Great Britain Charles II Half Crown 1663
Silver, 33.0 mm, 14.32 gm
"My tail's for sale. Half-a-crown will lay me down!"
The line is from Kathleen Winsor's infamous 1944 historical novel "Forever Amber", which was set in England during the Restoration period of King Charles II, approximately 1660-1670.
The novel was a best seller and was denounced as obscene in many places.
The main character, young and beautiful Amber St. Clare, decides to improve her lot in society by attaching herself to successively wealthier men and she finally becomes a mistress of King Charles II.
Along the way she survives the Great Fire of London in 1666 and a plague epidemic.
On her way up, Amber has a brief career as a stage actress, and during one performance, she wonders why people are laughing at her when she turns around.
She discovers that a rival has pinned a sign to the back of her dress which reads "My tail's for sale. Half-a-crown will lay me down!".
Probably a strange reason for wanting a coin but I just had to have one:
Apologies, mine are all going to be Scots or Irish:
The 1684 was actually minted after Charles passed away in 1685 and the mintage was small compared to the 1683 halfpenny.
A Scottish merk or 13/6 the rough equivalent of an English shilling.
A lot of people have Charles II coins, but not many hae Charles III pieces, but I do - Jacobite of course.
In reference to the Amber St. Clair - Charles was rather prolific with fathering children - 27 by most accounts, despite this none of them were legitimate! He had numerous mistresses and was once heard to comment that his brother who became James II had mistresses that must have been proscribed as a penance.
In memory of my kitty Seryozha 14.2.1996 ~ 13.9.2016 and Shadow 3.4.2015 - 16.4.21
Third hammered issue halfcrown with the regnal name reading CAROLV. According to ESC/Bull this variety has a rarity rating of R which implies there are hundreds out there. I would be interested to find out where they are, as I can only find 2 examples - this and the superb Carter/Burstal example. There will almost certainly be more in existence, but only the odd few and not the numbers suggested by the rating. This coin ex Hunt, Adams and Hulett collections
Thanks. It was a spot of retail therapy I treated myself to having come second on the prooflike ex-Lockett (lot 2627) coin in the Climpson sale down under in 2007. I suppose it was some consolation that it only cost a fraction of the one I wanted, but would still buy the other one if and when it comes around again. All the Chas II hammered issues have very low relief and consequently rarely show decent hair or facial detail, which is why I bought this one.
PBRat
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I have nicer ones, but not imaged. However, this is a bit interesting, from Scotland rather than England.
DPOTD
Crown
Shilling
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars
1679 Charles II groat
Farthings. Top to bottom:
1672, 1673, 1674, 1675, 1675/3, 1679, 1684
Halfpenny: 1673
3rd issue hammered shilling
First hammered issue shilling
Nice coins. 👍
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Great Britain Charles II Half Crown 1663
Silver, 33.0 mm, 14.32 gm
"My tail's for sale. Half-a-crown will lay me down!"
The line is from Kathleen Winsor's infamous 1944 historical novel "Forever Amber", which was set in England during the Restoration period of King Charles II, approximately 1660-1670.
The novel was a best seller and was denounced as obscene in many places.
The main character, young and beautiful Amber St. Clare, decides to improve her lot in society by attaching herself to successively wealthier men and she finally becomes a mistress of King Charles II.
Along the way she survives the Great Fire of London in 1666 and a plague epidemic.
On her way up, Amber has a brief career as a stage actress, and during one performance, she wonders why people are laughing at her when she turns around.
She discovers that a rival has pinned a sign to the back of her dress which reads "My tail's for sale. Half-a-crown will lay me down!".
Probably a strange reason for wanting a coin but I just had to have one:
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
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Apologies, mine are all going to be Scots or Irish:
The 1684 was actually minted after Charles passed away in 1685 and the mintage was small compared to the 1683 halfpenny.
A Scottish merk or 13/6 the rough equivalent of an English shilling.
A lot of people have Charles II coins, but not many hae Charles III pieces, but I do - Jacobite of course.
In reference to the Amber St. Clair - Charles was rather prolific with fathering children - 27 by most accounts, despite this none of them were legitimate! He had numerous mistresses and was once heard to comment that his brother who became James II had mistresses that must have been proscribed as a penance.
Messydesk's is nicer, but my only Charles II is a 1663 Crown.
Philippians 4:4-7
Looks like it has the same die breaks as mine.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars
Third hammered issue halfcrown with the regnal name reading CAROLV. According to ESC/Bull this variety has a rarity rating of R which implies there are hundreds out there. I would be interested to find out where they are, as I can only find 2 examples - this and the superb Carter/Burstal example. There will almost certainly be more in existence, but only the odd few and not the numbers suggested by the rating. This coin ex Hunt, Adams and Hulett collections
I like this one a lot, great portrait.
Thanks. It was a spot of retail therapy I treated myself to having come second on the prooflike ex-Lockett (lot 2627) coin in the Climpson sale down under in 2007. I suppose it was some consolation that it only cost a fraction of the one I wanted, but would still buy the other one if and when it comes around again. All the Chas II hammered issues have very low relief and consequently rarely show decent hair or facial detail, which is why I bought this one.