Shilling (Bob)

Queen Anne was the last monarch of the Stuart dynasty. Following 17 pregnancies, only one survived infancy and none were able to succeed her. She was also the first sovereign of the Kingdom of Great Britain, following the Union of England and Scotland in 1707. Before the Union, England, Scotland, Ireland and France (yes France, not Wales!), the shillings of Anne had reverses with shields depicting each of the four countries. After the Union the shield designs were changed - two shields showed the conjoined designs of England and Scotland. The Union represented a new dawn in British history, and one that is still argued over ‘til this very day. We're delighted to offer you a small group of inexpensive Shillings from Queen Anne from both the London and Edinburgh mint, the choice will be ours. They were well circulated but clearly show the queen and date, but details will be worn, dates will be of our choice but are between 1707 and 1711.

When Elizabeth took the throne in 1558, much of the country’s coinage was in a poor state after her father, Henry VIII’s debasement of silver coins. It was Elizabeth’s intention to raise the quality of the country’s coinage back up to Sterling quality, and in 1560, the Tower mint began striking her Fine Silver coins. They feature Elizabeth facing left on the obverse and cross over a shield on the reverse, they were struck between 1560 and 1602 and are getting very expensive in higher grades. For the first time in 13 years, we’re able to offer you Elizabeth I’s Fine Silver shillings, they are graded Fair as these were heavily circulated for about a century and are now up to 463 years old.

Bust 6B, S.2577. Good Very Fine and toned. A slight flan flaw to the obverse that doesn't detract from this excellent portrait and absolutely superb depiction of the Hand mintmark, scarce.