Here is a fellow I have wanted for a long time, Henry VIII son, Edward VI. Picked this up back in april. I'm sure most will dislike the hole, but I am OK with it since the price was very cheap & there is plenty of meat left in the portrait. Edward VI (1547 - 1553 A.D.) AR Shilling O: (tun) ЄDWΛRD’· VI : D’· S’ ΛGl’: FRΛ’· Z : hIB’· RЄX :, crowned and mantled bust facing slightly left; rose to left, XII to right. R: (tun) POSVI DЄVM ·’ : ΛDIVTOR Є’· MEV·’·, coat-of-arms over long cross fourchée. 5.7g 32mm North 1937; SCBC 2482
Nice one @Mat The hole does not bother me either. I really like the portrait. Congrats on this great addition.
Congrats on the Edward VI @Mat you got a nice one. The hole doesn't detract from the coin in my opinion. I have no coins of Edward to contribute, but would one day like to expand into his coins.
Yes, Edward VI portrait coins have something ineffably appealing about them. I picked up these two a while ago. I honestly can't remember what I paid for them and that's probably a good thing. Shilling, Second Issue, debased 80 grns., 5.18oz., 6oz dwt. Date (on top left reverse) M : D : XLIX. Shilling, Third Period, 1550 - 1553, Facing Bust, rose left, value XII. Tun mint-mark (York). Edward VI mentioned the release of this coin in his diary. I also have a sixpence, but I don't appear to have a photo of it handy.
I sure would've happily worn that one on my old Holey Coin Vest! Haven't had Eddie the Sixth yet, despite my onetime collection of English monarchs. Congrats.
Seems with English hammered you have to play a give-and-take game. You get great strikes with problems, or nice condition coins with weak details.
The placement of the hole seems perfectly at 12 o’clock for the obverse portrait. It makes me think the coin was mounted as some sort of display celebrating the young monarch or his Protestantism in a very contested age. The hole might hurt the coin’s value, but to me it adds to its potential story.
@Gavin Richardson, @lordmarcovan suspected my Charles I shilling may have been a "Touch Piece". I don't go out of my way to collected holed coins. The portraits are strong and the price is right. So far these are the only 2 coins I own with holes. And the idea they may have had some religious attachment to them makes them more appealing. Charles I (1625 - 1649) AR Shilling O: CAROLVS D G MAG BRI FRA ET HIB REX (Charles, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland), crowned bust left, XII (value mark) behind. R: CHRISTO AVSPICE REGNO (I reign under the auspices of Christ), cross moline over square-topped shield coat-of-arms. Triangle-in-circle mintmark. Tower Mint 6.16g 30mm SCBC 2799, North 2231
Yes, I agree. The hole in a holed coin often has quite a bit to do with its story. I'd rather have a hole than corrosion or heavy scratches or other kinds of damage. A hole does not always destroy a coin's eye appeal. Sometimes you can get an otherwise attractive coin for a fraction of the price due to a hole. I did go out of my way to collect "holey" coins, as you know, though I tend to avoid them in my more "mainstream" collections. As to the coin being a touch piece, I think that a reasonable assumption. Sometimes "reasonable assumption" is the best we can do with small numismatic mysteries. It can be fun to speculate.
