Previous Lot Next Lot

Auction: 5033 - The Colin Adams Collection of Halfcrowns
Lot: 163

Charles I, ´Garter´ mint, possibly Hereford (1645), Halfcrown, 14.89g., 1645, large equestrian portrait of king left, holding sword upright, cloak flies from shoulders, grassy ground below, CAROLVS D G MAG BRIT FRA ET HI REX, rev. oval shield within Garter, with lion to left and unicorn to right breaking legend, crown above dividing crowned C R , date 1645 below, CHRISTO AVSPICE REGNO, m.m. small lis on obverse (JGB 1180 (same dies); N.2359; S.2915) a handsome example of this distinctive and original type, very fine, very rare Estimate £ 5,000-6,000PROVENANCE: S R Naish, Seaby´s Coin & Medal Bulletin, November 1945, no.N207 H M Lingford, collection purchased en bloc by Baldwin, 1951 Gordon Stanley Hopkins, Baldwin´s Auctions no.30, 7 May 2002, lot 272 The Lingford ticket states that this coin is also from the R D Wills collection, lot 528 etc., but the Wills piece is a different coin The striking design of this remarkable coin has no parallel in the provincial coinage, indeed the use of lion and unicorn supporters is previously unknown on the English coinage. Lion and dragon supporters are found, but only on some gold sovereigns and half-sovereigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI. It was first noticed in print by Ashmole, in his Institution of the Garter (1672, p.207), and he adds the comment, from contemporary knowledge, that they were ´stamped in the West of England´. Despite the slightly base appearance, these coins were evidently produced by a regular mint and it has been suggested that this may have been Hereford, SCBI 33, p.xlv. On 16 September 1645 the arms of Hereford were augmented and furnished with supporters and the motto Invictae fidelitatis praemium in reference to the heroic siege. Hereford was finally taken by Parliamentary forces on 18 December 1645.

Sold for
£5,200