Spink
Auction 22027 7 Oct 2022
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The Remarkable "Ellerby Area" Hoard of English Gold Coins (1610-1727) | Charles I (1625-1649), Group B, Class Ia, 'Lightweight' Unite, 14 August to 7 September 1626, Tower (under King), (m.m.) CAROLVS D .' G .' MAG .' BR .' FR .' ET HI .' REX, crowned 3a bust 2a left, the portrait refined, wearing ruff, XX behind, rev. FLORENT • CONCORDIA • REGNA (m.m. to left), first-crowned square-topped shield 3 in light-garnished mantle, bird-headed harp D with six strings, 7.46g [115.2grns], 12h, m.m. cross calvary [10] (PAS: YORYM-18E848 = BM 2019 T668/43 this coin; Brooker - [cf. 30]; Schneider II, 121 same obverse die; North 2148; Spink 2687), double-struck with rusted dies, crimped and creased, nevertheless on a full round flan with minor surface friction, the centres fine, the peripheries about very fine, extremely rare and presumably a long-sought-for lightweight issue, most curious and most important thus, with NGC 'Ellerby' Certification (#6380983-043).
"The year 1626 marked also the first and half-hearted attempt at devaluation of the currency, and if any unites were struck under the order which was in force during the month of August 1626 they should weigh about 130 grs. No such coin has so far been recorded but, in the proclamation of 4 September 1626 which re-establishes the former full weight for all coins, reference is made to gold and silver coins. It is unfortunate that neither the dealers nor the overwhelming majority of collectors weigh their coins: if a check on all gold coins bearing the privy mark Cross Calvary could be made, a debased specimen belonging to the light issue of August 1626 might well be discovered. Such a coin would almost certainly be of the Group A variety, and many of these have the Cross Calvary mark punched over Lis. By reason of the fact that it is highly unlikely that special dies would have been made for the slightly debased issue and that the reduction in weight would have been achieved by more drastic shearing of the coins, which would have mutilated the legend quite considerably, we can expect a somewhat thinner flan." (H A Schneider, BNJ, 1958)
Estimate: £900 - £1200
"The year 1626 marked also the first and half-hearted attempt at devaluation of the currency, and if any unites were struck under the order which was in force during the month of August 1626 they should weigh about 130 grs. No such coin has so far been recorded but, in the proclamation of 4 September 1626 which re-establishes the former full weight for all coins, reference is made to gold and silver coins. It is unfortunate that neither the dealers nor the overwhelming majority of collectors weigh their coins: if a check on all gold coins bearing the privy mark Cross Calvary could be made, a debased specimen belonging to the light issue of August 1626 might well be discovered. Such a coin would almost certainly be of the Group A variety, and many of these have the Cross Calvary mark punched over Lis. By reason of the fact that it is highly unlikely that special dies would have been made for the slightly debased issue and that the reduction in weight would have been achieved by more drastic shearing of the coins, which would have mutilated the legend quite considerably, we can expect a somewhat thinner flan." (H A Schneider, BNJ, 1958)
Estimate: £900 - £1200