Silver coins were issued in Newark by supporters of Charles I during the English civil war. During the war, various walled cities stayed loyal to Charles. Although Newark was besieged by the Parliamentarians for years, it was never conquered. However, when Charles lost the war (and eventually his head), Newark opened its gates again. To provide a medium of exchange within the city, nobles donated their silverware to be made into coins. There was no melting and pouring silver into planchets. Instead, the silver objects were hammered flat, then cut into diamond-shaped planchets. The planchets were placed between dies which were hammered to make coins. On some of the coins, original hallmarks of the silverware can be seen. Four denominations (half-crown, shilling, 9 pence and 6 pence) were issued 1645-6. The coin below is a shilling (12 pence). On one side is a crown, the initials CR (Carolus Rex [Charles the King]), and the denomination (XII). The other side of the coin has the name of the city and date. Then there is the mysterious “OBS”. It’s an abbreviation for “obsidional”, an obscure English adjective which means “associated with a siege” … very appropriate. I acquired the coin in a St. James (a British auction house) auction raw and graded by them as about VF. Very pleased it came back from NGC as XF40. Mike
