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(1615-16) 6PENCE Sommer Islands Sixpence, Large Portholes VF25 NGC. Breen-3. W-11445. R.6. ...
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Sold on Jan 4, 2018 for:
$24,000.00
Bid Source: Internet bidder
Description
(1615-16) Sommer Islands Sixpence, VF25
W-11445, Large Portholes Variety
(1615-16) 6PENCE Sommer Islands Sixpence, Large Portholes VF25
NGC. Breen-3. W-11445. R.6. Die alignment:195°. A pleasing
mid-grade Sommer Islands sixpence, well-struck on a typically wavy
planchet with slight traces of silvering remaining in the protected
areas around the denomination and in the ship's rigging. The coin
is well-centered, with more than half of the reverse dentilation
visible and all design elements and lettering on-planchet. Most of
the obverse legend is easily readable, with ILANDS being especially
bold. The hog is softly struck, though the denomination above is
clear. The crudely cut reverse ship is sharply defined in places,
with all three sails distinct, three of the four portholes visible,
and the charming square pennant on top of the mainmast (often
indistinct) waving clearly. The reverse is faint between 4 and 6
o'clock and near the rim between 10 and 12 o'clock. The planchet is
split at 3 o'clock, with a fissure also visible near 12 o'clock of
the obverse. The coin is largely free of the corrosion so
frequently encountered on the Sommer Islands coinage, though some
light reverse roughness is noted. The color is a mostly uniform
dark brown.The Sommer Islands, now known as Bermuda, were incorporated in 1615 under a British royal charter that provided the right of coinage. The islands were named after Sir George Somers, who had run ashore there in 1609 on his way to Virginia and who died there during a subsequent visit the following year. The coinage --consisting of shillings, sixpence, threepence, and twopence -- is all rare, with small sail shillings and large porthole sixpence (most of them discovered since the 1990s) being the most readily available. When Sylvester S. Crosby published The Early Coins of America in 1875, he knew of only one example of Sommer Islands sixpence, which belonged to Benjamin Betts.
Although they were fiat currency with little relation between their intrinsic and statutory values, the coins saw heavy circulation among the colonial population of the islands until they were withdrawn from circulation in 1624. The present example is well above average for this issue, which is generally encountered in low grades and with green corrosion from centuries spent underground. The Bermuda Monetary Authority's Coins of Bermuda includes 19 examples of this variety in their census (most of them in institutional collections), but this piece is not among them. Census: 1 in 25, 3 finer (11/17). Listed on page 38 of the 2018 Guide Book.
Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# AUBF, PCGS# 5, Greysheet# 405)
Auction Info
2018 January 3 - 8 FUN US Coins Signature Auction - Tampa #1271 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
January, 2018
3rd-8th
Wednesday-Monday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 4
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 8,277
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
20% of the successful bid per lot.
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