Briot Milled Sixpence

[hibernianscribe]

I've just acquired a rather nice, nearly EF, Briot second milled-issue sixpence on eBay (from a reputable seller) and am currently awaiting its arrival. It is slabbed by PGCS (AU55) so I should have reasonable grounds  to believe it's not a copy. In my view, the obverse scratches do detract from the AU classification somewhat, but despite this it does look "right". However, I now notice that the reverse legend is CHISTO AUSPICE REGNO and not "CHRISTO" and there is no such variation listed by Spink or North. Could this be an unknown variety or maybe a contemporary fake? Obviously PGCS did not think the latter and for a contemporary fake I believe the die detail is too authentic. Before purchasing I, of course, checked the slab reference number which is genuine for a Briot sixpence of this description. My thoughts on this is that maybe it was a die mistake that was only noticed after coin(s) had been struck then presumably would have been withdrawn. Any expert views on this would be welcome.

 

 

Edited December 28, 2017 by hibernianscribe

[Rob]

Normal. There are 2 reverses, one as this and the other CHRISTO. There are also 2 obverses,with or without the mullet. All 4 combinations exist. cf Brooker 729-732A

[hibernianscribe]

Thanks Rob, that reassures me - unless I'm mistaken, strange that North omits any mention of this.

Frank

Edited December 28, 2017 by hibernianscribe

[jelida]

Beautiful ! The scratches I presume are adjustment marks, contemporary with manufacture and therefore perfectly acceptable. Well done!

Jerry

[jaggy]

1 minute ago, jelida said:

Beautiful ! The scratches I presume are adjustment marks, contemporary with manufacture and therefore perfectly acceptable. Well done!

Jerry

That was my thought too. Nice looking coin.

I also have an example of Briots 1st milled issue - also AU55 - with the flower & B/- mintmark and 'CHRISTO' in the legend.

[hibernianscribe]

14 minutes ago, jelida said:

Beautiful ! The scratches I presume are adjustment marks, contemporary with manufacture and therefore perfectly acceptable. Well done!

Jerry

I've always wondered about "adjustment marks" for the Briot issue, and having never seen them believed that they were applied to the rims of the coins. So they were made across the face of the coin then?

[Rob]

27 minutes ago, hibernianscribe said:

Thanks Rob, that reassures me - unless I'm mistaken, strange that North omits any mention of this.

Frank

Not really. To take a coin at random, Edward IV heavy coinage halfpennies N1545 with lis on neck and im. Plain Cross has 4 legend varieties in Withers' Small Change. N1546 with quatrefoils, saltires or nothing by neck and im. Rose has 4 varieties for nothing by neck and 19 varieties with quatrefoils or saltires.......

As usual, it is a case of how deep into varieties a reference goes.

[hibernianscribe]

6 minutes ago, Rob said:

Not really. To take a coin at random, Edward IV heavy coinage halfpennies N1545 with lis on neck and im. Plain Cross has 4 legend varieties in Withers' Small Change. N1546 with quatrefoils, saltires or nothing by neck and im. Rose has 4 varieties for nothing by neck and 19 varieties with quatrefoils or saltires.......

As usual, it is a case of how deep into varieties a reference goes.

Thanks

[jelida]

54 minutes ago, hibernianscribe said:

I've always wondered about "adjustment marks" for the Briot issue, and having never seen them believed that they were applied to the rims of the coins. So they were made across the face of the coin then?

I don’t have the definitive answer re the Briot coinage, not my field, but they look like file marks and how adjustment marks usually look. Perhaps Rob’s expertise is called for again here?

Jerry

[Rob]

Briot is reported to have had a lot of problems with his weights, with a significant percentage of pieces rejected for being out of spec. For some reason you don't often see marks which could be adjudged to be adjustment marks being applied to the hammered tower issues, so it begs the question whether politics came into play here as there is ample evidence of a wide range of weights occurring.

Half a century later, the recoinage during William III's reign produced a serious number of coins with these marks, though the obverses were often filed through the hair or drapery and the reverses at the crowns and not across the centres. This difference may have been due to individual worker preference. e.g see 16(9/6)6 shilling below.

I don't think there is any consistency in where the marks are applied, as I have also seen Briot pieces with the rims filed. Again, see below.