British Coins

Charles I (1625-1649), Richmond issue, type 6, a previously unrecorded uncut strip of 12 Farthings, mm. double rose, obv. dies 6, 7, 8, 9, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, rev. dies 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1, 2, 3, 4, 218mm, 9.77g/12h (Everson – [cf. 111h]; BMC – [cf. 207]; S 3187A, note). A few spots of verdigris, obverses very fine, reverses extremely fine and with an overall hint of original colour; the largest such strip of its kind now known, UNIQUE £6,000-8,000

Provenance: From an old Scottish collection.

The method of manufacture for these farthings, and indeed other contemporary copper coins in Scotland and on the continent of Europe, was by die roller press. A copper fillet was fed between two rollers, one bearing 9 impressions of the obverse die and the other 9 impressions of the reverse die. Between the first and last die a vertical row of three pellets enabled the die wheels to be correctly aligned.

The largest such strip previously known is of 9 farthings (British Museum, ex Weightman), from which the die combinations of the various extant strips, in public (and a few private) collections, have been worked out since the days of C. Wilson Peck. The only other strips of comparable size offered in recent years are of 7 farthings each (St James’s Auction 10, lot 737, ex Colin Cooke, ex ‘Herman Selig’, Spink Auction 70, lot 114, ex Charles Firth, Spink Auction 6, lot 661; Norweb collection, dispersal untraced)