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(1615-6) 6PENCE Sommer Islands Sixpence, Large Portholes AU50 NGC. Encyclopedia-3, BMA Type One, W-11445, Low R.6. ...
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Description
Circa 1616 Sommer Islands Sixpence
Large Portholes, AU50
Possibly the Finest Known
(1615-6) 6PENCE Sommer Islands Sixpence, Large Portholes AU50
NGC. Encyclopedia-3, BMA Type One, W-11445, Low R.6. Ex: Brock.
49.6 grains. Die rotation is about 30 degrees. The Eric P. Newman
Sommer Islands sixpence is composed of 81% copper, 16% tin, 1%
antimony, and 2% trace elements. This example is possibly the
finest known Sommer Islands sixpence of either variety. The
sharpness is virtually Mint State, with beautiful green patina on
each side. The only piece that rivals this example from the Eric P.
Newman Collection is the Garrett coin.Design
The obverse shows a hog facing left below the denomination, VI, with a beaded circle and outer legend SOMMER ILANDS. The reverse has a westward sailing ship with four large portholes between two rows of closely spaced, studded planking. Nearly 30 examples of this variety are known, and one-third of those are from the Castle Island hoard. The other variety has two wide rows of planking that flanks the four small portholes. The Small Portholes variant is slightly scarce, with a total population of less than 20 pieces in all grades, including seven from the Castle Island hoard.
Historical Observations
Max B. Spiegel presented considerable information about the Sommer Islands coinage in his August 2009 Colonial Newsletter article, discussing a possible engraver, methods of striking, composition, and the time of manufacture. The Somers Isles Company was incorporated on July 29, 1615, with a royal charter granting the right to distribute coins for use in Bermuda. A new governor, Daniel Tucker, arrived at the archipelago on May 16, 1616, and recorded that a base metal coinage would arrive with other provisions. Louis Jordan notes that no ships arrived there in 1617, so the coinage must have arrived during the last six months of 1616. If Royal Mint Chief Engraver Charles Anthony created the dies, he would have done so after the royal charter, and before his death on October 24, 1615. The coins were likely struck soon after the dies were engraved. The 1615-16 date assigned to these pieces appears accurate.
Commentary
The early provenance of the four Sommer Islands pieces begins with Jacob Giles Morris (1800-1854), a wealthy Philadelphia philanthropist and collector who drowned when the S.S. Arctic sank on September 27, 1854 off the coast of Newfoundland. His sister inherited his collection, and her descendants sold the coins, but his collection of colonial and continental currency remained intact and is now housed at Colonial Williamsburg. Notice of his loss at sea appeared in the October 13, 1854 issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer:
"Among the passengers on board the Arctic, who are, in all probability, lost, was Jacob G. Morris, of this city, a gentleman well known to most of the members of the community, and whose character can scarcely be too highly extolled, whether we judge him by the test of public philanthropy or private benevolence. As a member of the Board of Managers of the Pennsylvania Institution of the Blind, he devoted himself to the promotion of the interests of the Institution, and to the personal comfort of the patients, with a devotion which is not often equaled. At one time, during the interval between the resignation of one principal and the election of another, he assumed the entire charge of the establishment for several months. In the Board of Managers of the Pennsylvania Hospital, his services were equally important, especially in the department for the Insane. His loss casts a gloom over a large circle of friends in this city."
Provenance
Ex: Jacob Giles Morris; Col. Robert C.H. Brock; University of Pennsylvania; Philip H. Ward, Jr; C.J. Dochkus; F.K. Saab; Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society.
Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# AUBF, PCGS# 5)
Auction Info
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A powerful and intimidating dealer of the 1960s, backed by important colleagues, was accused of selling fraudulent gold coins and ingots to unsuspecting numismatists. Who would go up against a man like that and, over the course of decades, prove the fraud? Who would expose a widely respected scholar as a thief, then doggedly pursue recovery of coins that the scholar had stolen from an embarrassed numismatic organization, all over the objections of influential collectors who had bought coins with clouded titles? Eric P. Newman would - and did. Reserve your copy today.
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