Sale: CNG 61, Lot: 2652. Estimate $300.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 25 September 2002.  Sold For $320. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Charles II . 1660-1685. Æ Pattern Farthing (6.33 gm). Struck circa 1662. Dies by John Roettier. CARO-LVS•A•-CARO-LO• (lion passant left), rose, thistle, harp, and lis in cruciform arrangement / QVATVOR•MARIA•VINDICO•, three-masted ship sailing left. Thick flan with grained edge. Peck 400; North -; Lobel -. Good Fine, chocolate brown patina, slight old gouge. Rare. ($300)

An official pattern, but rejected due to the pretentiousness of the legend "I claim the four seas." Rumor circulated that Louis XIV of France took exception to the remark, resulting in their recall. Peck has evaluated this claim, and believes instead the scathing critique of Lord Lucas in February of 1670 or 1671 to be the cause. In his remarks about the paucity of coinage in the kingdom, Lucas quoth in the House of Lords "I hear of none [being supplied] unless it be of copper farthings; and this is the metal that is to vindicate, according to the inscription on it, the dominion of the four seas." The legends instead, probably refer to the king's pride and ambitions for the navy. These pieces were struck over a period and some entered circulation, after a number of specimens were distributed to popularize the type amongst legislators.