Great Britain 1816 1 shilling 6 pence
This specimen was lot 72375 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, May 2023), where it sold for $264. The catalog description[1] noted, "GREAT BRITAIN. Silver 18 Pence (1 Shilling 6 Pence) Token, 1816. Birmingham (Soho) Mint. George III. PCGS MS-64. A handsome near-Gem specimen, this most pleasing and wholesome example delivers rich luster beneath the deeply toned and beautiful surfaces." The 1790's and early 1800's saw one of the recurring shortages of coin in England as she engaged in her titanic struggle with Napoleon. The Bank of England attempted to alleviate this by countermarking Spanish colonial pesos with a punch bearing the head of George III. When this countermark was enthusiastically counterfeited, the bank resorted to counterstamping the entire coin. This token, issued 1812-16, was probably struck on new blanks.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 0.925 fine silver.
Catalog reference: S-3772; KM-Tn3.
- Bressett, Kenneth E., A Guide Book of English Coins, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, 2nd Ed., Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing, 1962.
- Lobel, Richard, Mark Davidson, Allan Hailstone and Eleni Calligas, Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK Coins, 1066 to Date, London: Coincraft, 1995.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Peck, C. Wilson, English Copper, Tin and Bronze Coins in the British Museum, 1558-1958, 2nd Ed., London: Oxford University Press, 1970.
- 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, May 2023 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, Featuring the Richard Elliott Collection of Hooknecks, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.
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