Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3030 5-6 January 2014
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Great Britain
Charles II copper pattern Farthing 1665, Peck-409, Short Hair portrait, reeded ("straight-grained") edge, MS64 BN NGC, fully struck and having superb, reflective mahogany-brown surfaces for a coin of this era. The earliest use of the Britannia motif appears on patterns of this epoch, here being identified by name in the exergue. The bold obverse legend was carried over to the issued farthings; its translation is literally "Charles to Charles" and was intended to promote and proclaim the continuance of the monarchy, briefly interrupted by the Commonwealth. The reverse legend in Latin is seen only on the patterns, translating to mean "I claim the four seas." Peck states that this legend was not used for the commercial coinage of farthings, despite the king's interest in the navy, as it was thought to be pretentious and potentially offensive to the "neighbouring monarch," namely the king of France, Louis XIV, who had given shelter to Charles as a young man when he escaped harm at the end of the Civil War. Due to a shortage of small change in the 1660s, most of the numerous pattern farthings, of various styles, were put into circulation and today are found well worn. Not so this gorgeous copper!
Estimate: 1500-2000 USD
Charles II copper pattern Farthing 1665, Peck-409, Short Hair portrait, reeded ("straight-grained") edge, MS64 BN NGC, fully struck and having superb, reflective mahogany-brown surfaces for a coin of this era. The earliest use of the Britannia motif appears on patterns of this epoch, here being identified by name in the exergue. The bold obverse legend was carried over to the issued farthings; its translation is literally "Charles to Charles" and was intended to promote and proclaim the continuance of the monarchy, briefly interrupted by the Commonwealth. The reverse legend in Latin is seen only on the patterns, translating to mean "I claim the four seas." Peck states that this legend was not used for the commercial coinage of farthings, despite the king's interest in the navy, as it was thought to be pretentious and potentially offensive to the "neighbouring monarch," namely the king of France, Louis XIV, who had given shelter to Charles as a young man when he escaped harm at the end of the Civil War. Due to a shortage of small change in the 1660s, most of the numerous pattern farthings, of various styles, were put into circulation and today are found well worn. Not so this gorgeous copper!
Estimate: 1500-2000 USD