So i went to my local coin shop for a few hours yesterday to look around. I was specifically looking at Canadian sets. Ended up being entranced by some old coins, one is a hammered six-pence from the rein of Elizabeth 1, the other is a piece of Irish "gun money". I normally do not purchase coins without reading about them first, but I got mesmerized by owning a coin with such history behind it. I own so many relatively modern coins (US 1800+) that the look of a hammered coin really "struck" me (i am being puny here) So not to put the cart before the horse, but what coin books are recomended for English coins? I was thinking of collecting one from every monarch from Elizabeth on. I will attempt to take some photos tonight...
There is a book called 'Coins of England & the United Kingdom' that comes out every year that is pblished by Spink's. You can possibly find one here; www.amazon.com . The Gun Money coin from Ireland is a very interesting series,albeit,an extremely difficult series to get represented.I have a holed 6d. dated Jan 1689. The Gun Money coins are historically significant in these respects; The only British Isles coinage that was issued by a monarch after his deposition. The only British Isles coinage that is dated by month as well as by year. The Gun Money coin depicting King James II on a horse is a Crown (5/-) piece.Its design is similar to coins of King Charles I to a certain degree. Elizabethan hammered 6d. coins are actually a common series,but the date can be identified through looking at the mintmarks. Aidan.
While you're looking for books - why don't you try looking - HERE You might be surprised at what you can find
Welcome to the dark dark side ranchhand.My first English Hammered was Henry VIII,Liz's daddy and then I got one of hers.Now I have several Elizabeth coins of various denominations.I love the motto on the reverse which translates loosely to "I have made God my helper"...notice that she didn't make herself God's helper...queenly egotism.Anyway,I have been working on a set of Kings and Queens,working my way back into the dark ages...guys with names like Canute and Aethelstan...tons o' fun............later
I've got a Canterbury Mint ecclestastical 1/2 Groat that has 'W' & 'A' on either side of the shield.It is a 2nd Coinage 2d. Aidan.
Mikjo0,the 'W' stands for 'Warham,as the Archbishop of Canterbury was William Warham.The 'A' stands for the Latin word for 'Archbishop'. Here's a couple of articles; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Warham & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Archbishops_of_Canterbury . Aidan.
Thanks Aidan...all I could think of was Woolsey. Here is a pic of my first Elizabeth I,a sixpence.Like a lot of these,her portrait is quite worn down as is the Tudor Rose behind her head.Since then I have added a penny,twopence,and a shilling.I guess I'm hooked too.
