Coins

United States of America, Sir Walter Raleigh, a cast brass jeton, boy seated under tree, head resting on his right hand and holding a skull in his left hand, rev. as soone as wee to bee begvne we did beginne to be vndone, rose and two leaves, edge plain, 28mm, 7.35g/12h (Betts 15; Atkins 1; cf. Spink 12, 102). Mediocre, very rare £150-200

Provenance: Bt Baldwin 1966.

The original attribution of this jeton to Sir Walter Raleigh and the founding of Virginia in 1584 is obscure. Most of the extant specimens are in poor condition and this is the first the cataloguer has seen on the UK market since the Brushfield/Pegg coin changed hands for £490 in 1980