Great Britain (1660-62) half crown KM-408
This specimen was lot 33110 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2025), where it sold for $7,800. The catalog description[1] noted, "GREAT BRITAIN. 1/2 Crown, ND (1660-62). London Mint; mm: Crown/-. Charles II. PCGS AU-50. Variety with stop above reverse shield. Exceptionally difficult in this About Uncirculated state, with some typical weakness over the portrait but a quiet strong reverse and legends. The surfaces are quite wholesome to boot, with barely a mark to be seen, the whole of each face blanketed with hearty age-old patina. From the Richard August Collection." Oliver Cromwell's death in September 1658 left a leadership vacuum which was quickly filled by inviting prince Charles back from exile to become Charles II. The first series of silver coins of his regime reverted to the old practice of not dating them and come in denominations of penny, tuppence, threepence, groat, sixpence, shilling and half crown. The first issue (shown here) had no mark of value; the second issue added the value in Roman numerals and the third issue added a circle of pearls on both sides.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 15.05 g, 0.925 fine silver.
Catalog reference: S-3307; ESC-271; N-2759, KM 408.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Lobel, Richard, Mark Davidson, Allan Hailstone and Eleni Calligas, Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK Coins, 1066 to Date, London: Coincraft, 1995.
- Rayner, P. Alan, and Maurice Bull, English Silver Coinage from 1649, 6th Ed., London: Spink & Son, 2015.
- 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, January 2025 NYINC Showcase Auction, featuring the Richard Margolis Collection, Part III, and the Richard August Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
Link to:
- 1658 portrait half crown
- 1660 sixpence, Commonwealth
- 1660 half crown, Commonwealth
- 1660 unite, Commonwealth
- (1660-62) silver penny, first issue, no mark of value
- (1660-62) silver penny, second issue, value added
- (1660-62) silver penny, third issue, circles added
- (1660-62) silver tuppence, first issue, no mark of value
- (1660-62) tuppence (halfgroat), second issue, value added
- (1660-62) silver tuppence, third issue, circle added
- (1660-62) threepence, third issue
- (1660-62) groat
- (1660-62) groat, third issue, circle added
- (1660-62) sixpence, first issue, no mark of value
- (1660-62) sixpence, third issue
- (1660-62) shilling, first issue
- (1660-62) shilling, second issue, value added
- (1660-62) shilling, third issue, circle added
- (1660-62) half crown, second issue, "XXX" behind bust
- (1660-62) half crown, third issue, circles added
- (1660-62) gold crown
- (1660-62) double crown
- (1660-62) unite, no mark of value
- (1660-62) unite, with "XX"
- Coins and currency dated 1660