A VERY RARE COIN FIRST PUBLISHED BY SNELLING 1762

[kal]

 

 

 

 

This coin illustrated on plate 14, item 13 of  “A View of the Silver Coinage of England” is listed under unknown mints and referred to as “Amongst the very great variety of this King’s money, altho’ we meet many very rude, and of bad workmanship, yet we think none of them comes up to the halfcrown No 13, the barbarous work of which was certainly that of a smith and not of an engraver.”

 

This coin engraving is also used by martin Folkes in ‘Table of Silver Coins,… Plate XXVI, Fig 5 in 1763.  - These plates were prepared before his death in 1754.  Ruding in the following century republished the Folkes’ plates, in the three editions of his work.  

 

Although now commonly referred to as the ‘Blacksmith’s halfcrown’, in 1861, Aquilla Smith assigned this piece to Ireland’s Rebellion necessity series and specifically to the Confederate Catholics in Kilkenny circa 1642.  

 

I believe the coin is identifiable by the weak striking of the horse’s raised foreleg, and the unusual reverse decoration of ‘wheat ears’ or as Maurice Bull describes them, three lilly buds, upper left and right on reverse.  (Bull 19A, Rev 2).  

 

The coin’s known provenance is Marsham, Murdoch, Hilton-Price, and Lockett.  In the Lockett catalogue June1957 this piece is described as “Reputed to be the finest known example of this ill-struck series, very rare”.

 

 

Edited March 20, 2016 by kal
image added

[Rob]

Nice coin. It's always good to match these up to old drawings as a little artistic license was usually employed.

This series has a way to go yet, with hitherto unrecorded denominations.

[kal]

Nice coin. It's always good to match these up to old drawings as a little artistic license was usually employed.

This series has a way to go yet, with hitherto unrecorded denominations.

 

Hi Rob,

It's one of a very few Irish coins I have retained.  Your reference concerning other denominations of this series is interesting.  Unlike the Lords Justices of Dublin representing the protestant royalists who produced a fairly extensive range of values, i.e., "Inchiquin" and "Ormond" money, Kilkenny money is only known for a silver issue of half crowns and a copper issue of half pence and farthings, the latter struck in quantity from a supply of 4,000 lbs of red copper.  Both these were coined by an Order of Council in Kilkenny and dated 15 October, 1642.  These are similar in design to the English model - the Tower half crown for the blacksmith and the copper imitative of the Richmond/Maltraver issues, although cruder and struck on much larger flans.

It seems remarkable that war could be waged on the basis of these irregular and limited coinages, but hoard evidence suggests large quantities of foreign money was in circulation in Ireland at this time, notably from both Spain and France.  

 

[Rob]

I have seen something crude that looks to be in good agreement for a halfgroat, both stylistically and in weight.

[kal]

It is plausible that other denominations were struck and have not been recorded.  Are you able to post an image?

[Rob]

I had it in hand

[copper123]

I love the way the charles appears larger than the horse  remember charles was 5 foot 4 inches tall

Edited March 24, 2016 by copper123

[copper123]

A pony , a pony, my kingdom for a pony! LOL