Heritage World Coin Auctions
FUN Signature US Coin Sale 1251 4-6 & 8-9 Jan 2017
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(1615-6) Sommer Islands Shilling, Small Sail, XF45 PCGS Secure. Breen-2, W-11460, R.5. The usual variety of Sommer Islands shillings features small sails on the reverse, and nearly 50 examples are known in all grades. The present piece is the second finest known to us behind the remarkable AU55 NGC certified example from the Eric P. Newman collection that we sold in May 2014. The PCGS Population Report lists an AU53 and this XF45 as the two finest that service has graded, but the AU53 has never been seen. Like most examples, the present piece has dark steel-brown surfaces that exhibit light surface roughness and a few small spots of green corrosion. However, the existing detail is strong, and both sides show traces of the original "silvering" that is actually a thin coating of tin on the freshly struck coin.
The reverse die is rotated to the same degree as the Newman coin. These coins were struck by the ancient hammer method of coinage production whereby one die, known as the anvil die, was fixed to an anvil, which might have been as simple as a tree stump. The planchet was placed on the anvil die and then a second die, known as the hammer die, was held in place on top of the planchet. A hammer was swung by the same person or an assistant, imparting the design from both dies to the planchet, creating a finished coin. As the hammer die was held in place, dramatic die rotation is characteristic of that coinage method. Two pieces showing identical rotation were likely struck at the same time, the person holding the hammer die in the same position for both or several strikes.
(1615-6) Sommer Islands Shilling, Small Sail, XF45 PCGS Secure. Breen-2, W-11460, R.5. The usual variety of Sommer Islands shillings features small sails on the reverse, and nearly 50 examples are known in all grades. The present piece is the second finest known to us behind the remarkable AU55 NGC certified example from the Eric P. Newman collection that we sold in May 2014. The PCGS Population Report lists an AU53 and this XF45 as the two finest that service has graded, but the AU53 has never been seen. Like most examples, the present piece has dark steel-brown surfaces that exhibit light surface roughness and a few small spots of green corrosion. However, the existing detail is strong, and both sides show traces of the original "silvering" that is actually a thin coating of tin on the freshly struck coin.
The reverse die is rotated to the same degree as the Newman coin. These coins were struck by the ancient hammer method of coinage production whereby one die, known as the anvil die, was fixed to an anvil, which might have been as simple as a tree stump. The planchet was placed on the anvil die and then a second die, known as the hammer die, was held in place on top of the planchet. A hammer was swung by the same person or an assistant, imparting the design from both dies to the planchet, creating a finished coin. As the hammer die was held in place, dramatic die rotation is characteristic of that coinage method. Two pieces showing identical rotation were likely struck at the same time, the person holding the hammer die in the same position for both or several strikes.