BRITISH COINS, Edward VI, Silver Pattern Testoon or Shilling, 1547, 27.2mm, Tower mint, possibly by A Levens, crowned and robed bust right, frosted caul to crown, linear circle and legend with lozenge stops surrounding, EDWARD’ ? VI ? REX ? ANGL ? FRANC ? HIBER ? Z C, initial mark rose both sides, rev oval quartered arms of England and France on frame, the French arms and frame frosted, E to left, R to right, linear circle and legend with slipped trefoil stops surrounding, date in legend in Roman numerals, TIMOR + DOMINI + FONS + VITÆ + M + D + XLVII, 5.63g (Bispham plate 2, no.1; North 1953; Norweb 1394). Some weakness in parts, good fine and toned, extremely rare, one of the most spectacular pieces of engraving art of the time. ex W N Clarkson of Whitby collection, Sotheby, 16-20 April 1901, lot 41 ex The Huth Collection, first portion, Sotheby, 4-7 April 1927, lot 325, sold for £11 ex T B Clarke Thornhill collection, Glendining, 24 May 1937, lot 432, sold for £9/10/- bought by A H Baldwin & Sons Ltd, ticket priced at £12/10/- For an extremely fine example, see Baldwin’s Fixed Price List Winter 2013, item BH096 of slightly smaller diameter but heavier and thicker. For further reading see British Numismatic Journal, volume 55, 1985, article by Joe Bispham on “The Base Silver Shillings of Edward VI” pages 134-143. A highly important piece of numismatic art, this Pattern Shilling is one of four known to be in private hands. In his article Bispham shows that this portrait piece is linked with the Durham House Mint Shillings, meaning that this was an early prototype piece for coinage of this denomination and may well have been produced for presentation. This piece was produced at a time when the young boy King’s name was not upon his coinage but still in the name of his father, King Henry VIII, due to the poor debased state the coinage had been left in for the silver and gold denominations. A fine silver pattern of such intricate engraving detail must have been produced to show that the new King, though of a young age, was powerful and also the new Head of the Church of England. Bispham conjectures (page 140) that this piece was probably engraved by the Frenchman Anthony Levens who commenced employment at the mint in 1547 and was also responsible for portraits and designs for silver Groats and Half-Groats. The scant surviving records from the Mint for the period 1544-1547 reveal the Chief Engraver of the Tower Mint was Henry Basse, Goldsmith of London. The Under Engraver at the Tower I Mint, where these patterns were produced was Robert Pitt, Goldsmith of London (later promoted to Chief Engraver from 1550) whose work this could possibly be because similar gold Half Sovereign size patterns were likely his work (see Baldwin’s Fixed Price List Winter 2014, item BH025, for a gold pattern dated 1547), but without further original documentary evidence these patterns cannot be linked to an individual with any certainty.
