at 400 dots / inch
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This is a halfpenny penny struck in Dublin in about 1300. It is from the sixth and final issue of Edward I's second Irish coinage.
The legends are mostly clear with no blundering and read:
The sixth issue was a fairly substantial one. Michael Dolley in his paper on the Irish Mints of Edward I estimates the three later issues (fourth - sixth) at about 10,000 pounds (2.4 million coins) and therefore at about 20% of the coinage as a whole - the vast majority of this being made up of sixth issue coins as teh fourth and fifth issues were small and those coins are now rare or at best very scarce. However only a very small proportion of the later issues (4th-6th) appears to have been in halfpennies and farthings. These are disproportionally scarcer than the pennies compared to the relative scarcity of pennies and halfpennies of the early issues. The key characteristic which distinguishes the coins of this issue is the presence of a pellet at the base of the obverse triangle - however the pellet does not feature on all the halfpennies or farthings so it is necessary to examine the lettering to establish the issue in many cases. The pennies always have the distinctive pellet. This may actually be entirely wrong as it is possible that the later lettering type pieces without a pellet belong to a distinct issue as they do feature a distinct portrait type. And just to confuse the issus further there is a variety of the early halfpenny which features a single pellet below the bust - but the portrait and lettering are clearly early so a detailed examination of the lettering is necessary. The few surviving coins of this late issue with the pellet below the bust appear to all come from a single die so it is quite likely that this was a very small issue - the coins are rarer than the existing catalogues indicate and I have no records of any sales which specifically reference the type. This coin is in About Fine condition (i.e. not very nice). There is some striking weakness in the design and there is evidence of some corrosion and minor damage as well as some circulation wear. The distinctive pellet is clear below the bust and the distinctive narrow bust and crown is quite visible. The S in the reverse legend is clearly the later type (from a punch rather than made of crescents and wedges) so the identification of the coin is straightforward despite the low grade. This is a below average example of the issue (if any coin can be said to be average given the few surviving specimens). There are a couple of other examples which have been properly reported and documented - but as the catalogues do not indicate the true scarcity it is possible that others exists and are unremarked in other collections of Edward I halfpennies. Compare this coin's lettering and bust style with an early halfpenny of Edward I : A Halfpenny of Edward I of Dublin (second issue) Related Pages : Hit your back button to return to the page you came from or select : |