rmw's Journal

A journal by rmw

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Entries in this journal

British Charles I death Memorial Medal

Here is an example of a memorial medal issued in commemoration of the death (he was beheaded) of King Charles I of England, issued around 1670, I think, about two decades after his death. You can note the symbolism of the design on the reverse with  the arm (of God) coming out of the clouds with a crown, meaning that the King was given sovereignty by God alone, and that therefore he was not answerable to any other individual or group in his kingdom. So he was able to tax his subjects but no
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RMW Collection

OK, fans of coins from across the pond. Or not. Its time to GRADE THAT COIN! Lets see how everyone grades this in US and in British (which is different). A winner gets all of the others to genuflect in his or her general direction. Good luck.
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1812 3 shilling Bank Token

In 1812, Great Britain was still at war with Napoleon and also was involved in a skirmish with the US called the War of 1812. Neither side particularly wanted to fight it, but it still had significant consequences for the future of North America. Emergency conditions still applied with respect to Britain's coinage and so , in addition to the 1804 dollar shown last time, here is a 3 shilling Bank Token piece.
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RMW Collection of England and Great Britain

Yesterday, I had the phone call/meeting with doctors which made me realize that my remaining time is short. I have a second form of cancer now. Truth be told, I have been quickly accumulating thinking in the back of my mind that this could happen. It has, just more quickly than I expected. So, rather than continuing to accumulate, I will have to sell the collection I love to the next set of renters of these pieces. I dont know how it will be done yet as there are various aven
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RMW Collection of England and Great Britain- William IV Coronation Medal

This is the piece that started my collection of British Coronation Medals as I liked its design. NGC MS 66 and cost all of 150 bucks. This series is not all that expensive to collect. William IV was the brother of George IV. During his short reign, landmark laws were set up to extend voting rights to many in the middle class.
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Britiah George II Young Head Proof vs Currency Farthings

You can see the difference in production standards here, between an FDC 1730 Proof farthing and an MS 65 1739. Hopefully you can note the detail to the portrait on the 1730 versus the comparative lack of it on the 1739. Often, the reverse to the currency pieces lacks detail to Britannias head on the reverse (comes out flat due to lack of striking power or deterioration of the dies), although this one has more than most.    
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RMW Collection- British George IV Coronation Medal

George III was the grandson of George II, the son having predeceased him. Im still looking for a real nice George III Coronation medal (the official one, by Natter) and so I will move to George IV here. At least one of these medals comes with the original case as well, itself in as new condition.
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RMW Collection of England and Great Britain-Victoria Penny Types

Here is a selection of Victorian Penny types from my collection. First up is an 1844 Head Copper Penny S 3948,, Ms 65 Red, reputed to be the last red gem penny in the former Baldwins vault. Next is an 1863 Bronze Head Proof Penny. S 3954, PR 65 RB Then an 1876 H Heaton Mint Penny, S 3955, MS 65 Red An 1899 Veiled Head Penny, S 3961, MS 65 Red, Comes next S 3961A is an 1895 Low Tide Penny High Tide Penny, Ms 65 RB Lastly, S 3961B is an 1897 High Tide Penny, ungraded
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RMW Collection

Here is an example of the very rare 1897 High Tide Penny variety, which I picked up last week. I bought it slabbed in England as roughly the equivalent of an Ms 63. It might make 64 , especially given the obverse. This is the first piece of this variety I have seen in good condition. So , only one piece to go to finish off a complete type set of Victoria copper and bronze. Only the Heaton Mint halfpenny to go. I saw one in basic Unc today. Looking for a gem. I will see if my bud W
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RMW Collection of England and Great Britain- Victoria Coronation Medal

So far, starting with James II in 1685, Ive posted examples of official Coronation Medals of the monarchs of England and Great Britain. Now, we come to Victoria, who came to the throne as a teenager and gave her name to an age, when the British empire was at its peak and when the sun never set on it, as its possessions circled the planet. Britain was indeed the superpower of most of the Victorian Age. This piece is the most recent acquisition and was graded as an MS 64. I thought a nic
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RMW Collection of England and Great Britain

Here is the first of a few installments on the various types of the British copper and bronze penny, a mainstay of everyday British commerce for generations. Its story started with the copper pieces issued under license by the Soho Mint in the 1790s, as the Royal Mint did not have the technology required to produce this kind of quality at the time, and also had other priorities during the Napoleonic Wars. The 1797 piece shown here weighed one full ounce, and was roughly equal to the value o
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RMW Collection of England and Great Britain- 20th Century Coronation Medals

I have shown some Victoria 60th anniversary Jubilee medals previously and so will stick to Coronation Medals here, in probably the last installment of this series. I will include the official medals of Edward VII, George V and George VI here. To my knowledge, Elizabeth II did not issue official Coronation Medals, although many unofficial ones were done.
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English Harold I penny (North 802 variety)

For those armies of Anglo Saxon coin enthusaists out there, here is an example available for sale to me of a Harold I of England (1035-1040) penny, from Lincoln Mint. the moneyer, whose name is on the reverse, Im told is known to have produced coins for Harolds predecessor, Canute bit not for this king. Any comments as to what to do? Are there better ones out there? Is this moneyer (Mathan Balluc) rare for this king? As no response, maybe some explanation is in order.  We are
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RMW Collection of England and Great Britain-Proof and Pattern Farthings

George II reigned from 1727 to 1760. In that long period, proofs were issued in only one year, 1730. Here is a gem example. During George III's long reign from 1760-1820, many patterns and proofs were produced, mostly from the revolutionary Soho Mint, which utilized the first steam powered coin making machinery in the world. But first, they had to overcome the resistance of the Royal Mint to the new technology before they got a license to produce coins for Britain. As it was a private conce
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RMW Collection of England and Great Britain

Now that the Coronation Medals I have are done, lets go thru a tour of English and British farthing patterns and proofs. Most of these were produced in tiny quantities, often well less than 100. First up will be the 17th century pieces I have, a 1665 pattern Charles II (Peck variety 423) and a 1699 proof in silver. The 1665 is being graded right now but will probably come out as a 64 or 65. the 1699 proof is a 65, cross graded from PCGS, which also graded it as a 65. A fairly
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RMW Collection of England and Great Britain-slideshow

Ive spent a bit of time today adding to my custom set of Monarchs, Halfcrowns, Crowns and Bank Tokens. Some pieces have been added and some pictures improved to put together a decent slideshow. For those interested, please check it out in my custom set section.
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A farthing from Boulton Family Holdings

Here is a pattern British farthing, from the Boulton Family Holdings. Matthew Boulton was a partner with James Watt at the Soho Mint, which produced the first steam powered coin strikings in the world. The Soho Factory, also the first of its kind in the world, was able to use steam power for all kinds of industrial applications. The descendants of Boulton kept many patterns and trial pieces for over a century and a half until a relatively recent sale. This is one of the pieces kept by the family
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RMW Collection

I just picked up a nice 1932 British halfpenny in 65 RB today. I'm now about 2/3 of the way towards finishing a nice date set for Grorge V halfpennies.Compared to US pieces, British pieces in nice red from the same period are quite scarce. Many of my pieces came from the Baldwin Vault in London, where they were kept in pristine condition since their issue, in some cases well over a hundred years ago. Baldwins has been in business as a coin dealer since 1872, but it's only in the last y
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RMW Collection of England and Great Britain

As I have mentioned before, the fact that a private company, Soho Mint, was advertising and eventually was licensed to manufacture coins for Britain led it to produce a wide variety of proofs and patterns , all during the reign of George III. But here is a 1771 proof farthing actually produced by the Royal Mint prior to the advent of the Soho Mint, along with various Soho products and restrikes, some of which were sold by the descendants of the proprietors and were kept by that family since
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