St. James's Auctions
Auction 48 23 Sep 2021
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Elizabeth I, eight testerns (dollar), mm. O (1600-01), shield of arms dividing E R, all crowned, ELIZABETH D G ANG FR ET HIB REGINA, rev. crowned portcullis, POSVI DEVM ADIVTOREM MEVM, wt. 27.69gms. (S.2607A; Pridmore 1), evidence of a repair by tooling to die flaw on B of HIB, otherwise, a pleasing example, good very fine, very rare
*ex H. A. Parsons, Glendining, 11 May 1954, lot 913
Spink 6, 10-11 October 1979, lot 900
The very first British 'trade dollar' was this coin, quite rare today, issued for the Honourable East India Company, which received its charter from the queen dated 11 January 1601 but promulgated on the very last day of 1600. The coin was modelled after the Spanish 8-reales coin of the same size and value, and struck at the Tower Mint. It was the largest of four denominations, all of the same design. These pieces were meant to compete with the Spanish coin and its fractions-at the time, often pieces cut from the large coin. For interested collectors, more details about the queen's participation in the creation of this unique coinage were offered in our catalogue of Part 1 of this collection, in Lot 89. What a souvenir of that early adventure this coin is!
(20000-25000 GBP)
*ex H. A. Parsons, Glendining, 11 May 1954, lot 913
Spink 6, 10-11 October 1979, lot 900
The very first British 'trade dollar' was this coin, quite rare today, issued for the Honourable East India Company, which received its charter from the queen dated 11 January 1601 but promulgated on the very last day of 1600. The coin was modelled after the Spanish 8-reales coin of the same size and value, and struck at the Tower Mint. It was the largest of four denominations, all of the same design. These pieces were meant to compete with the Spanish coin and its fractions-at the time, often pieces cut from the large coin. For interested collectors, more details about the queen's participation in the creation of this unique coinage were offered in our catalogue of Part 1 of this collection, in Lot 89. What a souvenir of that early adventure this coin is!
(20000-25000 GBP)