Great Britain 1644-BR 1/2 crown
This specimen was lot 40464 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Costa Mesa, CA, August 2021), where it sold for $990. The catalog description[1] noted, "GREAT BRITAIN. 1/2 Crown, 1644. Bristol Mint. Charles I. PCGS VF-25 Gold Shield. Shrewsbury plume behind king. This decently preserved survivor exhibits a nice even strike with bold devices and nearly complete legends, save a few small flat areas where a couple of letters did not strike up; The central devices of the obverse are strong with good definition while the reverse with strong legends is missing an insignificant amount of design in the center. This richly toned example offers a pleasing appearance displaying mottled light gray to slate patina lending to its originality and desirability. From the Sundial Valley Farms Collection." Charles' conflicts with Parliament erupted into open war in 1642. One of Parliament's first acts after Charles fled London was to seize the Tower Mint. In response, Charles opened branch mints to provide coin to pay his forces. Some of the mints were shortlived, as an army stopped for a few weeks to reequip, but Oxford, Shrewsbury and Bristol operated for several years. Bristol produced half crowns (shown here), shillings, sixpence, groats and threepence. Her mintmark was a "BR" monogram.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 15.05 g, 0.925 fine silver.
Catalog reference: S-3007; KM-214.20; N-2489.
- 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.
- 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, The August 2021 ANA sale: World and Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
Link to:
- 1643 half crown, Bristol mint
- (1644) "rose farthing", Oxford mint
- 1644 threepence, Exeter mint
- 1644 threepence, Oxford mint
- 1644 groat, Exeter mint
- 1644-OX 4 pence (groat), Oxford mint
- 1644 sixpence, Bristol mint
- (1644-45) shilling
- 1644-BR shilling, Bristol mint
- (1644-45) half crown, Exeter mint
- (1644-45) halfcrown, (R) mintmark, Tower mint
- (1644)-CHST half crown, Chester mint
- (1644-45) half crown, roses in legend, Worcester mint
- 1644 crown, Exeter mint
- 1644 "Rawlins’" crown, Oxford mint
- (1644-45) gold crown, (R) mintmark, Tower mint
- 1644 pound, Oxford mint
- (1644-45) unite, Tower mint
- 1644 unite, Oxford mint, "·RELIG·PRO·"
- 1644 triple unite
- 1645-BR half crown, Bristol mint
- Coins and currency dated 1644