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Auction: 25124 - Spink Numismatic e-Circular 43: British and World Coins and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 168

Charles I (1625-1649), Contemporary Forgery, Halfcrown, stuck from false dies in silvered base alloy, in style of Type IV, York, (m.m.) • CAROLVS • D • G • MAG BRI • FR • ET • HIB • REX, King on horseback left, sword upright, ebor below, rev. (m.m.) • CHRISTO • AVSPICE • REGNO •:•, oval garnished shield, 11.59g [178.86grns], 5h, m.m. lion, (Bull F18; Brooker 1080 same dies; Besly, pl. 8, no. 7 same dies; cf. N.2312; cf. S.2866), pleasing full flan, about very fine, scarce

Provenance

From the Kelvin Brosz Collection

Spink, 24 March 2020, lot 292 - £230

C Adams, Spink 177, 1 December 2005, lot 154 [part]

Simon Willis, by private treaty [with ticket]

DNW 49, 21 March 2001, 520 - £30

Herbert Muschamp Lingford, collection purchased en bloc by Baldwin, 1951 [with his ticket, stating:]

A H Baldwin, by private treaty, May 1943


The metal of this coin is overtly debased. British Museum examples of this issue have previously been analysed at 55% and 44% silver fineness, and more intriguingly they also contain around 5% arsenic, a standard ingredient of counterfeiter's recipes of the time intended to whiten the alloy. Besly has categorically demonstrated that these pieces cannot be regular products of the York mint, but their presence in civil war hoards (BNJ 1991, p.131), evidently shows that as counterfeits, they are both immensely skilful and most importantly contemporary to official issues.

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Sold for
£550

Starting price
£110