Clipping of English Coins
KSorbo
Posts: 113 ✭✭✭
I recently acquired this Charles I shilling, minted at the Tower Mint in 1639-40. It’s PCGS grade is VF30. This got me interested in the history of coin clipping, as I know that even though it was a capital offense, it was something that people did frequently during the 17th century.
Based on the fact that this coin was straight graded by our hosts, is it likely that it was not clipped? Or are most hammered British coins clipped whether straight graded or not? Perhaps there is a weight standard that the graders apply to make such a determination? I have seen auction records of hammered coins that were detailed for clipping, but none from this time period.
It’s a good history lesson in any case. Milled coinage was certainly an improvement from this coin which is quite a mess.
Comments
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I'm not sure the coin in question was clipped. Some coins of that era are just really irregularly shaped.
Usually clipped coins are more round as the people that were doing the clipping were trying to hide the alteration.
Best way to know, short of careful rim inspection, is to check the weight.
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Before milling, a practice was for an overweight planchet to be clipped or otherwise to be brought down into weight tolerance, prior to being struck. Similar to Spanish colonial cobs.
The official weight of a Charles I shilling was 93.75 grains, or 6.07g, but this can vary. The heaviest I am aware of was 6.61g, but few weigh much over 6.10g. Similarly they can be underweight. Leaving aside the lightweight coinage issues struck to a 81 & 33/47 grains standard between 14th August and 8th November 1626, most shillings fall within a range of 5.90-6.10g.
A round coin is the exception, not the rule.
So if one was below that weight range would PCGS give it a details grade and call it clipped?
They will call it depending on how they feel on the day, and that opinion might be right or wrong in the eyes of another. Given the range of weights and flan size, it is not a clear cut issue.
As ThreeCentSilver noted above, an overweight flan was frequently clipped at the mint, leading to some quite irregular profiles. But given the flans were crudely cut out using metal shears and then hammered to make them vaguely round, it's a difficult thing to call. Post-mint clipping usually shaved off a bit of the edge. So a couple of examples.
This halfcrown weighed 15.39g even after the flan was reduced. Was it done at the mint or afterwards - your guess is as good as mine, but I would go for done at the mint. Or maybe the chunk taken out at 1 to 3 o'clock was done prior to striking.
Conversely, this York shilling was round and a specific size when made because the coins were cut out of the strip using a 'pastry cutter'. The reduced diameter is therefore unquestionably the result of later clipping and the weight reflects this too at 4.95g compared to the typical York range of 5.70 to 6g. These were regularly below full shilling weight as the diameter was pre-determined and so the weight depended on the thickness of the sheet from which the strips were cut.
Whilst the second coin is unambiguously clipped, it is less obvious when the blank was irregular or of varying size in the first place. This one is way overweight at 6.27g
This one is way underweight at 5.46g. It shows no sign of clipping and the wear seen wouldn't account for over half a gram loss in weight.
Given the diversity of potential calls, I would ignore any other opinions and buy or not depending on whether you like a coin or not. Hammered coins don't lend themselves to slabbing because there is little consistency at any stage of production.