The Michael Gietzelt Collection of British and Irish Coins (1625-1660)

Charles I (1625-1649), Pontefract, Shilling, 1648, type I, thicker lettering, large c r, castle gateway with sword to right, 4.82g/12h (Hird 274, same dies; SCBI Brooker 1231; N 2646; S 3148). On an octagonal flan, good fine and toned, rare £3,000-£4,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Michael Gietzelt Collection of British and Irish Coins (1625-1660).

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Provenance: Spink Auction 210, 6-7 October 2011, lot 262
Pontefract Castle was taken for the king at the beginning of June 1648 and it was hoped that it would act as a base for a royalist revival with the aid of an army being raised in Scotland at the time by the Duke of Hamilton. On his way south, the Duke relieved Carlisle and joined forces with Sir Marmaduke Langdale. Soon after, however, his army was defeated at Preston and any revival based around events in the north began to look increasingly unlikely. The fall of Colchester to the Roundheads made the situation worse still. Despite this gloomy outlook, the castle held out throughout the autumn and winter of 1648/9, resisting the best efforts of Cromwellian generals Rainsborough and Lambert who had taken Colchester in the summer. The castle finally fell at the end of March 1649. Although one of the largest in England, it was then systematically demolished within a matter of weeks.