The North Yorkshire Moors Collection of British Coins

XII: Machine-made Coins of Charles II, Pattern ‘Reddite’ Crown, 1663, by T. Simon, in pewter, laureate bust right, signed simon in script below, carolvs ii dei gra, rev. mag bri fr et hib rex, crowned cruciform shields, conjoined Cs in angles, Order of the Garter in centre, edge inscribed reddite qvæ cæsaris cæsari & ct post, followed by clouds with sun emerging, 21.46g/331.6gr/12h (Lessen, BNJ 2005, pl. 7, 5 and 8, this coin; L & S 7A; ESC 432 [74]). A few light obverse surface marks, otherwise about extremely fine, excessively rare £10,000-£15,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The North Yorkshire Moors Collection of British Coins.

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Provenance: S.S. Spiller Collection; N. Asherson Collection, Spink Auction 6, 10 October 1979, lot 169 [from Spink May 1956]; SNC November 1997 (5616); L.M. LaRivière Collection, Spink Auction 166, 12 November 2003, lot 24.

That the production of the new coinage by the Roettiers was well under way by early 1663 (NS) is clear from the following entry in Samuel Pepys’ diary for 9 March 1662/3: ‘There dined with us today Mr. Slingsby of the Mint, who showed us all the new pieces, both gold and silver (examples of them all), that are made for the King by Blondeaus way, and compared them with those made for Oliver – the pictures of the latter made by Symons, and of the King by one Rotyr, a German, I think, that dined with us also. He extolls these of Rotyrs above the others; and endeed, I think they are the better, because the sweeter of the two; but upon my word, those of the Protectors are more like in my mind then the King's - but both very well worth seeing. The Crownes of Cromwell's are now sold it seems for 25s and 30s. a-piece.’ (BNJ 2005, p.95, footnote 23)