Great Britain (1660-62) half crown KM-409
This specimen was lot 33114 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2025), where it sold for $2,160. The catalog description[1] noted, "GREAT BRITAIN. 1/2 Crown, ND (1660-62). London Mint; mm: Crown/-. Charles II. PCGS EF-45. Variety with BRI FRA and small XXX. Second Issue. Of GREAT RARITY, and a type that on the few occasions when it does come to market exhibits heavy wear. The present example is assuredly among the finer surviving pieces, with some strike weakness evident upon the portrait but only moderate wear, the reverse particularly nice and retaining hints of luster in the fields. An exceptionally elusive opportunity for collectors of hammered British coinage. From the Richard August Collection. Ex: C. Adams Collection." Oliver Cromwell's death in 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 had no mark of value; the second issue (shown here) 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-3313; ESC-287; N-2760, KM 409.
- 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, first issue, no mark of value
- (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