S2775 15.2gr MM triangle in circle, Tower mint, Group III, King’s portrait penetrates the legends, king’s sword attenuated, scarf flies from waist, no ground line below horse. The English Civil War started in earnest in 1642 and a lot of coin was needed to pay the troops involved on both sides. By November 1642 annual silver coin production at the Tower Mont amounted to nearly 530 thousand pounds of silver, the following year silver coin production rose to over 703 thousand pounds of silver being coined the vast majority being coined into half crowns and shillings. Needless to say under the pressure of producing such a vast amount of coin, production standards slipped with civil war silver coins being notorious for poor strikes, uneven flans and non existent legends.

Not the highest graded coin as NGC has one of this type graded MS63. However, I saw that coin in a Heritage auction and overall it wasn’t even close to this specimen. This coin possesses the typical uneven strike, but the kings face and horse are well struck for the issue, as is the entire reverse which is most unusual, as the reverse dies on this issue were used long past their time. The coin exhibits little actual wear and most importantly retains near full lustre.  Despite the grade, as a civil war, Tower Mint issue this piece ranks as one of the better examples I have ever seen. Only one coin graded higher by NGC and that coin which was sold in a Heritage auction in 2022 had a weaker obverse strike and much less lustre. NGC AU58

NGC 2879969-012