A COLLECTION of silver coins struck in York during the English Civil War is expected to fetch more than £30,000 at auction.
A private Welsh collector is selling 37 rare coins issued in 1643 and 1644 featuring the word “Ebor” and a lion, both denoting York as the city of origin.
The York mint of Charles I was assembled as Royalist forces fought for control of the North in the mid-1640s.
York became a key city to the king after he was forced to leave London in 1642.
Auction manager James Sadler said: “The coins come from a private collection. “ There has already been great interest in them, both from Britain and abroad. Not surprisingly, we have had many calls from Yorkshire.”
The collection will go under the hammer at Lockdales of Martlesham, near Ipswich, Suffolk, on January 25. It includes 18 silver half crowns, 11 silver shillings, one silver sixpence and seven silver threepences.
John Sadler, of Lockdales, said people were fascinated by the historical significance of the collection and added about the high level of interest: “People are fanatical about collecting things, the market is flooded by people trying to invest.
“As interest rates are so poor, people are coming to buy things to make money on it.”
Charles arrived in York in March 1642. It is thought the establishment of a mint at York was being planned long before the outbreak of formal hostilities when Nicholas Briot, the king's engraver, was summoned to the city.
To see the collection on line, visit www.lockdales.com
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