Sale: CNG 61, Lot: 2648. Estimate $250.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 25 September 2002.  Sold For $270. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Commonwealth. 1649-1660. Æ Pattern Farthing (3.94 gm). Struck circa 1655. Dies by David Ramage. *THVS•VNITED•INVINCIBLE, three pillars linked by a cord, supporting a cross, harp, and thistle respectively; R below in field / *AND•GOD •DIRECT•OVR•COVRS, ship sailing left, rope around. Peck 387; North 2738 var. (no R); Lobel CWPT-090. Good Fine, black patina and light-brown toning. Very Rare. ($250)

Despite the unorthodoxy of patterns of this design, they are in-fact official patterns. The austerity of the design is attributable to the Puritain bent of mainstream thought at the time, where excessive ornament was regarded a travesty. The national symbols occur placed atop the pillars on the obverse, and the legend which continues from obverse to reverse offers a rather optimistic accolade not entirely reflective of the then-current political situation.