RARE ENGLISH COINS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 811, 2 November 1877, Page 3

RARE ENGLISH COINS.

Although there are scarcely any English coins which at e equal in rarity to some of the earliest emi.-stons of Greece and Rome, there are nevertheless, f. few, the '[•rices realised for what at collectors’ sales give evidence of their great value in the eyes of numismatists. Thus gold coins of Cunobeliue have sold for as much as L 5, and a penny ol King Bah I red was once knocked down for Ll3. A good specimen of King Bironwolf’s penny was sold in 1824 for LlO 03, and a penny of Alfred has brought as much as LS. The coins ef Anlaf, Edgar, HarJieanute, and Edward the elder are also scarce. In 1802 a gold penny of Henry 111 brought L 52 10s, and a proof groat 'of Edward II in 1830, 'LI 1 ss. Sovereigns of Henry VII and Be kin Warbeck's groats very rare, and Elizabeth's of 1538, bearing a key as a mint mark, frequently fetches as much asLlo 10s. During the civil wars money was coined in very considerable variety ; and thus it happens that some of King Charles’ pieees are of great value in the present Lay. Chief among them are the “Oxfoid Crown,” th° 20s piece of 1C44, and the half crown of the first coinage with Arabic numora’s bn the reverse. ‘Some of the crowns, half-crowns, and shillingS'of the Co nnonwealth are also scarce ; hut perhaps the scarcest English coin of all is what is known as “the petition crown” of Charles If, a spec’men of which in 1832, was sold for L 223. The only really rare varieties of the Queen Anne’s farthing are the issues bearing on the reverse Britannia under an arch, or a figure of Peace in a car, with the legend, “Pax missa perorbem.” The other kinds are all more or leas common, in spite of the vulgar belief to the contrary.