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RMW Collection of England and Great Britain Halfpennies and of William and Mary/William III

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Thanks. I think it is a nice piece.

But eclipsed by the copper example of William and Mary which if you like you can see in my monarchs halfpenny set. That piece is Ms 65. That one may be the best currency halfpenny of the reign you will ever see. Certainly it is the best Ive ever seen.

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The two things that sets this coin apart in my opinion is that the strike, particularly on the obverse, is unusually sharp. The obverse also has quite a bit of original tin lustre on the lower two thirds of that side,and is more shiny in fact than shows up in the picture. The legend on the rim on this piece, obscured by the holder, also is sharp.

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I find it especially interesting because tin is unstable in a humid atmosphere and more so where there is salt present. Did this piece come from an old collection - someplace away from the sea?

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Sorry, I dont know where it came from. I originally saw it in the New York Sale auction in January 2016 and then, inexplicably, again in the recent auction at Goldberg where I bought it.

A dealer I know of long standing tells me that pieces still relatively intact are found in the River Thames. It must be higher up on the river as there would be salt in the lower reaches due to tidal action. But if a piece is buried in mud and not exposed to the elements perhaps it might last longer. Otherwise they literally disintegrate over time due to the primitive metallurgy, which is what makes this piece rare.

A compounding factor is that the nobility and gentry did not consider these pieces as real money in this period as they were not made of precious metal and so they did not tend to save them. The lower classes most often did not have any spare cash to keep them either.

Between these factors these pieces are extremely rare in any sort of presentable condition. For every several hundred decent 1689 halfcrowns there might be one of these.

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