M & H
1643-44 Charles I york Mint Type 2 Halfcrown - S.2864
Charles I (1625-49), Halfcrown, York Mint, (1643-4) Type 2, King seated on horseback left, with grass ground-line below mm. lion, CAROLVS. D. G. MAG. BRI. FR. ET. HI. REX., rev., Oval garnished shield CHRISTO. AVSPICE. REGNO., mm Lion (S.2864; N.2310; Hawkins 2: Bull 551; Besly 1-B; Brooker 1077 {same dies}) weight 14.08 grams.
A most appealing bold Very Fine + and rare.
York was Charles I's 'second capital', and after being forced to leave London early in 1642 he made his way there, arriving on 19th March. Until the middle of August his court was based at York or Beverley, whence he directed operations against the port of Hull. The establishment of a mint at York was being planned long before the outbreak of formal hostilities. Nicholas Briot, the king's engraver, was summoned to York by a letter from Secretary of State Edward Nicholas dated 6th May. On 21th June, Secretary Nicholas ordered Briot to York forthwith 'et vous avertir qu'avez mener avec vous les Roues et toutes autres sortes d'instruments requis et necessaires pour icy battre de la Monnoye que S. ma'te aura occasion d'ordonner dez que vous serez arrive'. Shortly after, arrangements were made for Sir William Parkhurst, warden of the Mint, to advance Briot the money necessary for his journey. On 15th July, these plans received a severe setback when a ship carrying Briot's equipment and personal baggage was held up off Scarborough by one Captain Stevens, who seized the equipment on the grounds that no authority had been given for its removal. Meanwhile on 7th July, David Ramage, a member of Briot's staff, was paid £85 10s. for the provision of 'several instruments for the two Mints at York and Shrewsbury.
York lay roughly halfway between the two British centres where mechanical coining was practised (Edinburgh and The Tower Mint), so experienced staff may have been recruited from either. Briot's assistant in London, David Ramage, supplied 'instruments' for the York mints, but whether all of those intended for York were sent by ship and thus seized off Scarborough on 15 July 1642 cannot be determined. It seems possible that the first issued "experimental" (group 1-3) half-crowns may be Ramage's work as they dont appear similar in style to Briots known work.
Provenance
The Estate of the late Dr Barry Dunham
Spink Auction no. 76 , 24th May 1990, lot 73
Ex The Property of a Gentleman