An almost mint Elizabeth I sixpence

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...Apologies for not commenting until now. The sixpence literally left me speechless! (That's an excuse, if you couldn't tell.) I can't remember seeing an Elizabethan that was that well struck, never mind in that state of circulation. ...The morning with the Georgian was probably just to even out your karma.

 

Excellent find

I got mine from a dealer stock, instead....



Q

 

Yep, @Cucumbor, another stunner. Yikes --in the best possible sense of the term!

 

A great find indeed. I have a couple Elizabeth six pences.

This one is in a PCGS AU-55 holder. It is interesting that this coin is an overdate piece, 1600 over 1590



I bought this one because I liked the sharpness of the strike.



Here is a 1562 Milled Elizabeth six pence. This coin was struck on a screw press. Note how much sharper it is. Unfortunately the fellow who made these had a hard time getting parts for his machinery after a plague. His costs went up and he lost his contract. Later he was hanged for counterfeiting.

 

More fantastic examples, @johnmilton. Never knew the story of how the first experiment with a screw press ended. ...Just the other day, some show on public radio (mmMaybe 'Radiolab') was talking about how scientific and technological innovations can suffer from having been ahead of their time. Yeah, a plague would kind of do it. Sad about how the guy wound up.
As a footnote, I have a couple of halfgroats from the beginning of the reign of Charles II (sorry, no pics). Of the two, the first one is another early essay in milled coinage; the one from a year or two later is back to being hammered. ...Not long afterward, Charles's issues made the permanent transition to milled. But it was a process....

 

Holy crap. Hammered. Does that mean minted with a hammer strike? Stupid question. Do they hit it more then once , if I’m guessing correctly

 

Looks like it was lost yesterday. Very nice.

 

To get it right, they had to hit it just once. Otherwise doubling would be virtually inevitable.

 

Every time I find a silver ring or a silver coin, I do my 'silver dance', the details of which we won't go into at this time. I've not yet found anything of significance of gold, so that dance is yet to be seen. One can only wonder at the dance you must've done on finding this one! Question for you or anyone: what is the mintmark for this sixpence? My guess is the arrow(?) at the top right of the reverse. Major congratulations and thanks for showing it.

 

@montynj3417, I'm needing the 'siver dance.' No, that's good enough without any details ...no selfie (or, God forbid, video) required! But just from Spink 2015 (easiest thing to get off the shelf), you nailed the mint mark. Spink calls it a "pheon," and it corresponds to the third and fourth issues, 1561-5. Wondering if the mark on the obverse, where you'd expect it --from late medieval precedent, at least-- is the same thing, minus the vertical part. (Strike? doubt it; maybe from the original engraving. ...How were Elizabethan dies engraved, anyway? Guessing they'd advanced beyond punches....)

 

I always say it's down to luck when detecting, if your feet ain't in the right place you ain't gonna find it. I read somewhere that carrying a coin bearing the date of your birth on it was lucky..voila! It seems to be working. Many thanks for your praises!

 

That's a beauty! Different mint mark.

 

Yep, its a pheon, my thanks are always given to my trusty Laser Rapier firstly, and then the field is thanked!

 

Think they still carried on with the punching method, could be wrong though.

 

That is one very nice tanner, the surface looks like it is just a 459 year old coin that was ever only very gingerly handled. The mellowed surface details are just fantastic - this has to be one of if not the nicest examples of the screw press coinage I have seen.

 

My own Elizabeth I sixpence: England, Elizabeth I, AR Sixpence 1582. Obv. Crowned Bust left, Tudor Rose behind, all within inner circle with legend around, ELIZAB.D.G.ANG.FR.ET.HIB.REGINA [Elizabeth by the Grace of God Queen of England France and Ireland] / Rev. Quartered shield over long cross fourchée with divided date above, all within inner circle with legend around, Mintmark Sword at 12 o'clock, POSVI DEV.AD IVTORE M·MEV· [I have made God my helper] 15 - 82. Spink 2572 (ill.). 25 mm., 3.2 g.

 

Nice one, @DonnaML. One thing I like about the Tudor reverse legend is that it goes all the way back to the groats of Edward III. The similarly themed reverse of the gros tournois, from late in the reign of Louis IX, had the same kind of staying power.

 

By coincidence I also have an Elizabeth Sixpence dated 1561 and bought it several years ago for this reason:


England Silver Sixpence 1561 Elizabeth I

Obverse: Crowned bust of Elizabeth facing left with a rose behind her head
ELIZABETH D G ANG FR ET HI REGINA followed by a downward arrow mintmark
(Elizabeth by the Grace of God, England, France and Ireland, Queen)
Reverse: Shield with arms (lions and fleurs-de-lis) and long cross behind
POSVI DEV ADIVTOREM MEV (I have made God my Helper)
Size: 27mm Weight: 2.75gm
Tower Mint, Downward Arrow (a "pheon") mintmark, above the Queen's head

The English pirate Sir Francis Drake supposedly landed on the coast of Northern California in 1579 and supposedly left a brass plate with an inscription claiming the land for England and Queen Elizabeth along with an Elizabeth sixpence.

In 1936 a hiker found a brass plate and brought it to a Professor Bolton of the University of California at Berkeley. Bolton was convinced that the plate was left by Drake and convinced some friends to buy it from Shinn for $3,000, a large amount at the time. Bolton had the plate authenticated by metal experts and for years it was displayed as supposedly proof of Drake's landing. Copies were given to dignitaries, including England's current Queen Elizabeth.


The infamous Drake "Plate of Brasse", on display at the Bancroft Library

Some had doubts about the plate's authenticity from the start, and in the 1970's with better analysis techniques, it was conclusively determined to be a manufactured modern-made hoax.

A historian published an article in 2002 with the details, the plate was manufactured by three members of a historical club, E Clampus Vitus (ECV), who wanted to play a joke on Professor Bolton.

My father brought me to the Bancroft Library in the 1950's and I remember seeing the plate then in a display case in the lobby.

The plate is still there but now with an explanation of the hoax and a copy of an E Clampus Vitus magazine.


E Clampus Vitus magazine

I just had to have an Elizabeth sixpence.

 

I would have to believe, considering the condition of the coin, is that someone walking in the field who was a coin collector lost the coin without knowing it until too late. Or a more plausible? explanation is that the golden fairy placed it there right before you came looking. lol