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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;PaddyB, post: 1637519, member: 40017&quot;]A few more notes on these before I go out for the evening:</p><p><br /></p><p>The 1703 Sixpence with the portrait of Queen Anne, and the word Vigo beneath. This celebrates the British Naval victory of Vigo Bay in 1702 when the French and Spanish suffered severe losses. It is often reported that the coins were made from the captured silver, but in fact teh Master of the Mint (no lesser person than Sir Isaac Newton) reported that only about 2 tons of silver were actually handed in. See <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vigo_Bay" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vigo_Bay" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vigo_Bay</a> for more info.</p><p><br /></p><p>The E below Queen Anne&#039;s bust on the 1707 halfcrown is for Edinburgh. Although England and Scotland had &quot;unified&quot; in 1705, coins were still being minted in Edinburgh.</p><p><br /></p><p>The 1572 Elizabeth I sixpence is one in a long series of issues and variations that make these coins very complex. I find it interesting that at this time they are introducing the Arabic numeral dates we know today (although not all the time) and also still using the much older mintmark approach to dating. This coin has the mintmark &quot;Ermine&quot; which conveniently also gives us the 1572 date.</p><p><br /></p><p>The 1731 halfcrown has the &quot;Roses and Plumes&quot; reverse which is one of the more common. Throughout the 18th century there were numerous combinations of Roses, plumes, roses &amp; plumes, plain, and occasionally &quot;SSC&quot; (for South Sea Company) and &quot;WCC&quot; (For Welsh Copper Company) - so collecting these gives huge scope for varieties.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Charles I Sixpence is not in great condition, but does at least have a decent portrait, which is usually the first detail to go on these coins. This one dates from between 1636 and 1638 from the mintmark (tun). It is Group D type 3a - which alone gives you some idea of the complexity of these coins. It got worse as we descended into Civil War, and coins were minted at numerous local mints, and even in besieged towns - another huge topic!</p><p><br /></p><p>I hope to post another group from this lot tomorrow, so keep watching.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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