BRILLIANT MINT STATE CHARLES I HALF CROWN

S2780/N2215 14.90gr MM Sun Fifth horseman, full brilliant, mint state with some edge unevenness and contact marks but with a choice strike for issue. If you want to own a civil war coin that is as fresh and crude as the day it was made, this is the one. By 1645 the condition of English coinage had truly deteriorated as the civil war raged across Britain. The Ryall Hoard uncovered in 1987, best illustrates this.  The hoard consisted of 3262 silver pieces and one gold coin. The bulk of the silver coins were shillings which prompted a detailed study of their overall condition and strikes. The researchers noted that the coins appeared to have come fresh from the mint and made these comments   “the hoard illustrates with great clarity the collapse of manufacturing standards at the Tower at this time. The weight standards of the coins were maintained and there has never been any suggestion that fineness suffered, but the coins have a remarkably inferior appearance when compared to earlier issues in the same hoard. A large proportion of them have cracked or frayed edges, are very weakly struck and off-centre (rarely is all the legend visible on-flan, let alone decently struck) and are of very irregular shape, many being virtually square or rectangular.” 1988 BNJ 58, pg 98  As the wages of a calvary officer was a half crown per day, halfcrowns were furiously minted with the same lack of quality control. Yet this coin rises above the usual retaining full lustre and a nice strike on the obverse and the reverse, something rarely seen on these issues.  I previous sold a different style Charles I halfcrown (S2773) graded MS60 in 2021 for over $2200. IMO undergraded by NGC considering the state of English civil war coinage. The highest graded by NGC and possibly the finest of its type.   NGC MS62

NGC 2867462-001