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Lot 2214
Great Britain. Copper Farthing, 1673. Charles II. S-3394. Second year of the very first Regal Copper of this denomination. For centuries, any coin not made of "specie" (i.e., gold or silver) was suspect of its commercial value, and in the English tradition the earlier copper "coins" were not coins at all, but tokens: witness what C. Wilson Peck labeled "rose farthing tokens" struck during the reign of Charles I (1625-49). Copper curios and "patterns" were made as far back as the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603), but only toward the end of her reign, and often in silver. All this was a throwback to the Roman tradition of "subsidiary" or less than royal coins, made for mass consumption but more particularly in order to collect smaller amounts of tax from the citizen of lesser means. Peck points out that the Restoration (1660) brought with it a need for small change that was greater than ever before, with the result that countless kinds and weights of tradesmen's tokens, or necessity pieces, appeared throughout the land. While making such coins was an offense, and an infringement upon the king's right, few such "counterfeiters" were prosecuted. The necessity was real. Influential aristocrats, who sniffed profit as suppliers of copper ore, convinced the warden of the Royal Mint of the need for regal copper coins, and a variety of farthings and halfpennies were made as official patterns, for the first time ever, during the reign of Charles II. Shortly thereafter appeared the first coppers sanctioned by The Crown and bearing the monarch's portrait and titles. The fact that these coins of small intrinsic and purchasing value were very much needed for commerce is evidenced today by their rarity in high grade. Virtually all made saw heavy use, and few were saved by thoughtful historians or collectors of curios. The present specimen is one of the very finest pieces this cataloguer has seen in some 25 years of studying British coins. The surfaces are truly remarkable for this primitive issue! Smooth chocolate brown mixes in perfectly with splashes of orangey mint red. The strike is slightly off-center, as almost always seen. Importantly, there is no corrosion, no dark carbon, and almost no abrasion, not even the most minute. The strike is not full but it is sharp overall, and shows die-clashing. On the king's face is a raised line (not a scratch) which is a die-tooling mark of some sort. The legend and the date are sharp. Although not terribly valuable, this is one of the rarest coppers, in this grade, of all the British copper or bronze issues. Cope & Rayner (English Milled Coinage, 1973) called it R4, or extremely rare, in full Mint State. NGC graded MS-66 Red & Brown.
Estimated Value $2,000 - 2,250.
The Cheshire Collection.
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| Realized $2,070 |
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