English Hammered and Roman Hammered Coin Information

Information about English Hammered Coins and Ancient Roman Coins.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Scarce Sixpences of Elizabeth I and James I

There are a couple of date runs during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I that the dates on the sixpence are very difficult to obtain. For Elizabeth I the years 1596 to 1599 are very hard to find and rarely offered. Most of these carry the Key mintmark and some carry the very rare Anchor Mintmark.
Also during Elizabeth's reign the Crescent mintmark is hard to find on the Sixpence. These were minted during the years 1587, 1588 and 1589. These are the year before, during and after the defeat of the Spanish Armada. 1588 tthe actual year of the Armada is extremely scarce, I have only seen two of these offered in recent years.
For the sixpences of James I, the years in the teens are very scarce. 1609 would be included in this group as well. Adding to the interest of the 1611 Sixpence, perhaps the most popular year of James' sixpences, is that is the year of the commission of the King James version of the Bible.
Some books list 1615 as the last year of the sixpences in the teens, but I believe I saw a low grade, holed 1616 Sixpence offered on eBay a couple of years ago. Can anyone substantiate this? If you have a scan of one you could send me, please email to beeker1@english-hammered-coins.com.
Some of the above dates mentioned are available at Beeker1 Coins