Nicholas

Yes, as I understood a testoon was used from Henry VII profile issue and the Henry VIII larger silver. Then Edward introduced the first shilling that I thought replaced the testoon denomination. The fine silver replacement sounds reasonable. There was a Scottish testoon as well under Mary QOS.. My question though- is there a relationship with the testerns from the trade coinage of Elizabeth I...

Not much love...

Idea then Rob What if we adjusted the question from "the top coins of the pre-decimal era that ought to be in every collection" to : "the top coin of the pre-decimal era that ought to be in every collection by monarch" and limit by £1K per coin Then choose the top 5 from this group

Exactly my thoughts. Watching Spink online..

Yes I can. Peck 5. North 2050.Likely to be pattern for a silver groat, no one knows for sure. (or maybe penny, medalet..) Also struck in copper and gold. Afflictorum conservatrix - "To heal the afflicted"? interestingly one theory is that this was used as a cure for the sick or wounded soldiers and sailors by touching the coin.. Monogram of Elizabeth. 1601. 25mm, 4grams This coin is struck, but there are also cast versions that are more common. This coin from Dr. E C Carter collection 1950. Any further info welcome!

Ok if someone is enjoying- here's one more- very early milled - the little lady..

I have 2 versions on line already - one from the auction catalogue and one that will remain with NGC... sshhh!

A coin out of its holder doesn't lose its provenance...

Interesting! Thank you vicky

Agreed John - it's the counter mark that counts! In this instance Spink graded it as EF (Ex Montegazza 62. Spink 113, March1996). The slabbing company mistaken IMO. Also their provenance leaves a lot to be desired : "A-Tokyo Collection" is meaningless as far as I know.

Dark tone - it's been freed since this photo...

That's a cracking Cromwell shilling.

Crack it!

this is one of my specialised areas ...

Here's another pretty lady in Spink next week...

Looks like a nice vic Halfcrown coming up soon... I know only that 1841 a rarer year for this denomination.?but does anyone have a feel how rare this coin might be and value?

There are some Perth and Melbourne G5 sovereigns in Nobles March auction- not slabbed but maybe UNC... http://www.noble.com.au/auctions/search/?sale=108&c=5792&g=&q=&e=&p=2

I think the old lady gave it a little bit of a clean some time ago... Verdigris on reverse little suspect...

I'm visiting London early June... Will include on my visit..

No one listening at PCGS, CGS, NGC- please include strike in the grading ....

Lovely original colour - no cleaning necessary. Might start collecting more gold.. I noticed that no proceeds go to the divers who found them..in fact would have gone to jail if they removed them... Taking the fun out of treasure hunting...

MS 63 seems very high and the issue I have is that these stabbing companies do not take into consideration strike and die wear. This coin may have looked like this when it was minted (with more shine) - I can also see traces of die wear and cracking suggesting old dies. Without seeing the coin in person it's hard to see whether the flatness on the portrait is a soft strike or wear and tear. Interestingly they include quality of strike when grading ancient coins. Perhaps they should consider a hybrid grading process to cover all key elements ...

Yes they are conservative as a rule.. I've seen an MS62 graded hammered gold cracked out and graded as nice VF by Spink..