World Coins: Your Newest Acquisition!

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Was happy to add this 355-year-old crown to my collection. There is something mesmerizing about these big silver coins. Amazingly, they are (generally) not all that expensive either, all things considered. I thought this one at ~$190 was quite decent.

ENGLAND
Time of Charles II, 1660-1685
AR Crown (38.8mm, 29.32g, 12h)
Dated 1671. Royal mint, London, England
Obverse: CAROLVS·II· DEI·GRATIA, laureate and draped “second bust” of King Charles II right
Reverse: MAG· BR·FRA· ET·HIB· REX·16-71·, crowned cruciform shields around central Garter star, interlinked Cs in angles
References: Numista 53766
Mintage: unknown​

When King Charles I was executed on January 30, 1649 by Parliamentary forces during the English Civil War, his son and newly appointed king of Scotland, Charles II, attempted to regain the English monarchy. However, he was defeated by Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester on September 3, 1651, and forced to flee England. For nine years, Charles II lived in exile on the European continent, until the death of Cromwell in 1658 and the following political instability opened an opportunity for him to return to England. He did so in 1660, and was welcomed back in what became known as the Stuart Restoration. As king, Charles II oversaw the continued growth of England as a global empire, with expansions in North America, the West Indies, and India. Though his court became notorious for its moral laxity, King Charles II took a keen interest in the growing fields of science, including physics, astronomy, botany, medicine, and more; in 1660 he founded the Royal Society, which is still in existence today. King Charles II died in 1685 at the age of 54, and was succeeded by his younger brother James II.

 

A new type for me. Not that exciting but a big chunk of silver.


AUSTRIA. Holy Roman Empire. Maria Theresia. Empress, 1740-1780.
Silver Thaler
Günzburg in Burgau (Swabia) mint. Dated 1767 SC.

Weight: 28.01 gm
Diameter: 41 mm.

Obverse: Crowned arms with griffin supporters

Reverse: shield set on sprays of laurel and palm / AD / NORMAM / CONVENT. / 1767. in four lines within palm and laurel wreath.

Davenport 1148. KM 16

 

I love the look of that crown!

 

A couple new purchases.

A lovely Frankfurt 2 Gulden. This was issued for the election of Archduke John of Austria as regent to a new attempt at a unified German empire which saw troubles from the start and didn't last two years!


Secondly, an interesting Saxon 6 pfennig. These came to be called the Roter Seufzer or red sigh as the almost pure copper coin was plated with high quality silver which quickly wore off in circulation. The coins were soon devalued to 2 pfennigs by the population and were eventually relegated to use as counter tokens. Struck for two years, the king made a profit of 236,000 thalers. Imagine that! I was also pleasantly surprised to find I purchased this coin from another CT member, @JoshuaP I love a coin with a story behind it and I'm happy to add it to my collection. A nice bit of the original silver, albeit toned, still remains with the underlying copper showing.

 

I was equally surprised to see your name on the buyer's shipping label! I really liked this coin, especially since I was born in Germany. The research I had done on it made it seem like it was silver. I looked at the coin many times trying to figure out if it really was silver due to what looked like copper color. Now I know my eyes were telling me the truth! I am glad it made it into your collection.

 

Ooh, nice!! I love that toning! Grade?

 

Oooh...nice!

 

MS64+