HistoricCoinage

I agree with your assessment - gorgeous. Just to be mildly pedantic, I don't think that's classed as "hammered"? It just about falls into the "Ancients" class, though I'm willing to be corrected on that. I would definitely class it as hammered, otherwise I wouldn't collect it. Ancient would be Celtic or Roman if we're talking about British issues, in my opinion. I could have resolved this myself by consulting North, whose Vol.1 of hammered coins begins at 650, early Anglo-Saxon. However, on a purely personal subjective level, I can see a good case for redefining the term "hammered" to correspond more to a look than a strict historical period. For one thing, the first plates in North show coins that have a strong resemblance to Celtic coins (and let's face it, any coins from this period issued in the areas of Cornwall, Wales, the Northwest ARE Celtic). For another, there appears to be a dramatic change to the designs occurring during Aethelred's reign (Plate X) - a beauty to the earlier designs that deteriorate towards what I call "medieval ugliness" in his later years. However, the change seems less abrupt when you look at later reigns, which deteriorate even more as you reach the early Norman kings (see the last few plates of North vol.1), which are truly horrible and exemplify why I dislike hammered coins so much. It's almost as if there was a kind of "de-Renaissance" that takes place between Aethelred and the Norman Conquest. In the light of this, Viking and earlier Saxon coins seem really beautiful, which is how I also think of Roman, Greek, and some Celtic. I class those together in my mind, which I simply cannot for the medieval period before Henry VII. For me, "hammered" has always meant medieval, but I guess it now has to go back at least as far as the later coins of Aethelred. I think you'd have a very hard time arguing that the early thyrsmas and tremisses of the 7th centuries aren't hammered coinage. Admittedly many are based upon Roman examples but they are, essentially, English hammered coinage. I do agree that the majority don't bear the complex beauty that the later coins of the Late Anglo-Saxon era bear but they are still hammered coins and examples which I, and many other collectors of hammered coinage, continue to collect. I've done a lot of research on the re-emergence of trade centres in the early Anglo-Saxon era and coinage has had a great importance in this as the ephemeral evidence has long since deteriorated leaving coinage, bones and pottery as main sources of evidence. Even in this context amongst archaeologists many hammered coins are deemed ugly, so I can sympathise!

I agree with your assessment - gorgeous. Just to be mildly pedantic, I don't think that's classed as "hammered"? It just about falls into the "Ancients" class, though I'm willing to be corrected on that. I would definitely class it as hammered, otherwise I wouldn't collect it. Ancient would be Celtic or Roman if we're talking about British issues, in my opinion.

If you're looking to sell other coins it might be worth trying some of the members here. I, for one, know someone who loves hammered silver.

With regards to your hammered coins, which I've labelled basically, you have an Edward I penny, an Elizabeth I sixpence and a Henry VIII groat. The Edward I penny is of Canterbury mint (CIVI TAS CAN TOR). It looks to be class 10cf1. The Elizabeth I sixpence is dated 1575 and has the initial mark of an eglantine. The Henry VIII groat is of his posthumous coinage minted during Edward VI's reign. It is of Southwark mint due to it reading CIVI TAS LON DON. I hope this helps.

I've got a halfcrown, halfgroat and penny but no sixpence at the moment. I'll let you know if I come across one, though.

To be fair, he's got some wonderfully rare coinage. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/A-CHARLES-AND-DIANA-COMMEMORATIVE-WEDDING-COIN-1981-VERY-RARE-/160815806135?pt=UK_Coins_BritishComm_RL&hash=item25715e76b7#ht_500wt_1413

All transferred and problem-free, I hope. Apologies for the downtime.

I'm in the process of downloading the many GBs, scanning them, recoding some scripts and then uploading it all on a different host. Within the next couple of days things should be fine. I've had confirmation that the site was hacked, so it's action stations here.

The actual posts or the website? The website seems to be safe but Google have flagged up the possibility of a script exploit - this is what probably caused the site to go offline, implying that the site got hacked. Again, I'm working on this but it's not easy. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Many thanks for your patience, gentlemen. I think I have managed to fix the issue and everything is back up and running now. Once again, sorry for any inconvenience.

Darren, A very interesting endeavour which you are embarking upon and I commend you. Firstly, it always best to contact the curator in charge and ask regarding photography. Many museums will charge you for their own photographs as they won't allow you to take your own photographs. Having said that, if the photos are purely for research then some museums will allow you to take a few photos here and there. I'm currently embarking upon research on the iconography of late Anglo-Saxon pennies and have arrangements with the Fitzwilliam and the National Museum in Copenhagen to view the collections and take my own photographs. Even so, the majority of photographs I shall be using are from private collections. Whilst it's great to be able to see a museum collection if you're looking for photographs of some types I would be inclined to say that there are coins that will fulfill your needs in private collections and all you'll have to do is ask. If your guide is for commercial purposes then you are more likely to face barriers. Kindest regards, Clive.

Sorry for the inconvenience, gentlemen. I am working on getting the site and all of its features up and running again as soon as possible. Once again, my apologies for the downtime.

Looks like Nicole on Canterbury, class 3b. With identifying these coins more accurately I'd advise for Christopher Wren's guides and/or North's guides over any other books.

You can pick up a fairly decent Henry III Longcross penny or an Edward I penny for £10 on eBay and a really nice one for no more than £25. You just have to be patient and trawl through the pages of tat on eBay.

It definitely is a decent example but it'd be even nicer and not all too hard to get a similar one minus the chip.

I agree with Rob. Coins of this issue come up frequently in high grade, be sure to cast your net wider in terms of auction houses if your heart is set upon a top-quality example.

I agree with you, Rob. Collecting solely English hammered means that this catalogue gives me a headache. Without it being chronologically ordered I'm bombarded with stuff earlier and later than what I actually want.

As Peter says, better pictures are needed.

Here's a simple BBC quiz for you gents and Debbie.

It's the same type of coin. Yours is Lyfinc on London. It appears to be the same coin as EMC 1997.0144:

It is a penny of York and looks like a Henry V example in terms of style but I really cannot tell from these images, sorry.

Is it just images that appear stretched?

Try and access your display properties and check your resolution is selected as recommended/optimum/native. If that doesn't work then try going to Display and then Change Display Settings. It might reveal some options there. What model laptop and what graphics card do you have?

It's an Elizabeth I Threepence dated 1562. I cannot distinguish the initial mark from your images but it cannot be a groat as they were not dated in this period and so the threepence is the only alternative. If you have a copy of Spink it's number 2565, if that helps.