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Auction: 19051 - The Isladulcie Collection of English Hammered Gold Coins
Lot: 62

Henry IV or V, Half-Noble, Tower, "class A"/B mule, 2.82g [43.5gns], 2h, single saltire stops, twisted ropes 3/1, ornaments -11-, quatrefoils 3/3, castles not crenellated, rev. i.m. pierced cross and pellet [20], double saltire stops. except after argvas and me, additional quatrefoil above leopard head in second quarter, large h in centre (cf. E J Harris, class A/B2; cf. Brooke, letters n1/n3; Schneider I -; cf. N -; cf. S.1748 {class B only recorded as a mule with H.IV}), a most pleasing coin but for a small flan, struck in high relief, almost extremely fine, an intriguing and unusual variant, with letter forms reminiscent of class A coinage, very rare thus, and unknown to Stewartby and Schneider

provenance
SJA 16, 7 December 2010, lot 31



The addition of a quatrefoil 'stop' in the second quarter of the reverse is a standard feature throughout the Noble coinage of Henry V, and is visible across classes A (cf. BMC 1920.8.16.47) to C and beyond (cf. Schneider I, 214-15; 219-21, 225-36). It is however an highly unusual feature for the Half-Noble series, known only to this cataloguer from a similar example sold through this house in 2014 (cf. Spink 227, lot 533). That coin, from different dies, possessed lettering of Brooke's N2a form which Harris, in accordance with Brooke, has attributed to his 'B2' phase for silver coinage.


However Stewartby has previously stated: "No half-noble with class A features has been found, and class B is represented only by two obverse dies...the earlier of these dies, without extra marks, is paired with a class P reverse. The other, only known with a reverse of class C (undamaged n), has a broken annulet on the ship's side and a quatrefoil before henric (see lot 68). He adds: "the period of production of dies with class A lettering must have been extremely short and their usage not much longer. Although they entered the general stock of dies [an A/B mule silver Halfgroat is known], the interchange with both adjacent classes, the direct mules between classes P and B (in gold as well as silver) that miss out class A, and the absence of any Groat or Halfgroat of class A with cinquefoil added, all indicate that the class A die-sinker made only a minimal contribution to the recoinage. The sudden arrival and disappearance of his elegant and unusual font...could suggest the work of an expert foreign engraver whose services and some of his tools were not available for long."


On the subject of the availability of tools, a further potential counter-argument has been made to class A attribution, in the form of a contemporary Henry V Farthing issue. Apparently struck with the portrait punch for a Noble, rather than the usual Half-Noble, this may indicate that punches for the latter were, unavailable as Stewartby opines, or indeed had not even been prepared at the time to be able to strike Farthings and by extension Half-Nobles. For the avoidance of doubt, the present cataloguer provides accompanying illustrations of the known class A 'N' forms {Brooke N1} from a range of denominations for prospective comparison.

For further reading, and for source of letter form illustrations, see:
W J W Potter, "The Silver Coinages of Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V", BNJ XXX, 1960-61, pp. 124-150

and, E J Harris, "Die Pairing on the Transitional Coins of Henry IV and V", BNJ 67, 1997, pp. 20-29

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