Here is a new English Shilling I picked up with some birthday money awhile ago. Considering I don't care for holed coins, I just kept going back to it over and over on the Civitas Galelries page. Since the price was fair for a holed piece & the portrait was strong, I nabbed it. Charles I (1625 - 1649) AR Shilling O: CAROLVS D G MAG BRI FRA ET HIB REX (Charles, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland), crowned bust left, XII (value mark) behind. R: CHRISTO AVSPICE REGNO (I reign under the auspices of Christ), cross moline over square-topped shield coat-of-arms. Triangle-in-circle mintmark. Tower Mint 6.16g 30mm SCBC 2799, North 2231
Shouldn't this be in World Coins, even though you're an Ancient Coins guy? Aw, just jabbin' at ya. That's a great looking "touch piece" shilling, and if you ever tire of it, I'd happily buy it or swap you something for it and wear it on my famous Holey Coin Hat. I like it, and knowing your savvy shopping skills, I'll bet you scored a nice deal on it, no doubt in part because the competitors were scared off by the hole.
I'd say that's exactly the story behind that one, though "holey' coins of course got holed for a variety of reasons in a variety of ways, and are subject to much interpretation centuries after the fact. But really, I don't think people should be quite so "hole-o-phobic". Sure, a holed coin should sell for less than an undamaged example, but as "damage" goes, holes are preferable to scratches or corrosion and stuff like that, because the hole has a story. Sometimes that story is apparent and sometimes it must be imagined. But "holey" coins can be a great bargain, once a collector gets over his reflexive distaste for them.
I don't care for holed coins much, mainly when it interferes with portrait or something. But something like this I can look past it. I actually tolerate scratches, bankers marks and occasionally cleaned over holed.
Banker's marks and cleaning over holes, I can agree with, if we're talking about minor cleaning, not harsh. Scratches I dunno. Depends on the severity, obviously. Faint hairlines are one thing. Deep cuts or hits another. There's not really any hard-and-fast rules, I guess. Its all on an individual basis. But for hammered silver English coins, a hole can almost always be considered a touch piece and tied to that tradition.
The problem with the World Coins subforum is that most of the interesting posts die a miserable and lonely death there. Even Charles I had a better fate than some of the posts over there:
Besides, you and your posts are always welcome on the Ancients forum regardless of the age of the coin.
Yes, I was surprised and a bit chagrined to see how sleepy the World Coins subforum is. I shall take upon myself a mission to change that, with some help. The World Coin "Uno" thread is moving just fine. Perhaps some more game threads, and giveaways, challenges, and such...
I think your Charles I fits just fine here. There are enough people here who appreciate it and it's history. I don't mind a hole in an older coin as long as it doesn't affect details of the coin. It's just part of the coins life.
Nice Charles I Shilling @Mat and Anglo-Saxon penny @alde Despite being holed, they still have great details. The only coin of Charles I that I have is a badly clipped halfcrown from the tower mint. I don't remember if it was struck by royalist or roundhead.
that hole doesn't both me at all, nice pick up. i'd like to pick up a coin from this dude, he's on the list.
After the 1696 recoinage there was a law passed that said all unclipped hammered coins must be pierced with a hole, to be replaced with new milled coins. Some holed coins are touch pieces, but the law may be reason that quite so many Charles I coins are clipped. Yours looks good to me, with bright metal and particularly sharp reverse. These have become incredibly popular, so I'm waiting until they fall out of fashion before I collect Charles I.
Fascinating! This I had not heard. Hmm... let's see. I thought I had Charles I on my old Holey Coin Vest. I did, but apparently no longer have the pictures. It was a small coin- a silver penny, I think. For pre-1696 holey English/British ... hmm... let's see what I still have pictures of... Elizabeth I halfgroat, 1572 (too bad her portrait was often in such low relief, huh?) Charles II penny, 1676 Charles II crown, 1662 James II groat, 1688 William & Mary Irish halfpenny, 1693 There were probably others. Like I said, I had a small Charles I piece in the mix, but it and the rest I've just posted here do not really compare with your OP coin. They were cheap, though, and fun to wear on my Holey Coin Vest.
OK, so I didn't have pix of my holey Charles I piece, but, on the topic of Charles I in general, I thought I'd post my favorite (and presently only) coin of his. Though not holed, it's a very low-end example like my "holeys" above. But the reason why it's my favorite Charles I coin (and indeed one of my favorite coins, period) should be evident when I repost the text below... .................................................... " Since the topic came up in another thread, and Google Maps made it easy, I'll share a shot of the field where the ca. 1641-43 hammered silver penny of Charles I was found. The picture below of Little Bromley, Essex, is from September of 2012, so a little more than a year before I found the coin. A 1730s George II farthing was much farther out in the field. Somebody else with us that day found another small hammered silver postmedieval penny or halfgroat- his was an Elizabeth I. This coin doesn't look like much, but the price was right- it cost me about 45 seconds of kneeling and digging in the then-muddy potato field shown below. I need to shoot better and larger pix of the coin. I think there is even some shaky video of the find on one of my camera SD cards. These small pictures are from the UK (Colchester) detecting club's page: Charles' portrait here, as with many of the earlier Elizabethan hammered pieces, is worn pretty flat, but the shield is clear. It is quite a tiny little coin, but it gave a solid signal on the detector. The 1730s George II farthing came up in another, farther portion of the field which had obviously held an 18th century house site at one time. This same field had been the source of several Celtic gold staters in years previous! "
Did not know that. It's the only English coin I have with a hole. Doubt mine was clipped since the weight is a bit better then even non clipped coins. Another reason I got it. Nice holed coins and even cooler finding that silver coin. I would keep it too. Now if I detected and found usual Wheats or Buffalos, I would unload them.
