Auction: 5033 - The Colin Adams Collection of Halfcrowns
Lot: 208
Charles I, Bridgnorth-on-Severn mint (?) (1646), Halfcrown, 14.62g., 1646, equestrian portrait of king in Bristol style, walking left holding sword upright, plumelet (over A) below, plumelet behind, reads MAG BR FR ET HIB, rev. declaration REL:PROT: LE:AN:LI:PA in two lines below scroll, plume and two plumelets above, date below, m.m. plume (JGB 1123 (same dies): Morr. B-2; N.2516; S.3037) a slightly dull surface, otherwise an evenly struck full coin, almost very fine, very rare Estimate £ 1,500-2,000The attribution of these pieces to Bridgnorth-on-Severn is plausible but not proven. After Bristol surrendered on 11 September 1645, the Royalist garrison was permitted to march out and many returned unsearched to Oxford. Ashby de la Zouche was reinforced from Oxford in September 1645 and, following its fall on 28 February 1645/6, Royalist forces marched to Bridgnorth-on-Severn, holding out until 26 April 1646. George Boon suggested, SCBI 33, p. xli, that Ashby and Bridgnorth are plausible mint sites and the most likely candidates for the ´A´ and ´B´ marked issues. Certainly there is a close link between Bristol and the ´A´ and ´B´ mints. There is a ´B´ mint Shilling struck from a Bristol obverse die with m.m. Br monogram, JGB 1127, and the ´B´ mint inherits both Halfcrown and Shilling dies from the ´A´ mint, cf. this coin. These issues offer an insight into the crumbling Royalist fortunes during the closing stages of the first Civil War.
Sold for
£1,400
