English Hammered - My Dilemma

[Paulus 1,942]

I love history in coins, and my favourite period would be Tudor - George II. My problem is that the hammered coins of this period I see for sale at affordable prices rarely have eye appeal for me, and eye appeal is my main criterion.

There's probably no answer to this, save for winning the lottery and having an open cheque book, but I wondered if others felt the same frustration when searching for beautiful hammered coins from say 1480-1650?

I have 2 keepers that are fairly recent acquisitions

But my others are clipped , not so round and balanced, and I don't love them as much (I don't even want to post any pics)!

For this reason I get more from enjoyment from looking at my early milled, anyone else feel the same frustration?

I realise this is a naive question, just after candid responses

I expect I will end up in medieval at this rate anyway!

Edited November 4, 2014 by Paulus

[Coinery 926]

Ironically, it does get cheaper for a period, as you go further back in time, say H3-Ed1! So what about the smaller denominations, say pennies or halfgroats? You can get a lot of top-grade pennies/HGs for under a £100! My avatar bust is taken from a Halfgroat, that's pretty enough at under a £100 I reckon!

[Rob 3,002]

It doesn't have to be big to be beautiful.

Edited November 4, 2014 by Rob

[azda 973]

I don't seem To Have that problem Pauly, One of the reasons i slipped into Liz I was because i was'nt finding the Chas I stuff i wanted, James coinage somehow has never appealed to me and so have'nt bought anything from his reign

[Coinery 926]

Hear, Hear, Rob!

Also, Paulus, you might want to ask yourself the question "what am I doing with a pile of coins i don't like looking at", when "I could've had half the number of coins I do like looking at"?

[Rob 3,002]

I don't seem To Have that problem Pauly, One of the reasons i slipped into Liz I was because i was'nt finding the Chas I stuff i wanted, James coinage somehow has never appealed to me and so have'nt bought anything from his reign

This is a rather common statement. I don't know why because the basic designs are often just a carry over from the previous reign or a portent of things to come in the following one. I can see that Charles is one of the most interesting reigns given the diversity that arose from the Civil War, but James is no more or less boring than E1.

Finding buyers for J1 coinage is much more difficult than E1.

Edited November 4, 2014 by Rob

[Peckris 579]

I love history in coins, and my favourite period would be Tudor - George II. My problem is that the hammered coins of this period I see for sale at affordable prices rarely have eye appeal for me, and eye appeal is my main criterion.

There's probably no answer to this, save for winning the lottery and having an open cheque book, but I wondered if others felt the same frustration when searching for beautiful hammered coins from say 1480-1650?

I really don't care for hammered (by which I mean MEDIEVAL hammered, not Saxon and earlier), particularly as there are simply gorgeous specimens of very early milled from your period (certainly from Liz onwards) that show up hammered for the very unsatisfactory coins they appear to me to be. The problem is that those very early milled coins are way beyond my purse.

[Coinery 926]

Nb: I'd be extremely happy to have a shilling like that to look at on a regular basis!

[scott 129]

James seems to be expensive

the Hammered I own isn't spectacular either, but some are examples of mints and suit me just fine.

[TomGoodheart 373]

Undoubtedly it's a challenge to find nice looking late hammered. But the same could be said for high grade George V silver ... better (by which I mean with eye appeal) pieces are generally snapped up quickly irrespective of reign.

However to my mind, price is not always the deciding factor. Luck in finding the 'right' coin is often more difficult than paying for it. Decent Chas I shillings can be had for a fair bit under £100.

And I have certainly found I've become more demanding as time has passed. Coins that used to do, now won't and a bit of lop-sidedness or uneven strike will mean I pass over a coin that, five years ago, I would have bought without hesitation. But maybe that's a good thing? Means we are developing a better idea of what is and isn't desirable in a coin. Maybe!

.

[azda 973]

It could also mean Richard that the current shift for high grade coins means your own opinions have shifted with this trend especially knowing that there is those coins out there, but the wait would kill me lol

[TomGoodheart 373]

It could also mean Richard that the current shift for high grade coins means your own opinions have shifted with this trend especially knowing that there is those coins out there

That's certainly possible. I've definitely moved away from the idea of collecting all possible varieties, irrespective of grade for the rarest, to just coins that I enjoy looking at. I've even got a few duplicates of types where I've seen another coin I liked. Previously I would have left it or upgraded and sold on the earlier one.

but the wait would kill me lol

Yeah, I occasionally get sidelined a little - I still have my collection of 'Marianne' themed coins and have recently been looking at hammered pennies, but right now the budget is small so I'm trying to learn to be patient!

marvinfinnley's idea of not making lots of lesser purchases but waiting for something with real appeal is a good one. Though it does require discipline. Something I am still working on!

[pokal02 43]

As a recruit from milled to hammered, I soon realised that at my level I'd have to put up with chips, cracks, weak strikes etc if I wanted to complete my chosen areas (I draw the line at holes though). I tend to look at the grade and then make a value adjustment (eg -10% for a small chip, 30% for a larger chip etc). My earlier hammered, as mentioned by another poster, is generally better than later hammered with Henry VIII probably worst of all.