Photo Credit: civitasgalleries
English 17th Century Hand Hammered Charles I Shilling
Buy It Now Price: $340 (price as of 2017; item no longer available)
Pros:
-Here is a photogenic example of a beautiful hand hammered Charles I shilling from mid 17th century England. The obverse depicts the bust of Charles I, the king of England, Scotland and Ireland. The reverse shows the British coat of arms.
-This Charles I shilling weighs 5.96 grams (0.1916 troy ounces) and is struck from sterling silver. It measures 32 mm (1.26 inches) in diameter.
-The triangle mint mark on this Charles I shilling indicates that this coin was struck in the famed Tower of London in either 1639 or 1640.
-Charles I was an autocratic English monarch whose overbearing style of governance and never-ending lust for fresh tax revenue eventually led to the English Civil War (1642 to 1651) between the Royalist Cavaliers and the Parliamentarian Roundheads.
-Charles I and his Royalist supporters lost the war, leading to his execution in 1649.
-The shilling was a pre-decimal English denomination. There were a dozen pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound; 240 pence equaled a pound. This medieval monetary system was phased out in the U.K. in favor of decimalization in 1971.
-Shillings, originally called testoons, were first minted during the reign of Henry VII in the early 16th century. But they did not become a common circulating denomination until the mid 16th century.
-This Charles I shilling is a great example of hand hammered coinage. Hand hammering was an ancient and medieval minting technology where a coin blank was placed between a stationary anvil die and a handheld upper die. The upper die was then struck by a heavy hammer to impress the design from the dies onto the coin’s surface.
-Hand hammered coinage was rapidly replaced by mechanically struck, or milled coinage, starting in the 17th century. In fact, this Charles I shilling from 1639-1640 was one of the last series of hand hammered English coins. Within 25 years, British milled coins had completely displaced their medieval, hand hammered predecessors.
-Given the rarity, condition and attractive appearance of this historic 17th century hand hammered Charles I shilling, I think the price of $340 is fair.
Cons:
-The portrait of Charles I on this piece is relatively indistinct. That definitely makes this coin less desirable than if it were to have a strong, boldly struck portrait. This has a moderate to significant impact on the coin’s value.
-The reverse of the coin displays some weak striking (at 5 o’clock and 8 o’clock). However, hand hammered coins are notorious for their inconsistent strikes. Therefore, a strike of this nature is considered fairly normal. A superb strike would sell for a hefty premium, though.
-There were much larger English silver coins struck during the reign of Charles I, including 1/2 crown (2 1/2 shilling) and crown (5 shilling) denominations. All else being equal, a larger, more impressive coin would be more desirable.
