The Michael Gietzelt Collection of British and Irish Coins (1625-1660)

Charles I (1625-1649), York mint, Halfcrown, Gp 1 [type 1], mm. lion, grassy ground line, square-topped garnished shield, c r at sides, 11.37g/12h (Bull 550; Besly 1A; SCBI Brooker 1076, same dies; N 2309; S 2863). Small of flan, otherwise very fine or better, very rare
£1,000-£1,200

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Michael Gietzelt Collection of British and Irish Coins (1625-1660).

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Provenance: SNC February 1973 (1239); B.J. Dawson Collection, DNW Auction 156, 21 March 2019, lot 104.

For a time in 1642 York was Charles I's 'second capital’, He arrived on 19 March and spent five months based either there or at Beverley, whence he directed operations against the port of Hull. The establishment of a mint at York had been planned long before the outbreak of formal hostilities. Nicholas Briot, the king's engraver, was summoned to the city at the start of May. Written evidence confirms that a mint was established by July 1642 and was almost certainly located in St William's College in Minster Yard. Coins were being produced by the following January and production probably ceased by the end of March 1644. The city surrendered to the Parliamentarians on 15 July