and 8 Reales, furthering its monopoly on Atlantic trade, and so Elizabeth I decided that England must compete with this bread-and-butter contributor to Spain's prosperity. Accordingly, the 1, 2, 4 and 8 'Testerns' were introduced, given this name in the Royal Warrant authorizing their production (although these coins were essentially Reales, being struck to exactly the same size and weight as their Spanish counterparts). These Testerns, produced at the Tower Mint, bore Elizabeth's regnal cipher but not her portrait; this was due to the intention for the currency to circulate in Muslim countries where a woman's portrait on the coinage would not be thought decent. Accordingly, this coinage replaced the usual monarchical depiction with a portcullis, perhaps to represent the slamming down on Spanish trade and leading to their being dubbed 'Portcullis Money'. Brought aboard the first voyage of the 'Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies' (a mouthful later shortened to the better known 'East India Company'), the coinage was an utter failure, as suspicious traders in the East Indies refused to accept this unfamiliar currency. Accordingly, no more Portcullis Money was produced rendering the coinage a considerable rarity with supposedly fewer than 200 pieces of all four denominations surviving today."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 13.7 g, silver, 35 mm diameter, this specimen 13.50 g.
Catalog reference: S-2607B, Prid-2.
- 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]Bierrenbach, Cristiano and Warren Tucker, Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3073, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2019.
Link to: