Ex Brooker and Archbishop Sharp
STUART. Charles I. 1625-1649. AR Halfcrown (35mm, 14.89 g, 3h). Declaration type. Bristol mint; im: plumes/(BR). Dated 1644. · CAROLVS D : G : MAG : BR : FR : ET · HI · REX ·, Charles on horseback left, holding reins and raised sword; plumes to right / · EXVRGAT · DEVS · DISIPENTVR · INIMICI ·, RELIG : PROT/LE : AN : LI : PA in two lines between two parallel lines; plumes above, I644 below. Morrieson B-1; Brooker 979 (
this coin); North 2489; SCBC 3007. Attractively toned with traces of luster. Good VF. Bold horseman.
Ex P. Finn Inventory, circa 2000; P. Earthy Collection; J.G. Brooker Collection, purchased from Spink; Archbishop Sharp (1644-1714) Collection (Glendining’s, 5 October 1977), lot 75.
Dr. John Sharp (1644-1714) was a clergyman who rose through the offices of the Church of England to become Archbishop of York in 1691. Sharp started collecting coins in 1687 and focused his energies primarily on the issues of the British Isles, acquiring many highly important rarities. Sharp was in contact with several other leading numismatists of his age, including Ralph Thoresby, to whom he addressed his manuscript, Observations on the Coinage of England, published in 1785. The great 19th Century numismatist, Rogers Ruding, regarded this work as, “the first systematic treatise ever composed on the subject.” On Sharp's death, the collection was left to his son and was kept together for some 250 years by his descendants. In the words of the late Harry Manville, ‘Sharp pedigrees are among the oldest available in British numismatics.’
