Goldberg Coins & Collectibles Auctions    
       

       

                             



Sale 31: The Pre-Long Beach Auction May 30 - June 1, 2005
             

             
            Lot 2214Great Britain. Copper Farthing, 1673. Charles II. S-3394. 
            Second year of the very first Regal Copper of this denomination. For 
            centuries, any coin not made of "specie" (i.e., gold or silver) was 
            suspect of its commercial value, and in the English tradition the 
            earlier copper "coins" were not coins at all, but tokens: witness 
            what C. Wilson Peck labeled "rose farthing tokens" struck during the 
            reign of Charles I (1625-49). Copper curios and "patterns" were made 
            as far back as the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603), but only toward 
            the end of her reign, and often in silver. All this was a throwback 
            to the Roman tradition of "subsidiary" or less than royal coins, 
            made for mass consumption but more particularly in order to collect 
            smaller amounts of tax from the citizen of lesser means. Peck points 
            out that the Restoration (1660) brought with it a need for small 
            change that was greater than ever before, with the result that 
            countless kinds and weights of tradesmen's tokens, or necessity 
            pieces, appeared throughout the land. While making such coins was an 
            offense, and an infringement upon the king's right, few such 
            "counterfeiters" were prosecuted. The necessity was real. 
            Influential aristocrats, who sniffed profit as suppliers of copper 
            ore, convinced the warden of the Royal Mint of the need for regal 
            copper coins, and a variety of farthings and halfpennies were made 
            as official patterns, for the first time ever, during the reign of 
            Charles II. Shortly thereafter appeared the first coppers sanctioned 
            by The Crown and bearing the monarch's portrait and titles. The fact 
            that these coins of small intrinsic and purchasing value were very 
            much needed for commerce is evidenced today by their rarity in high 
            grade. Virtually all made saw heavy use, and few were saved by 
            thoughtful historians or collectors of curios. The present specimen 
            is one of the very finest pieces this cataloguer has seen in some 25 
            years of studying British coins. The surfaces are truly remarkable 
            for this primitive issue! Smooth chocolate brown mixes in perfectly 
            with splashes of orangey mint red. The strike is slightly 
            off-center, as almost always seen. Importantly, there is no 
            corrosion, no dark carbon, and almost no abrasion, not even the most 
            minute. The strike is not full but it is sharp overall, and shows 
            die-clashing. On the king's face is a raised line (not a scratch) 
            which is a die-tooling mark of some sort. The legend and the date 
            are sharp. Although not terribly valuable, this is one of the rarest 
            coppers, in this grade, of all the British copper or bronze issues. 
            Cope & Rayner (English Milled Coinage, 1973) called it R4, or 
            extremely rare, in full Mint State. NGC graded MS-66 Red & Brown. 
            Estimated Value $2,000-2,250. 

            Provenance: The Cheshire Collection.
             Realized $1,800
             


          








Courtesy Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers, Beverly Hills, CA. www.goldbergcoins.com