Hungary, Charles I Silver Grade I

George III Bull Head (1816-1820) Shilling offered in Fair. Dates will be of our choice, but the more coins you order the more dates we will try to give you.

Late in the ‘Crisis of the Third Century’ Britain & Northern France did not have enough regular coinage so the locals took matters into their own hands! Recent research shows the new, superior silver coin of Aurelian were being saved and not used, so for about 11 years (A.D. 275-286) crude, bronze coins were made locally to ‘top up’ the coins in circulation. They copied old types from Gallienus, Postumus, Claudius II (to name a few) but the quality of the designs varied hugely as they were made by normal people risking death for ‘counterfeiting’. We have a group of these ‘Barbarous Radiates’ that all show a head on the obverse and different reverses, but as they are crudely made, the first to order will get the best. Add to your collection an ancient coin of the people who risked death just to help out their local area, a local coin for local people!

Darius II was the son of Artaxerxes I. He was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 423 B.C. to 404 B.C. There is little information about his reign other than that he took advantage of the Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens to play both sides, ultimately choosing to fund Sparta who won. With this happening, he took back most of the Ionian coast of Anatolia (modern Turkey). We have a small amount of his Silver Siglos showing a kneeling figure in a crown (very likely the King) holding a spear/dagger and bow with a quiver on his back. The reverse is just a punch mark as these archaic issues were made for the weight on irregular flans, the reverse was not important. They grade About Very Fine and are almost 2,500 years old. These are very reasonable, they will sell fast!