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 Replies: 13 / Views: 1,141 |
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Moderator
 United States
94786 Posts |
From what I understand it is fairly rare coin. 1671 King Charles II - it weighs 28.87g and measures 38.3 MM it is somewhat worn I give it a fine grade (but I'm no good at grading English coins) The last half of the date is almost unreadable, But I determined that the date is without a doubt a 1671 minted coin by the edge lettering. See here at Numista.com: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces53766.htmlthe "VICESIMO TERTIO" will date it to 1671 which translates to Twenty third from Latin. The entire edge lettering is: VICESIMO TERTIO DECUS ET TVTAMEN ANNUS REGNI which translates to: THE TWENTY-THIRD YEAR OF THE REIGN But seeing how this coin is dated 1671 and Charles II ascended to the throne in 1660 (11 years prior) following the "Commonwealth years" after Charles !the inscription makes no real sense to me. BUT with a little math, Take 1671 subtract 23 from it and you get back to 1648 the last years of his father Charles I Am I way off base there?         Edited by Dearborn
02/24/2024 5:32 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
709 Posts |
You are spot on about your calculations re the dates.
Although the monarchy was not restored until 1660, Charles II reckoned himself the true king from the death of his father.
Calculations might be a year out in some cases because their calendar was not the same as ours today. At that time the new year started on 25th March, not 1st January. So 25th March 1660 was the day after 24th March 1659!!!! The current system did not come into service until 1st January 1752 in England. At the same time we adopted the Gregorian calendar. I think other places sorted it out before we did.
This explains why the tax year began on 5th April.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
945 Posts |
Nice coin to have!
Grade - on the UK system would be good to very good, quite a way short of Fine. The US system works differently and generally grades higher, so I would not be surprised if they gave it Fine over there.
The second half of the edge inscription - DECUS ET TUTAMEN - translates as "an ornament and a safeguard", reflecting the new role of the Monarch in England.
Anaximander is spot on with his clarification of the regnal year.
There are two bust types for the 1671 Crown - yours is Bust two, which is very slightly scarcer than Bust three. Strangely Charles II Crowns are not desperately scarce and are actually much easier to find than the shillings and sixpences of his reign. 1671 is one of the more common dates, making around £200 in Fine. (Yours would make around £80 in a UK auction.) On a simple date basis 1665 and 1667 come up scarcest - the latter listed at £4000 in Fine. The real star is the 1663 "petition" crown, listed at £45000 in Fine. (One sold recently for £120000!) Not to be confused with the regular 1663, which is on a par with the 1671.
All will become clear once you have the books!
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Moderator
Australia
16806 Posts |
Re: the dating: your logic is essentially correct. On the principle that there is no such thing as "there isn't a king right now" (as epitomized by the famous phrase 'the King is dead, long live the King'), the Royal Family (and Royalists generally) considered the Commonwealth period to not have existed, with the reign of Charles II beginning in 1649 on the execution of his father.
1649 was reckoned the first year (or Year 1), not Year Zero, because Year Zero doesn't exist as a concept for monarchists either. So you need to add a "subtract 1" step to your date-calculations. 1671 - (1649 - 1) = 23. Thus 1671 is Regnal Year 23.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Moderator
 United States
94786 Posts |
Well thanks everyone on that wonderful information. (I feel good with myself that I figure most of it out..  ) I have changed the grading on my 2x2 to reflect a VG grade. |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
694 Posts |
Don't forget to add T/R in ET will add another £50 too its value  |
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Moderator
United States
94786 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
945 Posts |
One of a number of variations possible for the 1671 Crown. I missed it as I don't particularly focus on these varieties.
The T of the word ET on the reverse shows that it has been re-struck in the die over another letter, probably an R. This makes your coin scarcer and adds to the value on the retail market, should you ever come to sell!
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Moderator
United States
94786 Posts |
wow! thanks Paddy and zookeeper, I'll go back and reexamine that feature.
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Moderator
United States
94786 Posts |
Well, here is an image the the ET on the reverse.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
694 Posts |
Yes that's the T/R bottom right of the downstroke of the T you can see the curved foot of the R and the top right curve of the R under top right serif of the T
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
36558 Posts |
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Moderator
United States
94786 Posts |
Thanks I appreciate you having a looking at it.
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Replies: 13 / Views: 1,141 |
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Posted 02/24/2024 7:02 pm
