Posted 01/14/2010 11:35 pm
This is Charles I (1625 - 1649) rose farthing.
In 1634 the farthing patent was issued to Lord Maltravers, Henry Howard and Sir Francis Crane; these issues are known as Maltravers. During this period huge quantities of forgeries were in circulation. As a result Lord Maltravers was asked to introduce a new style. This was called the Rose Farthing, it was much smaller and also thicker. The main difference was the metal content. Most of the coin was made of copper, but a small brass plug was inserted into a part of the coin. This made the issue almost impossible to forge and the production of forgeries swiftly ended.
There are varieties with double and single rose (yours is single), the way the two scepters cross on the obverse, and different spelling of the legend.
In 1634 the farthing patent was issued to Lord Maltravers, Henry Howard and Sir Francis Crane; these issues are known as Maltravers. During this period huge quantities of forgeries were in circulation. As a result Lord Maltravers was asked to introduce a new style. This was called the Rose Farthing, it was much smaller and also thicker. The main difference was the metal content. Most of the coin was made of copper, but a small brass plug was inserted into a part of the coin. This made the issue almost impossible to forge and the production of forgeries swiftly ended.
There are varieties with double and single rose (yours is single), the way the two scepters cross on the obverse, and different spelling of the legend.
Edited by svslav
01/14/2010 11:36 pm
01/14/2010 11:36 pm
